SLS/UCR Hybrid proposition

Hello all!

I've been obsessively reading this forum for about a week now, and I've recently begun trying to think of a good suspension system. Not that there aren't good ones here already, there are, and that has made it difficult to think of a better one. But the arrogant engineer within me (don't we all have one?) thinks that I can make a better one.

Yesterday I had the idea of a SLS into which you could tie two alpine butterflies, and from these suspend your hammock via two short (1 or 2 foot adjustable range) whoopie slings or UCRs, maybe with a few soft shackles or 'biners in there. This would give you the ease of setup, permanence, and idiot-proofness of a SLS while still giving you a small amount of easy, idiot-proof adjustability.

Then this morning I was reading about UCRs and had the idea of skipping the knots and whoopie slings entirely. Start with your basic SLS line from which your hammock hangs, then instead of attaching your hammock to it in any permanent fashion just run the "binding section" of a UCR from your hammock onto the SLS. Adjustability, idiot-proofness, quick setup, and minimal ropes, knots, and hardware.

So has anyone tried this before? If not I'll gladly rig one of these up and try it out as soon as possible. If somebody has tried it, how was it?

Sounds like a good idea. If I am picturing it correctly though, the SLS would run from the tree through the constrictor segment and then across (parallel) to the ground to the other constrictor to the other tree. I am not sure if the angle would place stress on the amsteel and affect the constriction in any way. Just a guess though.

that's it exactly. i had wondered about the weird angle on the constrictor.... i guess i'll try it out later. the biggest advantage i'm seeing is that you could dial in your hammock sag easily and leave it, to get all the benefits of a fixed ridgeline, but also adjust it to swap out a different hammock. also, this would use less line than seperate whoopie slings, suspension lines, and ridgeline, and is hardware free, so it should be lighter as well.

The only problem I see with that is the fact that you would have to resplice the amsteel to switch out hammocks. Adding a dutch biner between the hammock and the splice on the SLS would make that easier.

Here was one way to do a UCR-based SLS: http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...929#post133929

depending on the type of hammock you wouldn't have to use any 'biner. if its a gathered end with the constrictor piece looped and wrapped around the end then you could switch them no problem. i'm going to use some of the soft-shackes that I made to go between the constrictor piece and hammock. light, fast, and easy to switch. I'm splicing and cutting now, I'll hopefully string it up today and let you all know how it goes.

Success! At first the constrictor sections were slipping and I thought this wouldn't work unless the constrictor was longer (they're only 10", they turned out shorter than I wanted). then I tried milking the constrictors up, away from the hammock, so that they would bind with their entire length and it seems to be working just fine. I'll do a more long term test tomorrow, if it's any good I'll publish instructions and photos.

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Originally Posted by JohnOscat

well I tried it out briefly this evening, while it was easy to set up and adjust it slipped when i put my weight on it. it held well, but the last little bit when i sat down was too much. could this be because the constricting section was only about 10 inches long. should it be longer? what is the typical length for 7/64th amsteel whoopie slings or UCRs?

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Did you secure the free end of the constrictor so it would not slip? What I and others have done was take some small diametre cord like mason line, make a loop of it and then make a prusik out of it on the line and attach it to the free end of the constrictor. This just prevents the loose end of the constrictor from accidentally sliding loose. Someone else used a small O-ring to pinch the free end of the constrictor where the amsteel emerges out if it to accomplish the same thing.

I didn't secure the free end, though I did tie in a small eye splice (locked brummel) because I thought it looked nice. it would be a good place to attach said prussik or what-have-you. i think I may use the eye splice with a toggle. pull a small loop of the static line through the eye and put a toggle there, as though it were a marlinspike hitch. I'll try that tomorrow as well.

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Originally Posted by JohnOscat

I didn't secure the free end, though I did tie in a small eye splice (locked brummel) because I thought it looked nice. it would be a good place to attach said prussik or what-have-you.

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Yeah thats what I did as well. My prusik goes through the eye slice and around the main line.
Has the opening in the constrictor been an issue because of the horizontal pull?

not so much. I was surprised actually, there seems to be very little tension on my ridgeline when I'm in the hammock. these are supposed to be pulled tight, right? seems to me I could be using my mason line without a problem. I don't think I'm doing anything wrong...