Your favorite material for ridgeline

[hppyfngy]

This is when I leave the room.

[perrito]

All in good fun. I'll stop here. Dave.... Dave.....

[Michelle the Camper]

LOL...boys and girls CAN get along, even out in the woods.

[MDSH]

I cringe when a small, hard cord is wrapped around a tree for a ridge line. The forces that weather exerts upon a tarp, and transferred to bark through the line, can easily exceed that of a man in a hammock. In fact, stone can be cut with sand-impregnated string. So, tree straps, right? We can still use a Dutch clip.

A small line can cut your tarp in two, as well. I've seen it happen!

Prusiks tight enough to divide the load between tarp and continuous ridge line but still allow the tarp to rest upon it from downward pressure in a blow or to deflect a deadfall seems ideal.

Then, someone needs to develop a velour treatment for ridge lines to give the tarp a softer surface to bear upon. I may experiment with 100 grit sandpaper on the 9/64" polyester clothes line I bought for $2.39 at the hardware store.

Mike

[CatSplat]

I use Dynaglide for all my ridgelines now, it's lightweight and very, very strong for its size. It's slightly more expensive than some weaker lines out there, but I'm willing to pay a couple extra bucks for some added widowmaker protection.

[Barefoot Child]

I also use Dynaglide for "Widow-maker" protection and lash-it for Prussiks (two different line diameters) on my continuous ridgeline, which is "outside or over" the tarp and not "underneath", therefore chaffing of the tarp material as a result of rubbing on the ridgeline is not an issue at all.

An as for the signature line...I agree with OldGringo....no matter what you say, it will be wrong....plead the fifth brother....and offer to pay for an ice cream the next time you meet up with the girl.

[barnes3126]

I was going to change my WBBB ridge line to zing-it or something lighter weight, but I have reconsidered. In fact I am changing my tarp ridge line to amsteel. I think it is worth the extra weight for the protection from falling limbs. I look for widow makers, but green limbs will fall in a strong thunder storm. We only had 30 to 35 mph winds from Isaac and it took 3 to 4 inch green limbs from my large oak. Really, what is the weight difference?

[kobold]

good catch mad, thanks! ... maybe it's a job for mythbusters... they could test on buster :-) it would be great to see hammock related episodes

but to answer the op: 7/64 amsteel for me - reliable, durable and lightweight...

[MAD777]

I believe the OP is asking about hammock ridgelines (not tarp). Somehow I doubt that if a limb big enough to do you in, would be stopped by any ridgeline. But I have no evidence to back that up. Maybe we can petition Samson Rope Co. to include that protocol in their testing program. Any volunteers?

[Barefoot Child]

Yup, hammock ridgeline it is.....in that case.....Red 7/64 Amsteel Blue and for ....Widow Maker protection, and the size of the cord makes it much easier to splice.