Same reason the Turtledog stand was created :-) 300 pages of creative thinking :-) 300 pages of making it lighter and sharing ideas. I wanna create and make a one tree hammock frame lighter and more comfy using the technology accumilated from the Turtledog thread :-). Take it to the local hangs and say: "look what I made"
Waddaya think Banjoman, good enough?
I can think of at least three reasons this is a good idea. First bugs will not crawl up into your cot. I set up a cot overnight in a dried up flood plain area and the bugs, who seemed to be very thirsty crawled into bed with me all night long. I probably got up at least 10 times and cleared everything of bugs (mostly spiders). Second the view is much better in a forest above the low brush. If I lie in a tent it is now like being boxed in with plants on each side, but a hammock makes me feel like I am outside. Third, you could adjust the angles of it with maybe cinch buckles and have a suspended recliner, or whatever. I may have to try this myself. Right now I think the weak point is the hinges on my Coleman aluminum model. I would probably reinforce them before getting into it. Maybe $30 in cinch buckles and webbing and I could do it, but it goes on my long term list of things to do.
Sounds good to me, Stovemandan! Onward and upward.Originally Posted by Stovemandan
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Another high in the sky hammocker is
TreeFool He has made some great tree hammocks for camping high above forest floor.
His videos are on YouTube
Your DIY projects, reminded me of his aerial camping.
Phantom—-short and skeeerd of heights
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Dan-
I think the group is planning on trying some Rockford area hangs as the folks are generally northern Illinois/southern Wisconsin folks.
Da' Shack hang is a great place to meet up with everyone as well.
A tato stand and my big guy would likely do it... but that's as expensive if not more so than a portaledge off the shelf.
Anywho... not discouraging any tinker but I personally like to start with what won't work.
My eyeball impression of the shepard hook: the hook is not far enough away from the base. I used to hang my portaledge off the tree in the backyard but more often on the basketball post.
If you don't have a good 15-18" from center of hook to the pole you will end up loading the center of the pole along the side, as your ledge will end up resting on the pole.
The biggest structural issue with a portaledge is 'hourglassing' which is basically having the poles flex or eventually break to the center.
Typically the pipe used is 1 1/8" diameter and you need some fixed 90* corners so the rectangle cannot collapse. If I recall correctly the ends of my ledge were fixed to the poles and after setup you put a cotter pin type thing into the the other side of the corner.
Perhaps a quick and dirty option would be to use some fence rail sections but I'm not aware of a good off the shelf connection but I'd imagine you could find some 'T' pieces easy enough.
The biggest comfort issue... on a wall you get a solid shelf. In a tree or on a pole- you're spinning in the wind. The twisting motion isn't too bad, but on the basketball pole especially I ended up in just the right spot that I'd bump the pole often. Didn't bother me a ton, but it does 'ding' like a dinner bell everytime you bump pole to pole.
On the newer big doubles... they use a drop spreader bar at the center. If I were making a DIY version for someone over 200lbs I would seriously look into that option as the center collapse is the biggest concern.
https://www.metoliusclimbing.com/portaledges.html
If you do a search, you will likely find some old BPL threads or climbing forum posts about DIY portaledges... plenty of broke climbing bums looking to save a buck, lol.
Good Luck and you're always welcome at all the hangs... debatable if I can ever spring free and make it but maybe one of these days, lol.
Thank you for that info. It has led me to some very useful info. The video shows him using a Portaledge.
It gets better. This one shows his DIY single. Listen to him call it a hammock and observe how his fabric covering is attached. I'm getting all excited about this new project LOL :-)))))
The video shows how the center cot leg acts as the central spreader bar to prvent the hourglassing. Also notice the webbing on the underside of the hammock for additional center support. Each supporting web strap has an individual ratchet to level off the hammock.The biggest structural issue with a portaledge is 'hourglassing' which is basically having the poles flex or eventually break to the center.
Only time will tell how light weight I can get the hammock to be
Last edited by Stovemandan; 04-13-2018 at 14:23.
Each of the 4 suspension straps, as seen in the latest video, are adjustable using cam buckles. I'll be able to adjust the straps to level off the portaledge aka "Hammocot"My eyeball impression of the shepard hook: the hook is not far enough away from the base. I used to hang my portaledge off the tree in the backyard but more often on the basketball post.
If you don't have a good 15-18" from center of hook to the pole you will end up loading the center of the pole along the side, as your ledge will end up resting on the pole.as it rests against the pole.
The center leg of the cot as seen in the video acts as a spreader bar to eliminate hour glassing. That bar can be shortened to decrease weight.
cam buckle.JPG
cam buckles in video
cam buckles in vid.JPG
Last edited by Stovemandan; 04-13-2018 at 21:58.
I now have a new goal for my life: watching the sunrise from a portaledge
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"You keep using that word; I do not think it means what you think it means."
searching has given me some options on compact, lightweight framework:
cot chart.JPG
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