A sliding toggle (Yes, another suspension idea)

**Gumbo** · 01-31-2013, 17:34

Originally Posted by Timberrr

okay let's try this a different way

1st) Toggle with half hitch
2nd) Toggle with clove hitch
3rd) Hammock attached (ENO DN w/ famous ENO 'biner)
4th) Underside of attachment point
5th) Under load with fearless testpilot Gumbo (Hooray Gumbo!!!)

I kinda like the hanging loop too. It gives you a place to hang gear, etc.

**ninjahamockman** · 01-31-2013, 18:31

Verry interesting.

**canoe** · 01-31-2013, 18:42

if you use a Titanium or aluminum toggle will the intigrity of the toggle be compremised when a hole is drilled through it?

**MAD777** · 01-31-2013, 20:53

Way to go Tim!!! No bruises, eh?

How about ease of adjust-ability?

P.S. We gotta get you some photo posting training!

**Gresh** · 01-31-2013, 21:06

Alright, I'm sold on this idea pending a few things:

1) with my tree straps and a marlinspike hitch, I'm guaranteed to be "on the knot, not the toggle" just 'cause there's ENOUGH knot there...does that hold true to this system, where the force of the hang is on the knot, and there's no concern about a broken toggle?
(note: this is less of a concern with a sizable hardwood dowel than with 1" PVC, but I love the idea of the PVC)
2) How much force is exerted on said toggle, even through the knot? I'm a big dude, coming in at 375 lbs...is this something I can even consider to use with my size?

**Timberrr** · 01-31-2013, 21:07

Originally Posted by MAD777

Way to go Tim!!! No bruises, eh?

How about ease of adjust-ability?

P.S. We gotta get you some photo posting training!

I usedtacould post pics. Now it just doesn't work anymore. sigh... I wanna go back to the 18th century.
But no, no bruises and the adjustability is too easy.

**MAD777** · 01-31-2013, 21:13

Originally Posted by Tendertoe

Interesting idea. I like it.

For what it's worth, I tried a similar idea using both Amsteel and Dynaglide a couple of months back.

Continuous loop on the hammock. Run a single line of either Amsteel or Dynaglide from your treestrap through the continuous loop on the hammock and tie off with 2 slippery half hitches (think slippery half hitch then run another slippery half hitch through the "loop" created by your first hitch).

With Amsteel, it worked fine. Dynaglide snapped in two and left me on my butt with a pretty nice bruise.

Mind you, my hitch was biting on the Amsteel continuous loop whereas yours is biting on the toggle which has a much larger diameter than Amsteel. That may have affected things in some way.

There may be a danger here. Correct me if I'm wrong: The continuous loop goes around the other suspension line with a radius equal to 1/2 the diameter of the line. That sounds like the situation that Tendertoe had above. Rope in general, even dyneema, is weakened by small radii. This is what occurs in a knot, also.

Looping a suspension line over a Marlin spike hitch made of a 1" tree strap is a much more gentle radius. Best keep a cushion handy during initial testing!

**Timberrr** · 01-31-2013, 21:35

Originally Posted by Gresh

Alright, I'm sold on this idea pending a few things:

1) with my tree straps and a marlinspike hitch, I'm guaranteed to be "on the knot, not the toggle" just 'cause there's ENOUGH knot there...does that hold true to this system, where the force of the hang is on the knot, and there's no concern about a broken toggle?
(note: this is less of a concern with a sizable hardwood dowel than with 1" PVC, but I love the idea of the PVC)
2) How much force is exerted on said toggle, even through the knot? I'm a big dude, coming in at 375 lbs...is this something I can even consider to use with my size?

I share your concern about knot vs toggle. Essentially all the force is on the toggle so yeah, you're going to need a bigger toggle. How secure is 375? I dunno. I guess it depends on the size of your toggle, the angle of the dangle, etc. But when you commence the testing, don't forget the video camera.

**Gresh** · 02-01-2013, 01:19

I'm thinking I might take to the Lab (the name I use for The Swamp (the name I use for my workshop)) this weekend and see what I can do with different types of toggles. I almost claimed your PIF with the PVC toggles, but I don't trust plastic toggles if the force is all on the toggle. I might have some dowel rod, I know I've got copper pipe, and I'll cut off some sections of antler and test those three.

However, just judging from the sketch provided, it almost LOOKS like it can rest on the knot...sort of. My brain's gonna explode from going all engineer on this.