Sorry for the newbnessism, but doesn't a structural ridgeline take some of your weight? I'm 300-ish pounds and don't want to risk anything.
Rick
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You're right Rick, a SRL will take some of your weight depending on the angle of the suspension.
If your suspension is around 30 degrees from parallel you can have very little tension on the SRL. The tighter you hang i.e. the closer to parallel the suspension gets, the more tension will be exerted on the SRL. The SRL helps you to get a consistent hang but ideally you do not want a lot of tension on it. I think Griz figured out how much tension was exerted on an SRL for a certain weight etc. and I think it was like 250 lbs. 550 is strong enough for this but again I don't think there should be a lot of tension on the SRL if at all possible. If you find yourself with a couple of trees that are really far apart and you cannot elevate your attachment points on the trees because you are short like me, then you may see a lot of tension on a SRL.
Cool, thanks for the clarification here. I have been tempted to add the 550 SRL but was a touch hesitant because of the fear of it failing with me in it, lol
Rick
One thing to bear in mind is that 550 cord is nylon, and hence, will stretch. That's what nylon does: it strectches. Since the whole idea of a structural ridgeline is to have the hammock set at a constant sag everytime it's set up, using nylon cord defeats the purpose. You're a lot better off using some 7/64" Amsteel, which can be had cheap from plenty of suppliers.
I've used 550 cord for SRLs before and didn't like the results. I think it's safe enough, but as Hooch says it's designed to stretch...and it stretched enough that I stopped using it.
550 cord is good for A LOT of things, but I haven't found a good application for it in hammocking. Not strong enough and too stretchy for supports, too stretchy for ridgelines, too heavy for tarp lines and it soaks up water. Unless you just have a lot of it around and don't want to spend money on new cordage...
There is a lot of cordage that's much better suited for hammocking. Spectra, Amsteel, etc.
Amsteel would definitely be better. I haven't been able to feel the difference in sag a couple of inches on a SRL would make. Most of the time the SRL for me was for set up. When in the hammock my SRL were taut but not tight at all so I could use 550 with no worries about its stretchiness.
Depending on how thick paracord is, I would probably only use at most 2ft, and that would mostly be bound up in the prussic. Also, can anyone tell me where to find amsteel and how much it costs? My current, rather thick and heavy ridgeline tends to stretch, and I'm looking to replace it with a whoopie sling-esque setup.
-Aduro
Bought my amsteel at AHE
Redden Marine is also well recommended.
Redden Marine has offered a discount code to HF members.
No matter how much 550 cord you use, you're still derating it with the prussik. As I said, I've broken 550 cord twice now. I guess there's a chance that yours will function differently...but there's a reason I don't use it anymore in my suspensions.