DIY 2"X4"X8' hammock stand = $16 new

[11steve11]

My son and I are getting ready for a boy scout camp in the desert (no trees.)
We'll be able to drive to the spot yet not be able to park there.
So to be prepared I decided to fabricate a couple of hammock stands that require no tools, be simple to assemble and be very cheap to make using new common materials. Although I'd love to build one of the tensegrity stands (are those cool or what) I went with a design inspired from Risks website.

Hammocks:
Trek Light Doubles.

Suspension:
Gathered End with rope channel and supplied rope; won't be using the carabiners.

Parts:
3 @ 2"X4"X8' }$1.68
1 @ 1"X4"X8' }$1.38
10@ 5/16"X3" Gr2 bolts }$2 per pound
10@ 5/16" wingnuts } $0.50
20@ 5/16" Flat washers }$2 per pound
Handfull of wood screws }$1.50
1 @ 1/2" plywood chunk about 2' square }$1
2 @ screw hooks }$1

Construction:
2 of the 2X4's were cut into 44" and 52" sections; If I ever make another I'll go 40" and 56"
The plywood was criss cross cut into 4 right triangles.
All of the hardware is housed in the upright stands (green)
The wing nuts were the expensive parts yet my son and I can put one together in about 2 minutes without tools and can break it down and they fit in an 8' length storage.
The cross members (red) seperate the stands at 96".
When we hang in the hammocks we clear the bottom tension member by around 8". I am 6'2" and 261lbs and my son is about 100lbs. With both of us in one hammock we were still about 8" up. As an added bonus we can use the compression member to assist with getting out of the hammock. Our camp is the weekend after next, I'll update this thread with the results.

[jred]

Cool. Looks a little short to me, though. Short as in not long enough.

[Poppabear]

Ditto on the looking short but a nice design never the less.

[BLUEFIN 774]

Very good set up for a treeless hang. I think a 10 foot length 2 x 4 would be best for the top section, but the plan looks great and an easy set up.

[eflat7]

At least you'll be off the ground! Looks good!

[11steve11]

Thanks for the positive feedback

I began to suspect that they were too short too. The version pictured with my son hanging in it is shot at a sharp angle which makes it look even shorter. The hammocks hang well with in the 96" after I tied another knot VERY close (1" away) to the gathered end, not much different than when using a ridgeline. It really helps that the hammocks are doubles (extra width) to compensate for the greater angle of rotation of the body. In addition I didn't want to cut the 8 footers and I needed the parts to fit within an 8' space when transporting. We havent had a chance to test them overnight yet, I'm still building the tent part to withstand severe wind and sand.

My future solutions are:
>Make the base legs a little shorter and the upright a little taller. (between 2" and 4"
>Re-engineer the stands with 10' spreaders.
>Make a 4 pole tensegrity stand. <--This is the best option long term however we needed a solution ready to go in a few days.

[11steve11]

Update:

The weather was perfect for ducks and desert dwellers from dusk till dawn;
it actually started raining just as we were pulling the tarp over the hammock stands. The evergreens in the background were around 3" in diameter and about 4 feet apart which is why we came up with the stands. The tarp we used was an old hay tarp (4 layer/uv proof/heavy) and would not be suitable for packing (only car camping.) The stands were put next to each other (as pictured in our testing) on the small blue tarp and the gray tarp was pulled over the top to form the tent. We were roomy, dry and comfortable ; the rest of the scouts & leaders (all of them) were wet, some were soaked. The picture also shows they were not at all comfortable on the 5 degree slope, brush stubble and plow furrows. The stands were VERY successful and we slepped the same as if we had our ridgelines installed.
Our entire setup took around 5 minutes to setup and tear down; the wingnuts make this possible. I'll need to make the holes a little bigger as the wood swelled in the humidity, making it so my son could not remove the bolts alone.

There would be a trade off to going with 10' spreaders instead of 8'; although the standard suspension could be used, the stands would need to be taller and they would no longer transport within a 8' space unless they were cut. The increase cost of the lumber would be around $1.50 for each stand as all three 2X4's would need to be 10 footers. This would have the benefit of making the tent tarp another 12"-18" taller for increased movement comfort.

Conclusions:
>Keep the stands for future car camping or backyard hangs.
>If making another set of stands use 10 footers, make them taller & longer and use them as the center stands when camping with 4 people and deal with the increased length during transportation.
>Buy hardware by the pound instead of eaches.
>Wingnuts are simple and fast (make holes sloppy) yet it could be MUCH faster using old hinges or wedge blocks for fasteners.