View Full Version : Combined Support Line and Ridge Line
BurningCedar
10-31-2007, 08:53
I just finished sewing my first hammock (Thanks Just Jeff for the great instructions on your site :cool:).
All of the instructions I've ever seen make the support line and ridge line as two separate pieces. I'm thinking about using a single piece of line to serve both functions. My logic being that fewer knots means fewer possible points of failure.
Details of my plan:
1. Use BPL AirCore Plus spectra line (rated at 1109 pounds)
2. Use a stevedore knot at each end of the hammock interior to set the length of the ridgeline but leave an extra 18" of line extending out through the whippings of the hammock
3. Tie rings at both loose ends of the line for a strap-and-ring system
Since I've never seen this done before; I'm wondering if there's a reason -- like I'll end up crashing or something.
Any thoughts? Good idea? Bad idea?
Thanks
You can try it... Seems like it might work..
But I'd be cautious initially, there's a chance that the tension on the lines might tend to pull the whipping open some and cause the hammock to slip out of the whipping.
Most people don't make it all one line because the ridgeline doesn't need to be anywhere near as strong as the suspension lines, so its a place to save weight. Also many people like to have the ridgeline adjustable so they can change the lay for different tasks (sitting, lying) or just because. This requires a line adjuster and two pieces anyway.
If the knots are done properly they're hardly failure risks.
Try it out (carefully) and let us know how it went.
GrizzlyAdams
10-31-2007, 09:22
Agree with Rapt that you're trusting a lot to the whipping cord and its ability to be so constrained that a knot can't get through. The BPL AirCore stuff is pretty thin, even a stevedore knot is not so big.
I wonder aloud and with no experience at whipping ends on DIY hammocks but ignorance never stopped me from mouthing off before whether you could take a page from the Hennessy manual and somehow use the cord that comes through the whipping as a ridgeline to be also the whipping cord, and perhaps even the cord that goes out to the rings. One length of rope to do everything. (In the HH way the suspension cord does the whipping, and the ridgeline is threaded through one of its loops.)
well I'm wasting time writing this, just as you are wasting time reading this.
Grizz out and nose back to grindstone
what about using a short length of suspension rope and a slipper knot (like the one hennessey uses to attach and tension the stock rainfly) to hold it to the ridgeline.
it would make it so it had an adjustable ridgeline and no risk of whipping failure. only of the knot slipping on the main line.
Lots of ways to make this work... But again why?
By its nature it means using rope that is MAJOR overkill in the ridgeline, and gives more limited options for use like being able to disconnect it. One of the most common Henessy mods is to cut the ridgeline so it can be adjusted or even disconnected at times. Once you do this to an integral system like this thread discusses, you're back to where you were before trying the integral route.
i like the idea because then i could hand a full sized pack from the ridgeline inside the hammock using some mini biners and be able to slide it around without concern for overloading the thin ridgeline.
it also lets you change the length of ridgeline without affecting the suspension lines (and hang the hammock then play with the ridge length to your hearts content)
its not for the gram counters, but i think it has merit
BurningCedar
10-31-2007, 11:25
there's a chance that the tension on the lines might tend to pull the whipping open some and cause the hammock to slip out of the whipping.
Yeah......this is the part that worries me the most. I'm thinking I may have to use a thicker stopper knot -- maybe a monkey's fist.
By its nature it means using rope that is MAJOR overkill in the ridgeline, and gives more limited options for use like being able to disconnect it.
Technically it is overkill -- but 8' of this stuff weighs 0.28 ounces. Its a personal choice I know; but I can't imagine ever wanting to disconnect the ridgeline.
Thanks for the thoughts everyone! Keep 'em coming!!!
GrizzlyAdams
10-31-2007, 11:25
what about using a short length of suspension rope and a slipper knot (like the one hennessey uses to attach and tension the stock rainfly) to hold it to the ridgeline.
it would make it so it had an adjustable ridgeline and no risk of whipping failure. only of the knot slipping on the main line.
minor mod to this description or perhaps only a clarification to the above, use a slipper knot (e.g. Prussik) to attach ridgeline to suspension rope. That is assuming that the ridgeline rope is significantly smaller in diameter than the suspension rope. Slippers like prussik knots hold really well in such cases, and don't otherwise.
Grizz
Slippers like prussik knots hold really well in such cases, and don't otherwise.
Grizz
such as some 3mm spectraline on the hennessey 1/4" suspension rope?
Yeah......this is the part that worries me the most. I'm thinking I may have to use a thicker stopper knot -- maybe a monkey's fist.
Technically it is overkill -- but 8' of this stuff weighs 0.28 ounces. Its a personal choice I know; but I can't imagine ever wanting to disconnect the ridgeline.
Thanks for the thoughts everyone! Keep 'em coming!!!
What about when the only trees available are 1" farther apart than your fixed line length allows you to hang from??
Being able to disconnect the ridgeline would then let you get that extra inch and to hang there...
What about when the only trees available are 1" farther apart than your fixed line length allows you to hang from??
Being able to disconnect the ridgeline would then let you get that extra inch and to hang there...
is that any more of an issue than with a HH?
Dunno.... Don't have one... Likely never will... They're way too easy to make.
I was simply trying to point out a situation when it might be a nice thing to have a detachable ridgeline. (As many HH owners modify theirs to create.)