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Rings, straps, and gardahitch for hanging light
I've spent a lot of time on the forums reading about rings, buckles, and straps for hanging my Hennessy Hammock. Admittedly I've never had trouble tying the HH figure eight but I've hated untying to readjust. However I was hesistent to switch to a strap. I wanted something that worked with the spectra line. Then I started reading about Hitchcraft and the Panther Rope Cleat but didn't like the questionable weight limitations and potential for rope abrasion.
So I went out and picked up some SMC rings, Camp Nano biners, and straps. Came home and went wandering the forums again. Found a post by greggg3 about the garda hitch where he provided this great link http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips/GardaHitch.htm (original post at: http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ighlight=garda)
It seemed great. I got out my hammock ran a garda hitch through the biners and just pulling it was clear how well it would hold. However the biners are 29 grams each (by my little hanging postal scale). While the SMC rings are only 11 grams each. A savings of 72 grams (2.5 oz) when using four.
So here's my idea ("mine" only if you ignore all the help from this site, which shouldn't be done!) for a really light, fast hanging option using the original spectra line on a Hennessy Hammock (or others). It requires making new tree huggers similar to slap straps that have SMC ring pairs sewn at one end. There would be a loop at the other end for the rings to pass through. There would also be other loops (as in a rock climber's daisy chain or a Slap Strap) that you could pass through instead, allowing for you to adjust for tree size. (This might not be necessary, but I've hung between some pretty close trees. Trees too wide to wrap around twice, but if I'd just looped through the end of my tree huggers I'd have not been able to tighten the hammock). After wrapping the straps as many times as needed around the tree, you would pass the rings through the best loop, tie a garda hitch into the rings, pull tight, and lie down. From what greggg3 suggests it should be easy to undo the garda hitch once you are no longer hanging in the hammock.
I've mocked up what this would look like. Imagine my super shelter bag is the tree trunk and you are looking down from above. The strap goes around the trunk and through a loop. The hammock line is then tied through the rings in a garda hitch (really easy!) and the loose end pulled tight. Test it by pulling down, and then lie down. (I think if you wrap the line the wrong way you won't be able to pull tight and get tension so you'll know you've made a mistake). After your weight is off the hammock it should be easy to pull the knot back out.
You could add a couple of half hitches for peace of mind that the line won't pull through.
Does anyone see problems with this? I'll try to find sewing time later in the week and give it a real test. I've posted an image in the gallery and will attach it here.
Garda Hitch hanging from a Marlinspike hitch toggle
I told NCPatrick I'd post pictures of making the garda hitch. In doing some searching I rediscovered this thread, which actually is the best place to park the post.
My boys and I are hitting the trail shortly. They both hang in HH Explorers. Last year they used the ring buckles with Strapworks straps, we didn't cut the stock HH rope. This year we'll forgo the straps, but use the SMC rings on the stock rope, using the Garda Hitch.
What makes the method I'll now document different from the others in this thread is the connection at the tree. I've grown fond of the Marlinspike hitch to put a toggle next to the tree. Now what I'll do is hang a pair of rings off that toggle, and put a Garda hitch through the rings with the stock HH line, and we're done.
Here's the webbing with the Marlinspike hitch and toggle
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...gh-1_thumb.jpg
I cut about 2' of Spyderline, made a loop by tying off the ends with an overhand knot, slipped the rings on with a prusik, and just clip the loop onto the toggle.
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...gh-2_thumb.jpg
The first step in the Garda hitch is to loop the cord around the rings.
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...gh-3_thumb.jpg
The second step is to take the free end and slip it between the rings.
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...gh-4_thumb.jpg
When the hammock is under weight the loop around the rings tightens them up to pinch the free end. For the pinching to work the rings have to be well clamped down on the other side, hence the prusik.
My stock HH hanging from this arrangement.
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...gh-5_thumb.jpg
A nice thing about this arrangement is that when tearing down the hammock one can unhook the prusik+rings from the toggle, and leave it threaded onto the cord (with a little more knot tying to ensure the rings don't fall off completely if the Garda hitch loosens up too much).
That makes set-up simple
1. wrap webbing around tree, pass one end through looped end, cinch up.
2. put Marlinspike hitch in
3. Repeat on other tree
4. Hook prusik+rings loop on Marlinspike toggle at each end of the hammock
5. Adjust as needed, if needed
On a completely different note: It has been almost a year since I climbed inside one of these Explorers. Last year it seem so spacious---but that was relative to the HH Desert Rat I previously had. The enclosed hammocks I've been in recently (my DIY dual mode bridge, and Skeeter Beater Pro) are cavernous by comparison with the Explorer. Which probably means they have too much material! On the other hand, the netting on the Explorer seemed pretty close to my face, and having more space there (particularly with the bridge design) is very nice.
Grizz