Single Line Success

[MDSH]

Didn't like the looks of the pin above so made two others, a small one out of the bottom half of the previous one and then a larger one that can double as a stake:

[MDSH]

Even better, now that've slept again! I'll probably relace the pins with another nice carabiner so I'll have a place to clip stuff off the ground. I like the looks of things I *don't* make myself! LOL

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[steveflinn]

Maybe I'm not understanding this, so thanks for your forbearance of any ignorance, but I have a question. Well, two.

So the "single line" or whatever we're calling that goes from the biner at the foot end, up through the foot end tree-strap biner, then to the head-end biner, and then down to the head-end toggle-at-biner. Right? Slips free through the biners at the tarpline, yeah?

Then, like, what happens when you grab hold of either the head- or foot-end biner and pull? Doesn't the whole shebang move, so that your tarp goes one way and your hammock the other?

I'm guessing it'd take a good, intentional pull to make that happen, and maybe it wouldn't move very far. But it could go far enough to yank up guylines, no? (that might suck if you were a Cuben who hadn't got the word not to attach sharp missiles to shockcord-only guylines).

Is that a possible issue in field use? Like maybe if you reached up to the whipped end to help pull yourself off the ground. Seems like you'd need to put a brake or two on up at the tarpline-level somehow.

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Second, doesn't the tarp sag just a tiny bit under weight load for you? I was hanging the tarp from my straps for a while and definitely had tarp-sag when I mounted the hammock. But now I try to put a full wrap and a half on the tree and set the weight so each straploop gets half the load, which I hope is better for the tree. With a hard-cinchdown of the tarp and using STLs I elminated that sag completely.

It's kinda moot for me now though...since discovering how cool Dutchware Stingers are, I'm happier using current setups for my tarps. I know, the Dutchbling isn't necessary, like having a pretty wife isn't required to get the job done...for a while it's nicer with the pretty ones...but Dutch, don't take out any second mortgages!

[Whatknot]

These new sliding toggle ideas are really good. Just because of the rain and dew factors here, I'm going to keep a drip ring in the mix (under the tarp). Just ordered some amsteel from DD so my set up will end up being three separate lines of amsteel - one from the hammock To the ring then one from the ring to the toggle, then the line to the tree strap.

[MDSH]

Yes, you understand the set-up correctly, steve. I don't know why one would move it around unless it was to adjust for the direction of wind and rain coming in an end, which would be an advantage of this system, provided moving stakes was not too much trouble.

The tarp actually tightens when the hammock is loaded. In fact, I found that I had to put a bottle of water in the hammock to keep the ridgeline taut while adjusting the tarp, that is, the one time I put it up with a tarp because we've had drought conditions here and I wish the weather was worse so I could learn more about my system! LOL

When I use the hammock's SRL to pull myself up it works just fine. It actually lifts the hammock up some to help me get up.

My plan is to hang my pack on the SRL to keep the tarp taut all the time but my daughter borrowed it for a mission trip to Europe and has not yet returned it. So, more experimenting in the back yard when I get all my gear together.

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[MDSH]

These new sliding toggle ideas are really good. Just because of the rain and dew factors here, I'm going to keep a drip ring in the mix (under the tarp). Just ordered some amsteel from DD so my set up will end up being three separate lines of amsteel - one from the hammock To the ring then one from the ring to the toggle, then the line to the tree strap.

That should work, Whatknot!

Send some rain to Texas!

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[SnrMoment]

The pull force is no joke. I cannot use this system in my back yard because it bends the anchor post on my grape arbor that's set in concrete. I have mine set up with tree straps and one single, long whoopie with 1/8" amsteel. Hang the hammock by the continuous loops from biners hooked to Alpine Butterfly Loops in the main line. Trying to cut down on hardware and this sets up with 2 pair of biners. Biggest problem is the height I need to hang it from the trees so that the sag doesn't put me on the ground.
Like the concept and I've been following your work.

[MDSH]

Thank you, SnrMoment. I noticed the sag, too, and was surprised by it. The long hang of 32' that I accomplished relied upon a depression in the ground between the trees ... and my fear at the time of breaking things. I've not been back since upgrading to the higher rated materials. But even at the short distance in my back yard I must take up slack after hanging a while.

My hunch is that there might be a "breaking in" process. All my gear is relatively new and not used much except for experiments in the back yard and a local park. Headchange, olddog, and Bearchaser might have some insight about that.

Using mine as a true single line system like theirs is a project I envision. There is so much information on this site that I've lost track of some things. I'm wondering if prusiks could replace the Alpine loops, for instance. Has that been covered?

The great variable for hammock camping is trees. It's axiomatic, for instance, that the larger the trees the further apart they grow. Before long you're carrying a ton of stuff if you want to sleep among giants! So, I want to figure out a lightweight solution to extend the circumference of the tree straps and span greater distance, if it is possible. If not then there is always the ground, right?

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[SnrMoment]

I got interested in the long distance hang because of the amount of space that the lower branches of trees fill. The only way I could have hung my hammock on that hike was with a 30 footer.

Going up this:



Over the saddle you can see in the middle above the creek and down to Mystic Lake at about 7,600 ft:



The creek I was going up is the spillway from the hydroelectric dam. This tree spacing is a real issue away from heavily camped areas. I ended up backtracking the 3 miles to the camping area near the trail head.

[MDSH]

Everything is big in the West, huh, SnrMoment?

Mystic Lake is awesome!

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