Modified UCR suspension/RL

[MyD0j0]

Up front disclaimer: my apologies if this appears plagiarized...UCR is a popular acronym, yet too short for any kind of search with reliable results and I'd like input on a suspension that I've been using (which, of course, uses parts plagiarized from many other sources ). In fact, after all my research and the countless hours of youtube, I'm not even sure this is really an original idea.

Many moons ago, I sought a superior suspension. (Haven't we all?) The SLS topic got my idea factory working and after all my research and combining different elements, I settled on the below. After several hangs, the only down side I've experienced is that the 10" bury is not enough to prevent slippage with initial loading. Once I re-tighten, I have not experienced further slippage. With this suspension, I've been in cold down to about 15* and in both light and heavy, but short duration rains, but still have not noticed any weather related issues. I am 5'11" and weigh 175# clothed in 3 layer winter weather.

I have 2 concerns on which I'd like to expressly invite comment (though any constructive critique is welcome). First, is the compression of the amsteel as noted in the last photo bad enough to eventually have negative consequences? I'm prepping toward a couple long trips of 7 to 10 days and want to know that I'm not going to be on my...butt one night. Second, how can I improve this to stop the initial slippage? I'm concerned the initial slippage may begin to turn into more consistent slippage with more use or longer duration rainfall.


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Max/Min length to tree strap: 20'/11'3"

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Soft shackles through the channel on my SLD Streamliner SL.

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3 inch fixed loop using locked brummel for attaching ends to tree huggers (I typically use a marlin spike hitch).

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10 inch bury through fixed eye piece.

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All my ends are return buried. The half prusik to help prevent unwanted slippage on the bury; masonry line half looped and 1 inch tails fished through for drip line; wood bead for extra insurance preventing the ends from slipping through the bury; 2 inch dia. 3/8 inch steel ring for attaching hammock's soft shackle.

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Detail for attaching to rings; the point between the rings on both ends of the hammock constitutes my ridge line; can be loosed in the field for adjustability (mine currently is set to 91").

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Minus soft shackles and tree huggers, the suspension comes in at 2.5 oz.

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The only deformations that I've experienced after 6 over night hangs is on the underside of the amsteel where it crosses over the top of the two loops around the rings.

Suggestions/Comments?

[ylnfrt]

STOP !!! Those rings your using are just spot welded then plated- they are not climbing rated !!! Always use rated hardware to hang from. HYOH
What type/ kind of rope are you using? The reason I ask is because I use UCR for RL ( Dynaglide) and SLS out of Amsteel 7/64" - the adjustable bury on both lines is 7" and I have no slippage. Some slippage may be occurring with your system at the clove hitch on the ring. Instead of the clove hitch/ try threading your line through a climbing rated ring three or four times. There was an old thread about setting this up if anyone can post the link I would be grateful- thanks.

[tobiusnc]

I have a somewhat similar setup. The main difference is I wasn't happy with the slippage of the UCR, so I went with a whoopie loop on each end of the SLS. Wrapping the line around the rings works, but I didn't like that they move when not under tension. I wanted to dial in my ridgeline and then have it stay put. I ended up splicing in a line with a stopper knot in place of the rings. I have a pseudo soft shackle in the end channel of my hammock that loops around and locks onto the SLS stopper knot. Here's a picture of the splice I used into the SLS. I don't have pictures of the pseudo soft shackle, but I will try to post some later.

EyeSpliceSmaller.jpg
This holds strong with ~2.5" bury, and could probably work with less. Instead of a fixed eye, I'm using a stopper knot (spliced loop around an overhand knot inspired by this ) WARNING: I haven't used it enough to know if it does damage the the main line.

[MyD0j0]

STOP !!! Those rings your using are just spot welded then plated- they are not climbing rated !!! Always use rated hardware to hang from. HYOH
What type/ kind of rope are you using? The reason I ask is because I use UCR for RL ( Dynaglide) and SLS out of Amsteel 7/64" - the adjustable bury on both lines is 7" and I have no slippage. Some slippage may be occurring with your system at the clove hitch on the ring. Instead of the clove hitch/ try threading your line through a climbing rated ring three or four times. There was an old thread about setting this up if anyone can post the link I would be grateful- thanks.

The amsteel I said I was using is 7/64". The rings are easy enough to replace; I believe they are 200# at any rate. Also, it is not where the slippage is occurring. The rings have stayed on that black mark since day 1 when I calculated the initial length of the RL. Though I would certainly be interested in the thread you're talking about if it will alleviate the flattening of the amsteel shown.

