My Take On DIY Hennessy Hammock. A Tutorial.

[NCPatrick]

Great job headchange! Can't wait to see it with the cover too. Did you say the ridgeline is removeable? I'll have to go back and re-read (again).

[Bird Dog]

Cool project. Great looking sewing. BD

[headchange4u]

Great job headchange! Can't wait to see it with the cover too. Did you say the ridgeline is removeable? I'll have to go back and re-read (again).

Yes, the ridge line is completely removable.

[NCPatrick]

Very cool. Thanks!

[Coffee]

I made mine and am trying to get the feel right. I feel a huge difference between having the ridgeline going through the hammock whipping vs the normal larkshead knot.

My problem is with shoulder squeeze. I am finding a tighter hang gives me a really flat hang. But with that I get the squeeze. A looser hang takes away the squeeze, but also takes the flatness away.

I think I need to change something small with the way I am folding the ends.

Any thoughts?

[headchange4u]

Maybe a different number of folds. I think Drop said he used something like 4 folds instead of the 5 folds I used. My ridge line is probably about 90" from one whipping to the other.

You could do smaller folds thus having more rolls that may give you better incremental adjustments. It took me a little while and several attempts at whipping to get the feel right.

[Spock]

Headchane4u,
I second JJ's caution about the ridgeline biners. They may have been minimally stressed with the spacing you tested the hammock at, but will carry much more stress if you set up with wider supports. An overlooked feature of the HH is that the ridge line keeps the sag of the hammock consistent over a wide range of support spacings. When supports are too close together, the ridge will sag, but as you space wider, the ridge comes into play to hold the sag of the hammock stable. When spacing is wide, the stress on the ridge line gets pretty stiff. Using the ridge line as part of the hammock structure is a good idea, and any hammock will benefit from it.

I don't use biners at all, but tie the ridge line directly to loops at the ends of my home-made hammocks. I use a sheet bend to secure the webbing lines to the hammock, and sew a loop at the tied end of the webbing. That is where I attach the ridge line. You already have loops sewn to the hammock, and that will work, too.

[blackbishop351]

Headchane4u,
I second JJ's caution about the ridgeline biners. They may have been minimally stressed with the spacing you tested the hammock at, but will carry much more stress if you set up with wider supports. An overlooked feature of the HH is that the ridge line keeps the sag of the hammock consistent over a wide range of support spacings. When supports are too close together, the ridge will sag, but as you space wider, the ridge comes into play to hold the sag of the hammock stable. When spacing is wide, the stress on the ridge line gets pretty stiff. Using the ridge line as part of the hammock structure is a good idea, and any hammock will benefit from it.

I don't use biners at all, but tie the ridge line directly to loops at the ends of my home-made hammocks. I use a sheet bend to secure the webbing lines to the hammock, and sew a loop at the tied end of the webbing. That is where I attach the ridge line. You already have loops sewn to the hammock, and that will work, too.

I've got a small unrated/light rated biner in the ridgeline of my HH ULB, and I've hung it in just about every imaginable configuration that way. Hanging from wider-spaced trees definitely puts more tension on the ridgeline, but I haven't had any problems at all.

[headchange4u]

I do plan on changing those biners at some point, but I have to agree with BB. I have sent a few hours lounging in this hammock and there have been no signs of stress on these biners. They still open and close perfectly and they do not stretch or give when I am in the hammock. I still don't trust them but until I find a light weight alternative they will have to do.

[Drop]

If the structural ridge line fails doesn't the hammock revert back to a standard ridge lineless hammock? What I mean is it wont be a back to ground type deal. ('though I could see the slight potential for having a bit of biner being catapulted the length of the hammock ).

As I understand it the ridge line actually tends to compress when the hammock is loaded as the weight is transferred through the hammock and into the support lines.

All that being said, I use climbing rated biners, I'd like to try some of those mini biners that came up a while ago* or potentially attach the ridge line to the loop thingys with some kind of removable knot.

Drop
*From the company that doesn't seem to offer overseas service or replies to emails