single ucr suspension

**lonetracker** · 02-20-2010, 11:57

i have been running this through my head for a while.

in effect this is one loop of line adjusted by a ucr(backwards whoopie when used to form a loop?)
some bennifits
1 can use trees closer together,when comparing to whoopie slings.no bury between hammock and tree
2 after attaching tree straps,only one adjustment to make
3 after everything is tight can slide hammock anywere between the two trees,adjusting its position without loosening anything.
4 biult in structural ridge,hammock hangs the same every time.

thats my idea.has it been tried?please tell me what you think.i have rigged one up and plan to try it tonight in the woods.hopefully it will not let me down.

**WarmSoda** · 02-20-2010, 12:21

My immediate thought is that it puts a lot more force on the trees in the top picture. I like the idea of the single line UCR, keep the ideas comming!!

**amac** · 02-20-2010, 13:08

I like that you can adjust the hammock location after everything is tight. Wondering how much all the components weigh (webbing, Dutch clips, cinch buckles, cordage, etc).
Is all the extra components necessary? One of the things I like about the basic UCR is the lack of components. My UCR currently has only cord, webbing, and two spikes for the Marlin Spike hitch.

**lonetracker** · 02-20-2010, 13:43

Originally Posted by amac

I like that you can adjust the hammock location after everything is tight. Wondering how much all the components weigh (webbing, Dutch clips, cinch buckles, cordage, etc).
Is all the extra components necessary? One of the things I like about the basic UCR is the lack of components. My UCR currently has only cord, webbing, and two spikes for the Marlin Spike hitch.

you could get rid of the dutch clips.use toggles instead of cinch buckles(maybe?)and with some creative knot tieing get rid of the rings(making it harder to adjust your sag)i think it would still use more cord than your setup.so would still be heavier.
i am more of a pound hog.the little bit of extra weight those components ad do not bother me.
bill

WV · 02-20-2010, 14:09

Doubling the portion between the two hammock attachment points is unnecessary. You could tie one end of your main line to the ring at one end of the hammock, run the line to the tree hugger and back to the ucr above the hammock. The other end would be rigged in the same fashion: hammock ring to tree hugger and back to ucr. The "upper" section of line with the ucr would still pass through the two rings. The tension on the ucr would be greater, making it more secure, but make sure the ucr bury is extra long. I stopped using ucrs when I discovered that a ridgeline that was okay with trees 15 ft. apart would slip if the trees were separated 20 ft. or more (went back to whoopies).

**lonetracker** · 02-20-2010, 14:21

Originally Posted by WV

Doubling the portion between the two hammock attachment points is unnecessary. You could tie one end of your main line to the ring at one end of the hammock, run the line to the tree hugger and back to the ucr above the hammock. The other end would be rigged in the same fashion: hammock ring to tree hugger and back to ucr. The "upper" section of line with the ucr would still pass through the two rings. The tension on the ucr would be greater, making it more secure, but make sure the ucr bury is extra long. I stopped using ucrs when I discovered that a ridgeline that was okay with trees 15 ft. apart would slip if the trees were separated 20 ft. or more (went back to whoopies).

unless i am misunderstanding you,the portion between the two hammock attachment points is what holds my sag so my hammock allways hangs the same.this is the structural ridge of this suspension.so it would work as you suggest but i would then lose my ridge line and have to find my perfect sag every time.

**TeeDee** · 02-20-2010, 17:34

So if I understand what you are doing, it seeme to me one of two things:

you have to thread the UCR suspension through both cinch buckles from AHE everytime you hang, OR
you are hanging while holding everything (hammock, suspension and tree huggers) in your arms. Everything is one unit.

Either way seems rather cumbersome to me.

Some people who hate tree huggers will like the second option since it makes it hard to lose anything when it is one unit.

WV · 02-20-2010, 20:43

Originally Posted by lonetracker

unless i am misunderstanding you,the portion between the two hammock attachment points is what holds my sag so my hammock allways hangs the same.this is the structural ridge of this suspension.so it would work as you suggest but i would then lose my ridge line and have to find my perfect sag every time.

I see what you mean. I think the section with the ucr can act as your hammock's structural ridgeline, but only if you run the line through the two rings and pull it very tight. I find I'm tightening my ridgeline to approximately the same tension each time I hang, so if I rigged my hammock suspension like this the effective length of the ridgeline would be almost the same each time. But you're right that you need the second length of line and the rings attached with clove hitches to keep the ridgeline length absolutely constant.

The thing I admire most about this setup is: "can use trees closer together,when comparing to whoopie slings.no bury between hammock and tree". This also means you don't need to skimp on the length of the ucr bury.

One slight drawback is that you need a ridgeline assembly equal to twice the maximum distance between trees. I don't think TeeDee's concern about ease of hanging would bother me, as I would have the hammock + ridgeline assembly in snakeskins.

I hope your test hang tonight is comfortable and secure.

**amac** · 02-21-2010, 03:05

Originally Posted by TeeDee

... the second option ...

I don't think the lonetracker's two images are to show two different setups. I think the top one is supposed to just to show how the line is connected back to itself. He has this statement on the pic "...easier to show drawn this way".

I agree with WV. The fact that this allows "no bury between hammock and tree" adds some flexibility in site selection.

WV · 02-21-2010, 10:26

I'm going to back up a bit here. Woke up this morning hanging hammocks from imaginary trees and realized that If I used the method I described in my last post I'd need to gauge appropriate line tension by eyeballing the hang angle of the hammock - possible, but not quite as easy as I described it. However I realized I could have the benefit of a shorter distance between trees (if needed) by looping my current suspension lines (whoopies) around toggles on the tree huggers and back to connect to each other over the hammock. Connection could be a biner or a toggle. The only thing I'd need to be careful of is not to have the buries of the whoopies at the place where the ropes loop back, because they'd be tough to tighten.

So, thanks again for this thread. Sorry for any confusion I caused. Ever since my hammock tree fell on the house I've done far too much theorizing.