Good carabiner for ridgeline?

**Just Jeff** · 01-05-2007, 10:05

And you could double them up for real cheap and still pretty light.

**blackbishop351** · 01-05-2007, 10:09

Originally Posted by Just Jeff

And you could double them up for real cheap and still pretty light.

When I first cut my HH ridge I used two of 'em, but then I tried one and watched really carefully for the 'biner stretching or bending at all - nothing. So apparently one is enough, at least for me. Of course, a heavier person would need something stronger.

**Jonas4321** · 01-05-2007, 17:58

This is just my opinion, and I have a top-loading (Speer-type) hammock, not a Hennessey, but I use 550 cord (real stuff) for the ridgeline and I like it a lot. The little bit of stretch is perfect, once I rig the thing to the right length (I disconnect it to pack the hammock into the snake-skin like thingies). There's not a heck of a lot of stress on mine once I am in it, but maybe that's because it's not strung super-taut when I hang the hammock. Is there a lot of tension on the ridgeline in a Hennessey when you are in it?

Thank you for the link to the lightweight biners! I just ordered two pair, that is a great price and light!

**blackbishop351** · 01-05-2007, 18:00

JMHO, but if there's not a lot of tension on your ridgeline, it's not doing a whole lot for you structurally. The stuff I used last weekend was like that - I'd pull the suspension tight as can be, get in, lay there for a while, get back out, and the whole thing would be loosened. That means your sag is changing while you're in the hammock; not exactly what I wanted the ridgeline for

**Coffee** · 01-06-2007, 00:29

I used para cord on my last hammock. The problem I had is it is too stretchy. Whenever I would hang something on it, the ridgeline and my stuff would be in my face. I now just use the same webbing that I use for the tieouts.

**slowhike** · 01-06-2007, 08:31

Originally Posted by hammock engineer

I used para cord on my last hammock. The problem I had is it is too stretchy. Whenever I would hang something on it, the ridgeline and my stuff would be in my face. I now just use the same webbing that I use for the tieouts.

do you mean the tieouts on your tarp?
is that 1" webbing like you use for hammock supports?

**Coffee** · 01-06-2007, 12:25

Originally Posted by slowhike

do you mean the tieouts on your tarp?
is that 1" webbing like you use for hammock supports?

No just on the hammock. I guess I need to keep up with the conversation.

**Jonas4321** · 01-06-2007, 13:05

Originally Posted by blackbishop351

JMHO, but if there's not a lot of tension on your ridgeline, it's not doing a whole lot for you structurally. The stuff I used last weekend was like that - I'd pull the suspension tight as can be, get in, lay there for a while, get back out, and the whole thing would be loosened. That means your sag is changing while you're in the hammock; not exactly what I wanted the ridgeline for

I use the ridgeline primarily to keep the bugnet (or, when I finish it, spindrift tube/sock thingie) off of my face and to hang my glasses and headlamp on at night. It's under tension, not sagging, but I don't think the forces are all that great. It does alter the sag of the hammock, which I want it to do. Maybe my goals and/or procedure are just different?

When you hang your hammock (not a Hennessey, I know those are strung differently), is your ridgeline already attached, and you pull your ropes/webbing as tight as you can at the trees so that the ridgeline is taut and nearly level, or do you hang your hammock and then attach and tighten the ridgeline? Since I reattach my ridgeline pretty much the same way each time after I tie my hammock ropes to the tree huggers, I don't tighten it up while I am in the hammock.

**blackbishop351** · 01-06-2007, 13:19

Originally Posted by Jonas4321

When you hang your hammock (not a Hennessey, I know those are strung differently), is your ridgeline already attached, and you pull your ropes/webbing as tight as you can at the trees so that the ridgeline is taut and nearly level, or do you hang your hammock and then attach and tighten the ridgeline? Since I reattach my ridgeline pretty much the same way each time after I tie my hammock ropes to the tree huggers, I don't tighten it up while I am in the hammock.

I think any hammock with a structural ridgeline works pretty much the same way as a HH. Or at least that's how I work mine (or try to, since I don't have decent cord for a ridge yet).