Learned my lesson

[Hooty]

I had kind of a funky setup. From each end of my hammock, I had a doubled up piece of paracord tied to a 1' long piece of 1" webbing that had a cam buckle at the end.

On the head end there was a 16' long ratchet strap wrapped around a tree and run through the cam buckle. On the foot end there was a 16' long piece of the same type of webbing I had used on the hammock, wrapped around a tree and run through the cam buckle.

I had bought the webbing off of ebay (huge mistake) to save some money. I have been using this setup for about 2 months, mostly just setting up in the back yard for a few hours reading a book and chilling with the dog. The little mutt loves to hang, comes running every time she sees me getting ready to set it up.

Over the weekend I went through my normal routine: Pull everything out, inspect the suspension for any signs of wear, set up the hammock, check for any rips or tears from storage or claw marks from the last time the dog was hanging with me, put the dog in, put myself in, enjoy.

My biggest concern has been the cam buckles. They dig into the straps and were marring up the ratchet strap, but the webbing didn't really show any signs of wear.

After about 20 minutes I heard a twang, a snap, and all of a sudden my back was on fire. I have broken my back 3 times so this was a major concern. It didn't feel like I had broken it again but any back trauma at this point is very bad and could possibly cause further damage to my spinal cord.

I checked on the dog who was panting happily and acting like she wanted to do it again. "Can I still feel my legs? Check. Can I feel my feet? Check. Can I wiggle my toes? Check. Can I get up? Um, I think I'll just lay here and moan a bit."

After I got up, I checked to see what went wrong, it was that danged webbing I had wrapped around the tree. It seemed to have kinked up where it attached to itself (had sewn a loop in one end, ran it around the tree and through the loop) and failed at the kink.

I immediately ran to Lowes and bought a matching pair of ratchet straps to use as replacement treehuggers, set em up and hopped back in the hammock. Stuck the dog in again but left the book out and took a nap.

About an hour later I awoke to hear that same snapping sound followed by the same pain. The piece of webbing running between the paracord and the cam buckle had snapped! I thought maybe where I sewed the loop for the cam buckle had come unsewn. Nope, my thread injection held fine, It had snapped in middle of the 1' piece where no damage or sewing had occurred!

I have since replaced the remaining webbing with pieces cut from a piece of 1600lb ratchet strap. I still need to replace the cam buckle and paracord as soon as possible before they cause a failure.

Moral of the story, don't go cheap with your suspension. Sure, the ebay webbing may say it's rated for 600lbs and is $5-$10 cheaper, but that don't mean a thing when you're flat on your back and seeing stars.

[bigbamaguy]

Check out the simple slings at www.strapworks.com. I use these straps, 1" polyester seatbelt webbing, for all of my suspension needs. I am 300 lobs and they have never failed me, had a Dutch Clip turn on me and poke a hole in the webbing during the night and still stayed off the ground. Good luck in your search and be easy your back........

[Bubba]

Lesson learned for sure. In future, it's a good rule of thumb to go with anything rated 1000 lbs or higher so you have more of a safety margin.

[FLRider]

It may also be time to replace that 550 cord. Honestly, if you're willing to sink $30 or $40 into your suspension (and want a really simple-to-use one), both Warbonnet and Arrowhead Equipment sell all-in-one cinch buckle systems for very reasonable prices. All you need then are some climbing rated carabiners or a set of Dutch Clips and you're good to go.

Those are rated for hammocking, and the cottage makers behind them know what they're talking about. If they didn't, they wouldn't still be in business.

Just a thought.

[Hooty]

The 550 is the next thing to get replaced. I've used it reliably for years in other applications so I trust it to hold me, but it stretches a good bit.

I could just spend the 30 or 40 bucks now on a suspension set up, but I like to tinker and it will be another month and a half before I have a chance to do any camping.

I think I'm just going to make that 1ft strap a 2 ft strap and tie it directly to the hammock, eliminating the paracord.