Originally Posted by
Frawg
Pardon me for not replying sooner; I was hoping one of the rope experts would have chimed in.
IMHO, the answer is 'yes and no'. On the yes side, just thinking about the physics of what happens when you bend a rope, I believe putting any rope through a tight bend will derate the rope. In fact, I suspect that's why knots weaken a rope. On the 'no' side, the 7/64 and larger HMPE lines we're using are so strong that even with the derating we aren't pushing the limit in most hammock suspension applications.
If I've got this wrong, I'm ready to be reeducated correctly. :)