[MyD0j0]

I have a somewhat similar setup. The main difference is I wasn't happy with the slippage of the UCR, so I went with a whoopie loop on each end of the SLS. Wrapping the line around the rings works, but I didn't like that they move when not under tension. I wanted to dial in my ridgeline and then have it stay put. I ended up splicing in a line with a stopper knot in place of the rings. I have a pseudo soft shackle in the end channel of my hammock that loops around and locks onto the SLS stopper knot. Here's a picture of the splice I used into the SLS. I don't have pictures of the pseudo soft shackle, but I will try to post some later.

This holds strong with ~2.5" bury, and could probably work with less. Instead of a fixed eye, I'm using a stopper knot (spliced loop around an overhand knot inspired by this ) WARNING: I haven't used it enough to know if it does damage the the main line.

Hmm...and see, I haven't experienced *ANY* slippage at the rings. Their locations are marked and they haven't moved since day one. Slippage has only been in the bury at the ends. I wonder if the flattening of the line at the clove hitch produces enough friction that I've just been lucky in that regard, but at the same rate, I don't want to rely on deformed/damaged cordage either.

However, I would prefer a knot of some kind, just to remove the weight of the rings if nothing else. Perhaps an alpine butterfly loop? The whole suspension as is, including straps, comes in at about 5.5 oz and removing those rings would take that down a bit more. When I initially tried this, I had used a prusik to get it adjustable, but the amsteel prusik just slid on the amsteel main line when the hammock was loaded.... ahem...and my knot knowledge is not all that.

[tobiusnc]

My initial plan was to use alpine butterfly loops, and I think they would have worked well. What turned me off was that it derates the line to under 40% of its breaking strength. (See this thread) After trying to untie some AB loops that were pretty heavily loaded, I would believe the derating. Also, I could see me hanging flatter than 30* fairly often (I'm short, so anything over 20' and I can't get straps high enough to stay off the ground at 30*). There's just not enough margin for me to be comfortable in the long run. (Amsteel has a 1400lb minimum break strength * 35% = 490lbs) When I started thinking about dynamic forces and wear on the Amsteel, it made go for 1/8th for peace of mind.

One suggestion I came across is to use a piece of paracord to sheath the Amsteel inside the knot of the alpine butterfly. It increases the radius of the rope and protects it from cutting into itself. It should help maintain most of the strength of the Amsteel. Let us know how it works for you.

[MyD0j0]

What turned me off was that it derates the line to under 40% of its breaking strength.

After I asked about the Alpine butterfly, I went and did some reading on it and came up with similar commentary.

Also, I could see me hanging flatter than 30* fairly often (I'm short, so anything over 20' and I can't get straps high enough to stay off the ground at 30*).

The thing that I like about this suspension is that I can get it with enough tension that it is near level across the entire length. The hammock attachment points create the 30* and I don't mess with that much at all. In practice, this is similar to how the HH is expected to be hung with it's default rigging, while its RL creates the hang angle for the hammock itself. I can hang the thing eye level, higher, or lower and get the same lay result each time. That is nice, because I don't worry much about the distance of the anchor points vs height from ground. If I can figure out why the slippage at initial loading, then even the slight increase in sag that occurs the longer the span is becomes neglible, IMO.

[tobiusnc]

Look up the Hammock hang calculator, see what the force is at 10 degrees and you may be a good bit less comfortable with the rating on the Amsteel. If you're hanging close to flat, the ucr may not hold with the standard 10in bury. I tried ucr and changed to whoopie style ends on a sls because they hold better.

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[MyD0j0]

I tried ucr and changed to whoopie style ends on a sls because they hold better.

Do you happen to have any photos of your setup? I've read through the SLS sticky topic and I'm having a hard time picturing what you're describing.

[tobiusnc]

Here is a drawing showing my basic setup, and a couple photos. When I took the pictures, I had a continuous loop in the end channel of the hammock and I larks headed that around the line with the stopper knot. I didn't like how difficult that was to untie after being loaded, so I replaced it with my pseudo soft shackle. I borrowed the picture of your soft shackle to try and explain what I did. I spliced a couple fixed loops just big enough to fit the line, and passed the locking loop end through so it holds on the hammock. The locking loop holds onto the stopper knot tied into the SLS line.

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Drawing of basic SLS design. Single line with a whoopie sling splice on each end.


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Picture of setup with tarp attached. Sling ends are connected using marlin spike hitch or can be soft shackled to tree hugger loop.

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Line spliced into SLS. The end is buried in the SLS line on the right side of the wraps and goes to the left under the wraps.

Stopper knot.jpg
Stopper knot and hammock atachement

PseudoShackle.jpg
Markup of your picture to try and explain my pseudo shackle. Let me know if it's still not clear and I'll get a photo of it.

One other thing. I've found that hanging the whoopie tight makes it a bit difficult to release. I put a release line in it, similar to what you have in the soft shackle.