Two Trees, Two Hammocks, Too Cool

The way my fiance and I hung our hammocks last time we went out was to put the attachment points on either side of the tree. Facing the "head" tree, my Dutch clip was on the right side of the tree and hers was on the left side. This made it so our hammocks were hanging about a foot apart. The bigger the tree (diameter) the farther apart the hammocks would be. Obviously this wouldn't work too well on a smaller diameter tree.

Neat idea! Let us know how the testing goes... I'm def interested as me and my better half like to take trips together as much as we can.

What about using 4 slings & ridge lines?

Two slings above & two below where you want the spreader bar. Each end of the spreader bar connects to a high & a low sling at roughly 45 degree angle vertically (90 deg if you look from the side) and 60 degrees horizontally (if you looked top down). If you have ridge lines on both hammocks you shouldn't see (much) sag when one occupant gets out since the empty hammock's ridge line would go under tension and keep the full one from sagging and the low sling on the empty side would keep the full hammock from dropping toward the middle.

And you avoid needing poles along the tree.

Ed

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Originally Posted by gt7599a

What about using 4 slings & ridge lines?

Two slings above & two below where you want the spreader bar. Each end of the spreader bar connects to a high & a low sling at roughly 45 degree angle vertically (90 deg if you look from the side) and 60 degrees horizontally (if you looked top down). If you have ridge lines on both hammocks you shouldn't see (much) sag when one occupant gets out since the empty hammock's ridge line would go under tension and keep the full one from sagging and the low sling on the empty side would keep the full hammock from dropping toward the middle.

And you avoid needing poles along the tree.

Ed

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Good thinking Ed! This is actually very close to what this project has evolved into. I did a test hang a few weekends back with six slings on each end, and it worked. Well, it worked okay but not great. It did give me some clarity on where I need to tighten things up and where I need to do things differently. So I'm implementing those changes now. I know I'm getting close! Hope to get a field test test done in the next few weeks. I'll probably start a new thread at that point.

And hey... WELCOME TO HF!! :D

i may be wrong but why couldnt one set up their hammock then the other set up theirs above or below like one normally would then lock the spreader bar between the said whoopies to just spread the suspensions apart the trick would be to have a way to LOCK the bar into the said whoopies so as one gets out that the other end of the spreader looses tention it wont fall out now as one gets in or out the other hammock would keep a specified distance " the length of the bar" away at all times. but when someone gets in or out the corresponding hammock will raise or lower slightly but should be minable "approx 6-8 inches " and the larger in diameter tree the less it will be i think that this whole thread is a great idea and im sure that there is multiple ways to do this. another thing is the spreaders would have to be fairly strong depending on the weight of the occupants. and with this style if the occupants are not close to equal in weight then the heavier will sit slightly lower. and as far as the tarp setup you could just do one ridgeline to set the tarp on and then set it up like you normally would but it would have to be wider than normal the length would be the same but would need to be at least 4ft wider "id shoot for 6ft if i was to do this but then again i like more of a covering". and if the hammocks used are the side zippered design then just make sure both of the hammocks are set zipper out. depending on the hammock "footbox or not" you might be hangin head to foot but thats a minor problem.

anyway thanks for reading my idea on this subject

BT

Copied from another thread...

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Originally Posted by Timberrr

These are some preliminary shots from the first field test.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-b...%252520085.JPG
First field test - Set up with Whoopies

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-H...%252520088.JPG
Notice the three Whoopie Slings, one going up, and one down and one straight out.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-4...%252520098.JPG
It works, but not as well as I am envisioning.

I can't get the whoopies tight enough once they are under load so I want to switch to straps.

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We just don't have a lot of trees that are big enough and properly spaced to go without the spreader (spacer) bar.

:) Good god, that is a lot of tie-offs.

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Originally Posted by streamline

:) Good god, that is a lot of tie-offs.

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Timberrr has slimmed down and perfected his suspension since 2011. Sometimes R&D starts with a complicated approach, followed by an "elimination of parts" process.