The Flex Of The Byer Vario Stand Revisited
Byer Flex—I have studied the Flex that BillyBob mentions for the Byer hammock, and when I watch my 123 lb wife get into it, I can really see it (more than I can feel it when I settle in)! In fact, the bottom bracket flexes down toward the floor by at least 1 inch! Alarmed, I went and got a couple hardcover books (I read on a Kindle now and books are little more than paperweights and hammock stabilizers in my house these days) and put them under the middle of the bottom bar in hopes of “helping the Vario out”. Well, lo and behold, when I sat in it and the bottom bar hit the book and would not flex, what happened? The four “feet” came off the floor! (Grizz and Kuzuko and the math whizzes would have known this without “War and Peace” under there).
Ah ha! Like those banana shaped wooden hammock stands—it suddenly dawned on me—this Vario is already precisely calibrated to allow flex in the uprights and the bottom bar. Each takes its own percentage, if you will, of the total flex, which allows a weight of up to 300lbs to hang from a 12.5 foot distance on a 60 lb contraption.
So, in the end, I think “pre-loading” the flexible uprights with cam buckles, or putting books under the bottom bar as I just did, is not recommended. The steel stand works best, and is least likely to have shear force wear and metal fatigue and breakage, if it is just left alone and enjoyed.
With all that said, I could be wrong.