hammock strap failure

[Stumblefoot]

A month ago today I was hiking on the SC Foothills Trail. I had stopped for the night about 100 feet above the trail on the side of a hill. I set up my WBRR and fixed something to eat. I decided to climb into my hammock early and do some reading before going to sleep. I had been in it about one minute when I heard a snap and hit the ground. I slid about four feet down the hillside. No damage to me but my bug net had caught something in the head-end corner and the netting was torn loose from the zipper. There was a small tear in the netting.

It turned out that the one inch webbing had torn about 30 inches from the end. WBRR strap.jpg I used a sheet bend to join the two pieces of webbing together and it held just fine for the next three nights. I had used this hammock less than twenty times and never noticed any damage to the strap. I'll be checking my straps carefully when I hang now.

I contacted Warbonnet Outdoors and they had me send my hammock to them. They replaced both straps and repaired the bug netting at no cost. I offered to pay several times but they turned me down saying that it was covered under the warranty. I purchased my WBRR at least four years ago. I never expected them to repair it for nothing. My hat is off to Brandon and his crew. They really back up their product.

Foothills Trail (12)e_resized.jpg

[zukiguy]

Awesome!! Gotta love that customer service. I always try and check the bark for sharp spots or maybe the occasional nail left by other campers.

Do you use biners, dutch clips, or some other device to form a loop around the tree? Since the strap let go about 30" from the end that sounds like the spot where the connecting device would abrade the strap (assuming perhaps 10" diameter trees on average).

[laghang]

I contacted Warbonnet Outdoors and they had me send my hammock to them. They replaced both straps and repaired the bug netting at no cost. I offered to pay several times but they turned me down saying that it was covered under the warranty. I purchased my WBRR at least four years ago. I never expected them to repair it for nothing. My hat is off to Brandon and his crew. They really back up their product.

I'm really happy to know that they have great customer service as I just ordered a Blackbird myself!

[Stumblefoot]

Awesome!! Gotta love that customer service. I always try and check the bark for sharp spots or maybe the occasional nail left by other campers.

Do you use biners, dutch clips, or some other device to form a loop around the tree? Since the strap let go about 30" from the end that sounds like the spot where the connecting device would abrade the strap (assuming perhaps 10" diameter trees on average).

I use Dutch clips. I don't think the area where it broke was anywhere near where the Dutch clip attaches, but I guess that's possible.

[Campdavid]

Can you tell if there was any wear or damage in the area of the break? What about the other strap? Any wear or damage? I use cinch buckles and have always wondered if the "pinch" could negatively affect the integrity of the strap.


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[Secondmouse]

sorry, I know your intent is to show Warbonnet's great customer service, but I'm interested in the cause of this.

I use Atlas straps around the tree and pass the webbing through the loop at the end. I connect these to my hammock using Metolius carabiners. I know this is heavy and I'm researching a lighter set up using some of these tiny lightweight connectors but now I'm not so sure.

I've wondered about the stress and abrasion the narrow gauge and somewhat sharp edges of these connectors have on the webbing.

is there some reason using Dutch clips (or the like) is better than just passing the webbing through the sewn loop on the end?..

[Stumblefoot]

This is a quote from Brandon: "It doesn't look like any defect in the webbing itself. The way it ripped apart at an angle it looks like it received some damage to one edge of the webbing and then a tear started from there. You may have even used it a couple times in partially torn condition before it gave out. This is a good example of why you should be inspecting it each and every time you hang the hammock. The webbing can and will wear out eventually so you need to keep an eye out for it."

[Rain Man]

... I had been in it about one minute when I heard a snap and hit the ground. ...

THANKS for sharing this gear failure. Hammockers do need to know that such things happen and never to hang higher nor over anything they are unwilling to fall on.

Back in my caving days, the National Speleological Society put out an annual report of that year's accidents. It was a great way to learn from other cavers' mistakes or plain misfortune. Might be good for hammocking too, as even hammockers sometimes die from widow-makers. But it's these "small" mishaps that will happen, if at all, to most of us.

[HammockCanoe]

Good idea to have a spare strap on an expedition just in case the daily inspection reveals possible points of failure.

[BackpackingDude]

Good idea to have a spare strap on an expedition just in case the daily inspection reveals a point of possible failure.

Yes - absolutely a great point! I'm brand new to hammocking, and this is something that I wouldn't have thought to check before heading out this weekend.

Change noted and implemented .