Button Suspension

[SweetLou]

I was inspired by Grizz's HFDHS and wanted to take it a bit further. I wanted to remove all hardware from the hammock and tarp suspension and not to have any knots to tie in the field. This means removing the toggle in the MSH. I have not come up with anything new, just taking ideas of others and applying them a bit differently.

The first thing I did was make some loops of amsteel with a diamond knot. These get attached to the hammock by a girth hitch.



I will attach the whoopie sling and the ridgeline to these:




I have taken a piece of Amsteel and attached it to the tree huggers with an albright knot. The two tails will then be tied into another diamond knot.



I also can use a loop with a diamond knot and attach it to the huggers with a heddon knot.



The albright knot is fixed at the end of the huggers whereas the heddon knot button can be moved along the huggers. After hanging, the heddon knot is very tight and can be hard to move. Usually just a little playing around will loosen it enough to moved it.

This takes care of the hammock. No knot tying in the field and no hardware. I was having a difficult time trying to find a way for the tarp. I didn't want to use the same methods with the tarp, no whoopie sling. To remove all hardware, I could just wrap the rope around the tree, through my tie out then use a blake's hitch to tension the tarp. But, then I was tying a knot and it was a pain with my setup.

I thought, why not use a button like I did with the hammock! That way, I keep the blake's hitch always tied and I can just place the loop over the button.



This worked ok, but it was hard to keep the rope on the button when there was no to little tension. On to the soft shackle:



I think the soft shackle is cheating, it is just a replacement for a biner. So it is a semi-hardware. It's also more work since I have to undo the shackle after running the line around the tree so that I can place the shackle in the loop. I would like to replace the shackle with something like the button loop. But I need to find a way to place the loop over the button and not have the line fall off when there is no tension.

[olddog]

Going to have to look up some new knots but this looks interesting. At this time on my SLS I have 2 mini biners, 2 load biners and 2 toogles. What experience I have with soft shackles and diamond knots there is almost, never say never, 0 % failure. With the plus of a few grams saved. Something else to interfere with me getting what needs to be done, done. Guess what I'll be doing laying in my hammock tonight before dropping off to sleep?

[DemostiX]

Using your functional term "button" for the diamond /stopper knot:

For the rain fly:

• Use a mini-strap or short cord (6'?) to wrap the tree. Cord has an eye-loop at one end and a button at the other.
  
• Wrap the tree, passing the button end through the eye. Cinch to hold, with button facing the hammock.
• A half-ridge-line is attached to (each end of) the tarp in the conventional manner with a prusik or blake's hitch. The half-ridgeline has a fixed or variable loop at one or both ends. The loop(s) may have a sliding whipping in the Grizzly manner.
• The slip knot or fixed loop fits over the button of the rain fly's "tree strap." Tighten the slip knot or fixed loop or variable loop over the button.
• Slide the prusik or blake's to shorten the line and barely tighten the rain fly.
• Pull the ridge-line tight by securing the tie-outs, per Pan and others.

In going to buttons and loops, the user does need to commit to a consistent assignment of button and loop. Here, the loop is associated with the rain fly, and the button with the free strap. Is this the way it was done with the hammock, or was the button / button-hole assignment reversed?

[SweetLou]

I am a bit confused on what you are subscribing. But, what you said has given me an idea (maybe your's). I keep the loop with the button girth hitched to the tarp. My tie out goes around the tree. The blake's hitch ( I like them better than Prusiks ) is already tied, creating a loop. I make another loop, maybe a continuous loop. This will have the slider ( I use them on the whoopies, great idea Grizz ). The tie out runs through the small loop, creating a link. The small loop then can be cinched to the button. I don't like the slider on the blake's hitch loop because it made it difficult to adjust the tension.

This will keep the tie out attached with little tension, but the small loop should be loose enough to easily adjust the tension.

Edit:
Here's a little mock up:


The little continuous loop now can be cinched to the button, quick and easy.

[SweetLou]

I created the continuous loops to add to the tarp suspension. This works very well. I made the loops with Grizz's idea of a whipping knot to cinch them onto the button. I ran the line through the loop, then tied a blake's hitch so that the loops are permanently on the line.

This allows quick and secure attachment of the suspension line to the tarp with easy adjustment of the tension.






This was done just to see if I could make a hammock and tarp suspension without the use of any metal or plastic hardware and no knots to tie in the field. It had to be quick, simple and with easy tension adjustment. I think using hardware might be a bit faster and maybe a bit easier but not much. I doubt any weight savings, Dutch makes some wonderful lightweight hardware. I do like this setup and will probably use it.

The only hardware I have on my hammock system is my tarp stakes.