You can actually do that with one piece of wood...no need for two. Risk has a write-up and pics on his site (www.imrisk.com). Says there's not problems with balancing or anything, either...very stable. Haven't tried it myself.
But you'll have to have a big stake...something like the big screws for tying dogs to the ground with should work. The soil type would make a difference, too - soft wet ground probably won't work out so well!
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IMPOSSIBLE JUST TAKES LONGER
I will use large stakes and my father suggested putting a 2x4 flat on the ground and at an acute angle to the fence (if you can picture that). Like this I\ <-- the slash being the piece of wood and the "I" being the 2x4, but the "\" would be placed lower.
Almost like a figure 4 trap.
I'll just go pick up some strong rope (weight don't matter since I'm only gonna use the stand outside at my house) from a local marine store and if I have too I'll multiple stakes in the ground to hold her.
HERE
He goes on to say that he tried a tent peg to hold it up without success.
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I fiddled around with a similar concept a couple years ago. I got the best results using 2 corkscrew shaped dog tie-out stakes. It worked fine in the back yard. It even worked ok when I set it up on the beach one day. But I had two miserable failures at SEHHA hangouts.
The first attempt was at the Rainbow Springs hangout. The soil there was so thin atop rock that I couldn't get a corkscrew more than a couple inches in. I actually twisted the top of one corkscrew stake right off trying to work it in (lesson: there's a big difference between the aluminum tie out stakes sold at the dollar store and the heavier and more expensive steel ones sold at Petco.)
The second failure was in Hot Springs. The mix of sand and decaying organic duff soil proved to hold very poorly. I eventually found a spot further from the river that would hold, but I was very, very careful getting in and out of the hammock that weekend.
So for a backyard hang? Fine, go for it. It's a lot easier than planting two trees and waiting for them to grow. But for car camping? I wouldn't rely on it.
Aceatc, another stand which is cheap and simple is the one that Risk has on his website. Since you already have 2x4's, the additional expense would really be minimal. I just uploaded pictures of the one I made based on his idea. I modified it somewhat in order to reduce the weight and setup/breakdown complexity. I know it looks flimsy, but I have used it many times without a problem and it was easy to build and cheap. Since most of the items I used were salvaged, my only expense was $2.50 for the bridge pins.
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Thanks for all the help guys.
Finished the stand today. I use the stand in combination with my metal fence (about 6ft 4in high) so my hammock is up in the air a little, but the stand works fine.
I'll upload some pictures once I figure out how.
here ya go
Scott
"Man is a stream whose source is hidden." RWE
Yeah, a tent peg holding a hammock? Not unless you live on the moon or the forces of gravity are temporarily interrupted. A tent will barely hold my asym tie-downs and won't hold my tarp (depending on soil).
Also, compare that to a 2x4 which the guys have already advised against. Personally, I think the bracket would be easy to make - only an hour's work as long as you have an off-cut disc and a welder. Why not try the 2x4 and if it fails do a 4x4.
I really like the bracket - the whole thing dismantles and packs flat.
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