I decided to try my hand at an all in one suspension for hanging both my hammock and tarp. It finally warmed up enough here for me to drive a stake into the ground and test it out. I went with the Myerstech design- although homemade, with no fancy splicing. It's not as pretty as his offering, but equally as functional.
It's basically a prusik loop- wrapped around both the hammock suspension and another loop, which is used as a handle. This makes adjustments effortless- even with the prusik under load.
On the tarp, I just made a loop with a plastic toggle attached (from Myerstech Hammock Lab), and girth hitched it to the tarp rings. This makes a very quick and easy connection to the suspension. .
What I love about this setup is it saves weight by eliminating the tarp suspension- my entire hammock and tarp suspension now weighs a miniscule 2.49oz. It's much quicker to set up/take down. And it's nice not having to duck under the tarp suspension whenever I need to walk around.
The only potential downside I can imagine is that you lose some height adjustability of the tarp. That said, I found that this setup creates the optimal tarp height- for side coverage and head room. If I really need to pitch it low, I can just hang the tarp looser, and it will pull down more when I set the guylines. I can also attest that the tarp does have any noticeable sag when I get in the hammock.
While I've yet to use this setup out in the field, I can't think of a good enough reason not to go with the all in one suspension. Another note, I decided to make larger pull loops after taking these pictures. That will give me more leverage when tensioning the tarp.
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