First hang went horribly wrong.

**smithaw** · 08-30-2011, 11:48

I need some help. I decided to give hammock camping a try, but something has gone awry. For my first hang, I took my gear to a local state park here in South Florida. My hammock was a Grand Trunk Ultralight, that I hung with Marlinspike hitches in both the suspension ropes and tree straps, which I learned from GizzlyAdams excellent videos (thank you, THEY worked perfectly). Unfortunately, about 2 hours into my night's sleep, I found myself unceremoniously dumped on my butt when my hammock ripped in half. The first picture I attached shows my set-up not long before I crawled in for the night. As you can see, there is some sag in the hammock, but is it enough? I have seen other places on the web advocate hanging your hammock completely taught, so I assume they're designed to withstand that level of tension safely. Is the GT Ultralight simply too ultra light for me? I'm 6-2, 200. Not the tiniest guy ever, but not THAT far from average. As you can see from the second picture, the rip was across the width of the hammock, at right about the spot my butt was. It's making me feel like something out of one of those bad Subway commercials, and is not doing wonders for my self esteem. I didn't have anything in my pockets when I went to sleep that would have torn it, either. The mosquitoes were so bad that I was frequently shifting from side to side, because they were actually biting me through the hammock. Could that have caused it? Any guess as to what I did wrong? I was really comfortable right up until the moment the ground came rushing up to meet my rump, and I'd like to give this hammock hanging another shot. But before I go spending money on another hammock, I'd like to figure out what happened this time. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

**pgibson** · 08-30-2011, 11:55

First guess is that the hammock was simply defective or has some sort of flaw in it to begin with. Second, ignore the sites that say to hang the hammock tight...that is 100% wrong. You want about 30 degrees sag downward angle on your suspension lines. I have hung in a GT UL at 180 pounds with no problem and my wife and I hang in a GT single from time to time for some dynamic load testing.

No worries about a GT holding us at a combined weight well over yours.

**shumway** · 08-30-2011, 11:58

That's exactly what I thought... defective hammock. If there was a little cut in the fabric that's all it would take for the tear to grow and dump you on the ground. Can you return / exchange it at the store it was bought from?

**MAD777** · 08-30-2011, 12:00

It's hard to tell angles in pictures, but your suspension lines should be approximately 30 degress to horizontal. This can be estimated by holding your index finger extended horizontally with your thumb straight up (like making a pistol when you were a kid). The suspension lines should just touch the tips of your index finger and thumb.

Flatter angles than 30 degrees greatly increase the force applied. However, that's not to say there wasn't and undetected flaw in the hammock to start with - like someone opening a case of them with a box-cutter.

BTW, A big hearty welcome to HammockForums!! I see this in your first post - sorry it wasn't a more pleasant one. I'm in Palm Beach also!

**the_gr8t_waldo** · 08-30-2011, 12:01

from the pics it really hard to tell what the org. hang looked like. but off hand i'd say the hammock was too tight. there's a chart floating around this site that outlines the loads imposed on a hammock,suspention lines. and the ideal is when both suspention lines join the hammock at 30degrees. at angles less that that the load goes up suprisingly fast

**Joey** · 08-30-2011, 12:04

I'm 6'2" 200lbs and have used the GT Ultra light too. I'm a restless sleeper, and it held up just fine. I don't know if contacting Grand Trunks about this defect would result in them replacing if for you, but may be worth a shot.

Sorry to hear it ripped and ruined your hang. A little permethrin applied to the hammock will prevent the mossies from biting through.

**icedfire477** · 08-30-2011, 12:04

I have the same hammock, and have yet to have a problem with it. That being said, I've read a few reports from other owners from Amazon, and it appears that you are not alone. Out of the nearly 100 reports, there are 3 in which the hammock split straight down the center, just as in your case. I'm not sure if the hammocks were just faulty, or if it's an overall product flaw. I certainly wouldn't let it affect your self esteem.

Here's one account:
"***Update, 5/2011: I purchased 2 of these. After only owning one for 7 months, it split right down the middle, dropping me to the ground. No, I'm not fat, didn't have anything sharp in my pocket, and wasn't using it incorrectly. I contacted the manufacturer who wanted me to pay to ship it back to them so they could mail me a replacement. I didn't feel like paying $6.00+ to ship an item that was only $16 to begin with, so I just took it as a loss, and used my second one cautiously. Yesterday, the second one I own (which is now 10 months old) just did the exact same thing and split right down the middle as the first! This is VERY thin, and there's just no way that it can withstand multiple uses over a long period of time. Invest in one that is thicker. So disappointed because I LOVED it at first. Guess you get what you pay for. Be careful!! "

<http://www.amazon.com/Grand-Trunk-Ultralight-Camo-Hammock/product-reviews/B001AIBJSI/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_1?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filte rBy=addOneStar>

I'd love to hear from some Grand Trunk ultra lighters who've put there hammocks through a great deal of use, to see how they've held up.

**icedfire477** · 08-30-2011, 12:06

The person went on to say that after contacting Grand Trunk they were sent a Grand Trunk Single (GT's take on the Singlenest) for free. I would give it a shot!