Bridge Hammock Suspension

Maybe ;) :mrgreen: I'll sew up a bridge hammock for wide shoulder guys :D

I want to use large diameter trees, 2 feet diameter. I spend most of my tinme in "Old Growth" woodlands/forests.

The hammock is going to be a "base camp" type. I'll use Cordura, 1,000 denier nylon because I have lots of it from years gone by. I have a true walking foot commercial machine that will handle it easily.

My question to all is the webbing attachment to a tree. The two photos show my idea of attachment. Do you think this method will slip on the tree bark?

The spreader bar was just to hold the webbing while I took the photos.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...apacity015.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...apacity016.jpg

You'll be fine, in my opinion, unless the bark is unusually loose.

Thank You Professor:D

What distance from tree to speader bar do you think would be good?

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Originally Posted by GrizzlyAdams

You'll be fine, in my opinion, unless the bark is unusually loose.

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FWIW, I concur. :) :)

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Originally Posted by Stovemandan

Thank You Professor:D

What distance from tree to speader bar do you think would be good?

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The suspension from spreader bar to tree will form the partial side of an imaginary triangle. If you were to measure the length of the side of that imaginary triangle, it ought to be, say, 80% as long as the spreader bar.

Now this imaginary triangle will depend on the width of the tree and the distance of the spreader bar from the tree. Suffice to say though, that if you make sure that the distance from spreader bar to tree is at least 80% the length of the spreader bar, you'll be golden.

That looks like an Oak tree. If so, the bark usually hold the webbing in place very well. You should be good to go.

What about the forces on the bar itself? With the typical bridge hammock arrangement, the forces on each end of the bar are compressive and parallel to its length.
By having some distance between where the hammock connects and where the webbing connects, you're creating lateral forces on the bar, no?

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Originally Posted by Marwood

What about the forces on the bar itself? With the typical bridge hammock arrangement, the forces on each end of the bar are compressive and parallel to its length.
By having some distance between where the hammock connects and where the webbing connects, you're creating lateral forces on the bar, no?

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Si! But they may be very small forces, if the distance between the fulcrums is small. There is always a slight difference between the location of force of the hammock pull versus the location of force of the suspension triangle pull. The angles are just not the same.

Thank you everyone for your comments and suggestions. I want to make sure I get off on the right foot. Don't want to be sliding down the tree the first time I go to sit in the hammock.

The tree in the photo is Green Ash with possible infection of the Green Ash borer:( I'll know for sure next year.:scared:

As long as the tree is smaller in diameter by 6 inches than the length of the spreader bar, I'm going to be ok, correct?

Let's say my spreader bar is 4 feet, then my distance from bar to tree would be 3.2 feet (80%) That sound right?