I had some 1" webbing of unknown quality that snapped during a weight test of my first hammock. I then purchased quality grossgrain from RBTR, and no issues since. I use the MSH, but I bought a carbon fiber arrow from Walmart, and chucked it in a drill (with a drillbit inside to keep from crushing it), spun the arrow shaft against a hacksaw blade to cut it, and I got 8 or so 3" toggles. The whole arrow weighed 30 grams or so, so the toggles are negligible weight, and so far, they have held up.
A lot of outfitters that cut arrows to fit will give you the cutoffs if you ask. I picked up several 3"-4" pieces from Bass Pro. I haven't been brave enough to use them for my hammock, but I do use them to hang my backpack.
The only drop I have had is from the UCR I made out of 1.9mm Techline from DIYGS. Clearly not made for suspension, but I had used, and still continue use, whoopie slings from that line with good success.
The UCR just wasn't up to it though. As soon as i hopped in my hammock, It slipped all the way to the ground (which was only ~6" away, I may be crazy hanging off the techline, but I am not completely inept). I tried tightening up the tautline hitch, spending extra time milking the bury, but after 3 more slips, I gave it up.
The Argon 67 hammock and 1.75 blk dyneema whoopie slings are still holding out. But I am just counting the hours.
Last edited by MattK; 02-04-2016 at 17:17. Reason: forgot an important word
Some resale store tie down straps that gave way and a hammock made out of the bottom of an old tent that split. Sure was fun.
I once was using an old stuff bag as a sand anchor. Instead of tying the rope to the bag I tied it to a webbing strap sewn onto the bag. It dropped me in the middle of the night and darn near made the 2x4 hit my head. It was awfully close...
Now I tie a larks head directly under the knot of the bag.
If I do it over, I'll probably try 2x4s.
The nice thing about the PVC was that it was designed to break down into 27" long sections. Of course that also created the weak point, which is where it failed.
If I do 2x4s they'll have to be 5 or 6' long, which makes it trickier to pack them in my trunk.
The other problem I had was getting the stakes to hold. I found that corkscrew dog tie anchors screwed into the ground inline with the guy lines, rather than perpendicular like a typical stake, seems to work as long as the ground is just soft enough that I can screw it in all the way. I tried putting them in perpendicular and wound up bending the straight top section of the corkscrew.
I had a Tablecloath factory hammock wear out on me last year. I don't know how long I had slept in it but one night I woke up to the sound of a really loud zipper. Opened my eyes reaching for the ridgeline and it was getting farther and farther away. Then my back was on the floor and the noise stopped. The fabric just unzipped at the gather.
Just strung up another (I have a couple different colors) and went back to bed. It was over a year old and my oldest one and I sleep in one every night. I guess things wear out.
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