Paracord ridgeline?

[wetcatcarl]

well somehow my ridgeline came out. i think when i did the whoopie sling mod. i wanted to change it to paracord because i now live inside of Yellowstone National Park and the paracord has a high breaking at 550 lbs. plus with it being able to break down into finer strands it could come in handy. how long should it be. as of now my hennesy has no ridgeline and my bugnet falls on me.

[PDA]

You can use Paracord as an emergency measure, it will not break. However, it will stretch, so your ridgeline length will not be consistent. As for length, lay tour hammock out flat on the ground and measure the length (120" for expedition or Scout) and make your ridgeline 83% of the hammock length (i.e. 100" for expedition or scout).

This video shows a good way to attach whoopies to a HH. Note how the loop at the end of the ridgeline is trapped by the whoopie line.

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=13116

Your not going to be able to pass your replacement ridgeline through the solid mass of cloth so must go over it and puncture a small hole in the end of the net and pass the line through. Your suggestion of glue to seal seems the best solution to re sealing the net. repeat at the other end.

It should work OK, but will stretch depending on the angle of your suspension lines. At least it will keep your bug net up. Suggest that you replace the paracord with Lash it or similar non stretch line when convenient.

Hope that is useful.

[rip waverly]

i wouldn't- paracord doesn't have many uses in hmmking, imho.
zing it, dynaglide, amsteel, stock hh, +all better than paracord.

[gargoyle]

WCC, I'm with the others here, DO NOT use paracord.
It can work, but for a hammock this isn't your best choice. As mentioned it stretches and causes undo stress on the netting. The netting is cut to a specific size and will rip if stressed. The ridgeline was designed to be a certain length to maintain "proper" distance of the hammock ends. When pc stretches it changes the overall length of the hammock and the net. Potentially causing damage.

If you absolutely have to use p.c., try to make its overall length smaller/shorter than what was the original length to try to compensate for the stretch factor.

Paracord can be a handy item, carrying some in your kit is fine. But to use it as a ridgeline (for a tarp or a hammock) has caused me lots of frustration due to the stretchiness. I switched to amsteel type lines and I am much happier.

[Barefoot Child]

Paracord is not an option for a structural ridgeline due to it stretching!!!

Of course if'n you want to find out for yourself...go right ahead HYOH.

Nuf said!

[wetcatcarl]

ok. how does the stock ridgeline go back in? it came out when i did my whoopies and since then hasnt been up.

[shumway]

There is likely a small hole through the fabric bundle. You might be able to thread the loop through that hole with a wire or something like that. When I put whoopies on my Henessy I had the opposite problem. The ridge line was pulling out the end. It was easy to pull back from the inside, though I was very careful not to pull it to far.

See if you can find he video on attaching whoopies to a Hennessy. You should see where the rl pokes through, and how you shoud pass your whoopie through the loop so it can't pull back out.

[Silverlion]

I have paracord as a structural RL on a cheap hammock I have for around the apartment. It stretches a tad, but not bad, IMHO. I weigh in @ 235 pounds and have not had it fail. I did shorten it a bit to compensate for stretch. On my HH, I replaced that tiny little RL with the same 1'8" Amsteel I made my whoopies from. When I string my hammock up, I put all my weight on the RL to get the loose out of my tree huggers and marlin spike hitches. OK, I did that and broke the stock HH RL, I admit it. The Amsteel gives me a little peace of mind in case of the dreaded widow maker. We haven't much defense against a stray limb so I'll call the Amsteel a teenie bit of insurance. Hey, Anything for an edge. Follow the video on installing whoopies on your HH and do the RL right, I'd hate to see you poke holes in your hammock.

Video...down there...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysukekQgSCU

[FalconRider]

Maybe someone can help me out. I have only spent one night in my hammock, and that was hanging from my porch supports. But I thought I read that it is a good idea to use paracord as a means to support the fly and keep it off the netting. Is this correct?

[NewtonGT]

Maybe someone can help me out. I have only spent one night in my hammock, and that was hanging from my porch supports. But I thought I read that it is a good idea to use paracord as a means to support the fly and keep it off the netting. Is this correct?

you speaking of mcsparron's videos on youtube? it is a good way. alot of people do some sort of ridgeline to keep the tarp off. but we are talking about the ridgeline under neath the netting. the paracord ridgeline in that video would be for the tarp.