Tree Sling(s) Help!

**sparkyjim** · 11-12-2010, 23:37

I am wanting to make some wider tree slings, maybe up to 3" wide, to protect the bark of the tree(s) I am hanging from. Getting ready to go on the LNT Master Educator course, and see some possible conflict(s). Not wanting to go into that here; just want to know what some of the others have done: i.e., what has worked and what hasn't.
Thanks

**Cranky Bear** · 11-12-2010, 23:47

If you were wanting to get some wider straps you could look at strapworks.com! I will say that a one inch strap applied and used properly will do no damage to a tree, and also if done right no one would know you were there(LNT if you want to call it that)!
The only problem I can see would be your manner of usage/attachment??? I do not know if they make a buckle or rings that large, 3in is pretty big, and you might run into a problem with a strap that large as it could leave the same marks (if any were to be left) cause of the cinching manner that the strap would do when loaded (I could be waaaayyyyyyyyy wrong though!!!)

But like I said you can check Strapworks out as they would be the only place I can think of that would have webbing that wide!

**sparkyjim** · 11-12-2010, 23:56

Originally Posted by Cranky Bear

If you were wanting to get some wider straps you could look at strapworks.com! I will say that a one inch strap applied and used properly will do no damage to a tree, and also if done right no one would know you were there(LNT if you want to call it that)!
The only problem I can see would be your manner of usage/attachment??? I do not know if they make a buckle or rings that large, 3in is pretty big, and you might run into a problem with a strap that large as it could leave the same marks (if any were to be left) cause of the cinching manner that the strap would do when loaded (I could be waaaayyyyyyyyy wrong though!!!)

But like I said you can check Strapworks out as they would be the only place I can think of that would have webbing that wide!

Thanks, some how I have missed that site in all of my searches. Just thinking of making some closed loop straps/slings (2"-3") and using some whoopies for connection.

**Mister Dark** · 11-13-2010, 00:04

I am a pretty big guy, I almost always just do two wraps of my slings. Would that achieve the same result as getting one, larger, sling?

**Cranky Bear** · 11-13-2010, 00:11

Originally Posted by Mister Dark

I am a pretty big guy, I almost always just do two wraps of my slings. Would that achieve the same result as getting one, larger, sling?

It might, but it's the total surface area in contact with the tree and with the load distribution might not be the same between the two, kind of like rope and webbing??? But I'm no math guy, soooo, maybe the math guru's can chime in on that one!

**JohnSawyer** · 11-13-2010, 00:53

As long as you're using the 30-degree rule on your suspension, it shouldn't be a big deal to use 1" straps. If you REALLY want to impress folks to your committment to the trees, go with 2" seatbelt webbing, just have loops sewn in each end, and make the strap at least 1' longer than the circumference of the largest tree you plan on hanging from...

As best I can tell, multiple wraps don't evenly distribute the load across the straps... there would be some, but I depends on how much the straps can slide across the bark...

**Roadrunnr72** · 11-13-2010, 07:55

Originally Posted by JohnSawyer

As long as you're using the 30-degree rule on your suspension, it shouldn't be a big deal to use 1" straps. If you REALLY want to impress folks to your committment to the trees, go with 2" seatbelt webbing, just have loops sewn in each end, and make the strap at least 1' longer than the circumference of the largest tree you plan on hanging from...

As best I can tell, multiple wraps don't evenly distribute the load across the straps... there would be some, but I depends on how much the straps can slide across the bark...

I know this is going to be a question, so here is your answer!
You may be able to get the seat belt webbing at a junk yard.

**timabababaluka** · 11-13-2010, 13:27

I use a marlinspike hitch to set up my suspension, and it seems like a 3 inch hugger would need a pretty hefty sized toggle (relay runner's baton?

). On the positive side, it would be really difficult for your whoopies to slip off a knot that large.

**Mountainfitter** · 11-17-2010, 13:38

You should make your own. They are really easy to make if you have a sewing machine. Just set your sewing machine to zigzag and your stitch lenght a little more then zero. You end up with a nice bartack.

**BBQDad** · 12-03-2010, 01:46

I did some rough calculations about the pressure imposed on a tree's bark by a 1" strap, or by a 1/8" cord.

[CAVEAT: In the past 20 years, I have scarcely used the physics, calculus, algebra, trigonometry, and geometry I worked so long and hard to learn. The rust is inches thick. Should you, O Gentle Reader, discover an error in the numbers I offer, I bless you and thank you in advance for the revelation and correction of that error, with the proviso that you display the correct means of calculation. In short, I am begging one of you engineers to do the calculation and straighten me out or confirm I am right. Thanks!]

A 200 lb., single-point load rests in the middle of a hammock stretched between two trees, each about 6" in diameter, about 17.3’ apart, with about 5’ of sag. (These dimensions give about a 30* angle with respect to the horizontal.)

If the ends of the hammock are secured to the trees with 1” wide straps that wrap one and one-half times around each tree, then the pressure against the trees’ bark is about 7 PSI.

Seems fairly low-impact to me. (Two-inch straps would take that down to under 4 PSI.)

If 1/8” cord is used in the same configuration instead of 1” wide straps, the pressure against the trees’ bark is about 56 PSI.

The application of over 50 PSI to the bark of a tree sounds to me like a bad idea, even for brief periods of time.

Does anyone have evidence showing that a pressure of seven or eight PSI, applied for a few days or even a week or two, will hurt a tree?

Note that placing multiple wraps of the cord around the tree would not help much; the friction of the cord against the bark would not allow the tension to be distributed evenly throughout the wraps.

I am going to try to convert my Excel spreadsheet to something I can type in here, so that you can see the calculations. Right now, that spreadsheet is a mess.