Has this been tried?

[logrus]

I was thinking about a different suspension system to make it easier to hang for beginners. It would probably increase the weight a bit though. Let's see if I can describe this in a way that makes sense...

This seems to me to be the standard way of doing it:
treehugger -> suspension -> hammock - suspension - treehugger

Instead I thought about this:
treehugger -> solid ridge line -> treehugger

Ah, but where's the hammock? On the ridge line you have two loops at the appropriate distance which the suspension and hammock is attached to. This way there is no guessing how much sway should be in the hammock. You tighten the ridge line so it's very firm and because the hammock (via suspension) is attached at fixed points on the line it will be at exactly the same shape every time. There should be no slipping at any part of the rigging.

If necessary I can have a go at drawing it to explain better.

Has this already been done? Would there be a point in doing it or would it add too much weight? I'll try it as soon as I get my own hammock but I'd like to hear what you experienced guys think about it.

Cheers,
Logrus

[gargoyle]

Continuos or structural ridgeline, yes it has been done. Quite a few folks love it. There are a few threads talking about it already.

[phatpenguin]

Sounds like the same advantages as a fixed ridgeline.
I was having very similar thoughts to this with my UC, if I just used it as a ridgeline too...
But in the end I could not find an advantage over treehugger>suspension>fixed ridgeline<suspension<treehugger.

you could check out the single UCR thread, it talks a lot about a single suspension setup.

[WV]

That's almost exactly what I use, but I divide the ridgeline into three parts, joined by a pair of carabiners, to which the hammock lines are attached once the ridgeline is up. So it's

treehugger - main line - carabiner - center ridgeline - carabiner - main line - tree hugger

The two main line sections are 7/64" amsteel with whoopie adjustments. When the line is pulled tight before attaching the hammock, I find that it then sags to about 15° when the hammock is added. At that angle the force on the main line sections is approximately twice the force held by the ridgeline. The hammock ropes are dynaglide with whoopies; they are also dealing with half the force of the main lines. The center ridgeline is also dynaglide.
The other thing I do differently is permanently attach the tarp to the ridgeline with prussiks attached to short bungee loops. The whole assembly is packed in a snakeskin. To set up, I hang the ridgeline, unfurl the tarp, and then clip the hammock to the carabiners.
This sounds like a lot of differences for a setup that's supposed to be the same as the one you proposed, but the central idea is the same. The hammock hangs from the ridgeline and it does simplify things. The hammock is always properly placed under the tarp, and once you've set it up the first time you don't need to adjust the hammock ropes to get the correct sag angle. The ridgeline with tarp goes up first and comes down last, so there's good rain protection.

[Running Feather]

Grizz/ProfessorHammock covers this in his vid A Brief Primer on Hammock Suspension Part II (continued) at about 4:25 into the clip.

[lonetracker]

here is a good thread similar to your ?
http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ead.php?t=4719
look in the suspension section for more.

[gnome]

I used a continuous ridgeline/tree hugger, hang your H from this, works well and you don't have to fiddle with the angle of hang, it is the same each time, gnome

[soysos]

I have done it this way before. but my setup is very knot dependent, so I never recommend it for beginners. I use an all cord suspension, gasp, but it's 5/16" cord and I tie a clove hitch around the tree. usually its clove hitch secured with a bowline, leading into a taught-line hitch on the hammock. for a few trips I mixed it up little and tied a rope from tree to tree, and two prussic knots with loops in the middle, then just clip a biner to the loop and the end of the hammock.

worked pretty well, but it takes longer to set up.