Is hammock suspension possible with Kelty poles?

[crundo]

If it worked indoors on tile or hardwood floors, it would be perfect. For now, only compressive structures work for that.

[ataris121]

Sounds like a job for Handy Hammock. The beach pegs will be back in stock on Monday/Tuesday

four pages to get a handy hammock mention. we are losing our touch.

though not to disparage the HH but its expensive to get it here, and i think the kelty could be used the same and not need the pole lines because its less flexable than CF. one of these days i may make/buy a HH just to take with me and give me so many more options for hanging on the single tree method.

[crundo]

The tensile-reinforced rods would make a great lightweight top pole for a compressive tripod setup for indoor use. The big aluminum antenna mast parts I use are heavy. Stiffening effect of tension lines would mean the compression-bearing load members could be much lighter weight, and smaller too. The shortest section of the antenna mast parts is 4 feet, or about 1.3 meters

[hodad]

I just ordered Kelty adjustable poles from Amazon to replace the bamboo beach setup. Will try out this weekend with the DIY sand stakes and the same setup as before.

[agent00111]

I've had my kelty poles for a while and have gone through this thread a few times. Last weekend I was able to go 'treeless' using two kelty poles and a good ground post for one side, and my jeep for the other. Not a free-standing solution, but helpful for jeep camping when there aren't any trees (or hammocking to trees is prohibited). I didn't have to lash poles together: I used a tow saver strap that had a heavy woven closed tube on one end.

It's a lot more force on the two poles compared to a turtle dog stand configuration, but once I got the pole angle right, there wasn't much deflection in the poles. I'm 175lbs, I don't have the math skills to know what the weight limit would be. Suffice it to say when I tested it the first go round, my hammock was just a few inches of the ground to minimize impact if it failed!

Here's my trip report:

https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...ad.php?t=79509


And some pics:

[crundo]

In your first photo it looks like you're about to get poked in the butt by a water bottle if you fall! I GUESS that each Kelty tarp pole is good for a maximum of about 100 pounds of force as long as it is directed exactly along its length-axis. 2 poles are good for 200 pounds.

Half of your 175 pound weight is supported by the Jeep. If we just used 200 pounds for your total weight with the hammock etc, then the 2 Kelty poles only need to support 100 pounds, or 50 pounds each. So, you have a double safety margin, which is what I like to have in any hillbilly-rigging I use.

I like your tow saver strap "hat" for the poles! That's something I wanted to make for a speedy setup and take-down, but lashing them together with paracord has worked well for me. I can quickly set up my hammock everywhere I'm expected to sleep in a bed that's not mine. I never have to deal with bedbugs, funny smells, or "mystery stains"! The best part is I always sleep well because I'm literally sleeping in my own bed, the way I like it to be.

[Mugen]

In west Texas I gave thanks the day I found a 'Handy Hammock Stand' used here. You can get them new, but from the UK. Kinda pricey, but I've set up on the plains in the middle if a treeless field with no problems. I put a lash it whoopie sling in the middle part to adjust for different hammocks, and tied guy wires to all the bases so I can throw it out and set it up in minutes. One you do it a couple times, is just as easy a hanging in the woods.

[crundo]

I like my tripod stand, but those Kelty poles are typically about $35 each, and you need 6 of them, which is $210 just for the tripods, not including shipping. The compression bar at the top of a tripod stand costs extra, and it's usually important that it has good compression strength, and thus it's almost always heavy. I love my tripod setup for indoors because it's the ultimate for light weight and easy setup inside, but it's not cheap. You can use it outside too, but don't try to hike with it. I think of it as the ideal portable shelter for when the next hurricane hits and I get evacuated inland and I have to sleep on a concrete basketball court.

The Handy Hammock Stand (HHS) looks to be the ultimate for light weight, and it's not really very expensive for what you get. I haven't tried it yet, but I want it for all the things my tripod setup can't do, like going for a hike in an area where I can't hang from trees. Basically, if you have both a Kelty tripod stand and an HHS along with normal tree-hang gear, you can do anything with your hammock.

[crundo]

In your first photo it looks like you're about to get poked in the butt by a water bottle if you fall! I GUESS that each Kelty tarp pole is good for a maximum of about 100 pounds of force as long as it is directed exactly along its length-axis. 2 poles are good for 200 pounds.

Half of your 175 pound weight is supported by the Jeep. If we just used 200 pounds for your total weight with the hammock etc, then the 2 Kelty poles only need to support 100 pounds, or 50 pounds each. So, you have a double safety margin, which is what I like to have in any hillbilly-rigging I use.

I like your tow saver strap "hat" for the poles! That's something I wanted to make for a speedy setup and take-down, but lashing them together with paracord has worked well for me. I can quickly set up my hammock everywhere I'm expected to sleep in a bed that's not mine. I never have to deal with bedbugs, funny smells, or "mystery stains"! The best part is I always sleep well because I'm literally sleeping in my own bed, the way I like it to be.

Just a quick update on this topic, I've been using my Kelty tripod stand (with aluminum antenna mast compression pole) for about 2 years now, and I'm loving it more with each restful night's sleep. With some spread limiters on the Kelty poles, I'm confident that my hammock fabric would fail before the poles would, and I've bought more Kelty poles to assemble more hammocks. If I set up 4 tripods in a diamond shape, I can pack 4 hammocks between each tripod, and a 5th hammock across the center of the diamond. 12 Kelty poles in 4 tripods, with a guesstimate of 1200 pounds limit. Hmm, that would be pushing it with 5 big guys, but it would be lightly loaded with some safety margin for average size people.

The thought crossed my mind that there's no reason why I should have to be limited to tripods. I could do quadpods or quintpods to get some more load capability. With the paracord lashings, they kind of settle in to an evenly distributed load on each pole, so in theory, I'm ready with 5 beds for the in-laws and the cousins, and it all fits in a compact storage box! Of course, for as much money as I've got invested in Kelty poles, it would have been cheaper to just stick some $2 eye bolts into the walls and call it good, but I'm having too much fun imagining a honeycomb of hammocks sprawled across a football field. Why, I don't know - in the name of science?

[Stubby]

It's all about the angles and geometry.41LP5feVIrL.jpg........and trig, I think a little trig.