I hadn't thought about the extra shock of the drop as the few inches of slack is taken up. But except for possible damage to the hammock, I don't guess I would not be any worse off than a free fall to the ground. Oh well, maybe it's a net positive, maybe not!
Of course, every thing we use, ropes- webbing-buckles- tree!- is subject to surprise failure. I became more acutely aware of this recently while trying to hack saw thru the hook on the harbor fright ratchet strap. Just as I finally broke thru with the hack saw, the other side of the hook BROKE in half! Which casts serious doubt on the 500lb working load- 1500 lb strap
( somewhat lower for the ratchet) breaking rated system. I'm picturing that thing holding a load on a truck, being vibrated all day- and giving way. Or, after a few months of 200+ pounders hanging in hammocks using the hook. That thing looked pretty stout! It looked much more stout than my buckles. Just a factory defect, I suppose. But obviously it happens.
It all makes me tend to hang much lower o the ground than I would really prefer, and/or be more careful of what's underneath me. All of which detracts somewhat from the camp site selection benefits, at least for those who suffer from my brand of paranoia.
Does anybody here know of anyone suffering a fall due to failure of a Speer or HH stock unit, a homemade using equal or greater components, or one of the buckle/ring style mods using components rated at least as strong as stock?
Didn't Neo have some problems with some HH rope?
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