Carabiner strength rating needed to hang hammock????

[William36]

Question is this.

If each carabiner I want to use at each tree strap end of suspension to attach hammock line to is rated at 200 pound strength, are the two sharing the work of suspending the hammock with me in it????

So if I weigh 160 pounds, is each "biner" really only supporting about 80 pounds.....

If so then using the 200 pound rated ones i have should be way more than adequate correct??

[William36]

I realize I may get, and would appreciate all the physics, angle calculations etc. but generally I mean is the above theory correct??

[Timberrr]

On a related note...
Someone please tell me what a 'kn' is. I know it's a strength rating for carabiners but does it translate into 'X' number of pounds? Or any other comprehensible (useful) scale? I'm confused.

[gnar]

not sure, but I dont think it works that way?? imho I think that each line would bare its own load, so wouldnt both lines be supporting the entire load?

[gmcttr]

So if I weigh 160 pounds, is each "biner" really only supporting about 80 pounds.....

If so then using the 200 pound rated ones i have should be way more than adequate correct??

Nope. At a 30 degree hang angle, each end will see your full weight of 160 lbs.

Move the weight up and down with your mouse to see the effect of the hang angle....http://tagsafety.com/library6.asp

Here's a little experiment I did last year...https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...9&postcount=16

On a related note...
Someone please tell me what a 'kn' is...

1 Kilonewton = 224.8 pound-force.

[William36]

The kn concept I get. Caribiners are not truly rated for how much weight they will "hold", but kinda how much more weight or more accurately "force" it will catch or "stop" without breaking or failing. They are rated to " catch" a person or object after a slippage or falling while for example rock climbing.

A Kn = 224 pound force. Whatever the hell a pound force is????

But at least I grasp he "stopping" concept I think.

[mattyg]

kn =kilo newton. humans are not an equally distributed load and there is the whole angle and force thing where you can put more load then the suspended object. also when you climb in and out you create a dynamic load which can also exert a force greater than your mass. or so im told
1 kilonewton =
224.808943 pounds force

[Bubba]

I think most hangers here like to operate with a safety factor of 5 to 1 for any hammock suspension and related hardware. Some use higher but its good to have that safety margin for dynamic forces that may occur.

[William36]

So by those "rules" my 200 or 250 pound carabiners and 200 pound rings are woefully under rated?????

[William36]

This seems like one of those stories thats going to end like every other one that starts with me saying "Hey kids watch this.....!!!"

Next part of that story is me on the way to the ER....