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  1. #21
    Member bmike's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Patrick View Post
    That's awesome, thank you. Can you still pull it tighter after the fourth picture (before the stopper)? I wouldn't mind tying the stopper after I'd gotten everything set up, but I'd like to be able to fiddle with everything, including sitting in the hammock, before doing so.
    this is a bit different than treedweller's, i think.

    yes, a bit.
    but you need to unload the line, so i grab the line on the hammock side and pull towards the ring while i work the line through the rings. when you put any tension on either side of the line it wants to clamp down the rings... i usually undo the extra wrap - it takes a second and stays put when you let go.

  2. #22
    Senior Member Patrick's Avatar
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    Sounds perfect, thank you again. I'll search around for Tree Dweller's set-up.

    I'll be messing with this as soon as all of my stuff comes in and I'll post a bunch of pictures and whatever info I come up with.

  3. #23
    New Member TreeDweller's Avatar
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    Found your concerns about the garda hitch. I can confirm that using the garda hitch and rings is a wonderful way to hang. I find it really easy to set up. I have a HHUL and added SMC descending rings (I picked mine up at REI. They are cheap, light, and strong) to my stock tree straps with a simple girth hitch using the loop at one end of the strap.

    The loops in the strap are too small to pass the rings through so I simply made a new loop using some 5mm accessory cord (again strong and from REI--strong because ropes lose up to 50% of their strength when knotted and because the forces on the line are much stronger than your own weight. The cord I used is rated 5.5kN or 1,250lbf). I used a double fisherman's knot to tie the loop (very strong).

    I took the hammock out just this past weekend. I wanted to try my fleece/emergency blanket addition for cold weather hanging. It was the first time I tried the rings using the loops. I loved how fast it was to pass each strap around the tree, put the rings through the loop and then run the line through in the garda hitch. I then pulled the hammock from the stuff sack as I walked to the next tree to repeat the process. The hammock was up in no time and it never touched the ground. When I used to use the Hennessy knot I was always having the straps fall off the tree while I tried to get the line threaded through the loops.

    The garda hitch easily pulls tight and since it is used in rock climbing and rescue I had no trouble trusting it with my weight. Just try pulling it from the hammock side and you'll see what I mean. You don't have to add any extra knot for safety and unlike running straps through the rings you don't have to worry they'll slip from misalignment. Thankfully after a night of hanging the lines have pulled enough to make releasing the hitch easy enough. (And yes, the rings have to be tied together on the side opposite the garda hitch for things to work.)

    I like the site www.animatedknots.com for nice clear descriptions and examples for tying knots. If you don't have straps with loops sewn on the ends you can find other knots to use. A girth hitch could still hold the rings to one end though you'd need some kind of stopper knot too. A water knot could be used to make end loops perhaps.

    I'll have to carry longer straps with me though (and since the rings aren't sewn on I can easily switch them to different straps). This trip was to a park full of redwoods. I was lucky to find two trees small enough to hang from. If the trees had been a little larger I would have skipped passing the rings through the loop on the other end of the strap and ran the line through the loop to the rings. A lot of the trees though were too big even for that. At several feet in diameter I'd need help even wrapping webbing around one.

    Here are pictures of both ends of the hammock using the rings. As well as one of the hammock. The short one in the picture sleeps with dad in a tent.




  4. #24
    Senior Member hangnout's Avatar
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    I have been using this type setup with no problems after seeing this on the original thread. I started out with the rings on the tree strap then changed to rings attached to hammock. I used Warbonnet's idea of attaching one end of the rope to my tree strap with a sheetbend and a loop in the other end for the biner (optional). This is basically the same thing as the webbing & rings just less webbing, more rope and the garda hitch in the rings.
    Last edited by hangnout; 11-06-2007 at 18:39.

  5. #25
    Senior Member hangnout's Avatar
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    Also as you can see in Treedweller's pics when the rings are on the tree strap no modifications are needed to the hammock. You can take advantage of the rings and not cut the original ropes. That works for a little while and then you get the DIY bug and out comes the knife and scissors

  6. #26
    Senior Member Patrick's Avatar
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    Thanks, TreeDweller. I picked up four of those same rings from REI on the way home tonight and look forward to giving it a go.

    I'm using homemade tree-huggers now, but I'm going to make some larger ones and sew in a loop big enough for the rings to pass through. In playing with the rings, it looks like you can attach them to one end of the strap with a sort of lark's head that doesn't need to be sewed into an actual loop.

    I'm using a homemade hammock with some of that thick blue Byer rope right now, but I have some 2.7mm spyderline on the way, which should be here in a day or two. I'll give the setup a whirl with both and post some pics later on.

    Thanks again for all the help. Assuming I feel confident enough in the garda, I think this is a great setup. The four rings are about all that's different than a normal rope and tree-hugger setup and they weigh under 2oz. which is fine by me.

  7. #27
    Senior Member nickelanddime's Avatar
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    Garda Hitch W/separate Rings

    Hey, just got home and decided to test your idea of separate rings. I started with a normal garda hitch through two separate rings then pulled them apart and as their relative angle changed the knot deformed a little but if you use your imagination you can still see it there...
    It works great, the cord pointed directly at you would be the support and the end off at an odd angle is the excess you'd pull to tighten it. When tightening the rings do a funny little butterfly thing.
    From the way the rings pinch down on the excess cord you can see it would work with any angle but I would suggest constructing the hitch as you see in the pic as it is much easier than trying to keep everything held together and tighten at the same time.
    I was trying to attach the pic but I've had too many beers with dinner and it's not making sense right now , please just check my gallery and it should be the only pic"garda hitch with separate rings"
    Last edited by nickelanddime; 11-06-2007 at 19:56. Reason: attaching pic

  8. #28
    Senior Member hangnout's Avatar
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    I was trying to attach the pic but I've had too many beers with dinner and it's not making sense right now
    And when are you going to test that version? After dinner?

  9. #29
    Senior Member nickelanddime's Avatar
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    parking lot adjustments

    Yeah, after fiddling around all over my apt. complex trying to think of a good way to test it(no big trees) I decided to just wrap the strap around the end of a parking tie and run the rope up my arm like a mover's strap... worked pretty good, not very scientific but the rope had ample opportunity to slip while I drug the tie back and forth
    The separate rings are more of a novelty anyway, I've been thinking about ways to do away with rings altogether... should have some time soon to machine a couple prototypes

  10. #30
    Senior Member Patrick's Avatar
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    nickelanddime, awesome! I didn't get a chance to play with my rings tonight, but I'm going to spend a couple of hours tomorrow.

    One thing I did find and I don't recall seeing it before. If you're doing a lark's head to attach the rings to the strap, if you do a half turn in the loop before you sew it, the finished lark's head comes out much cleaner, kind of like a windsor knot.

    I'm looking at making something a la warbonnetguy's modified figure 9 from scratch. I was just asking over on that endless thread if anyone knew a good place to get some decent aluminum stock to start from.

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