HH Stock Tarp Suspension

[saki]

Hi all! I have a question about how to suspend my Hennessy Hammock's stock tarp. I've added whoopie slings to suspend the hammock and because of the placement of the bury's the hooks that came with the hammock to hang the tarp originally don't do the trick. To fix the problem I took two peices of line and put the hooks onto them with prussic knots. These go onto each of the trees and then hook into the loops on the tarp. My only problem with this is that it suspends the tarp too far from the hammock and in really rainy conditions it won't provide adequate coverage due to the small tarp size. My next attempt to fix this problem will be to suspend the tarp using the secondary prussic suspension and afix them lower than the hammock's suspension on the tree. I will also be getting longer line and create one continuous ridge line for my tarp. With just the attachments on either side I need to put a considerable ammout of pull on the tarp to get it nice and taught and I already see a little piece of the fabric in one of the corners ripping a bit. How to all of you suspend your stock HH tarps to provide adequate coverage? Am I going about this the right way?

[Owl]

I've never suspended the stock tarp on the hammock ridgeline, nor have I used the supplied prussics as tarp tensioners.

This just creates too much sag when you actually climb into the hammock.

I've used a continuous (seperate) ridgeline just for the tarp, and it worked OK.

Now I just use cordage attached to the plastic loops that HH provided on either end of the tarp, wrap once around a tree, and then back to a Fig 9 to tension/adjust the tarp with. Never had an issue with this setup.

[ragnall]

I also just have a line tied to the two plastic rings on the tarp and tie off to the tree below the hammock suspension. I feel like I get better coverage this way than using the stock attachment. There is less of a gap between the hammock and the fly after I get in, so the sides cover lower on the hammock.

Ragnall

[BillyBob58]

I also just have a line tied to the two plastic rings on the tarp and tie off to the tree below the hammock suspension. I feel like I get better coverage this way than using the stock attachment. There is less of a gap between the hammock and the fly after I get in, so the sides cover lower on the hammock.

Ragnall

Ragnall, I am really fascinated that you can actually get improved coverage this way. I have been more like the OP, in that when I attach tarp to trees with any tarp or hammock, when I get in the hammock it sags towards the ground, I move farther from the tarp and usually have less coverage. This does not matter much with my rectangular JRB tarp. It matters more with my hex tarps and most especially with the stock HH "diamond" tarp. That tarp has so little side coverage that if I am not as close as possible to the tarp RL, coverage obviously becomes pretty scant.

I can't get any closer to the tarp- whether attached to the HH suspension ot tied to the trees- than the the HH RL about in contact with the tarp. The hammock RL is the limit, and I can pitch just barely in contact with this RL either by using the HH suspension or by tying the tarp to the trees.

But if the tarp is tied to the HH suspension, I get in, hammock sags, and tarp sags also. Loose floppy tarp results, but tarp/hammock RL contact is maintained. If I am tied to the trees- even if I start out with the tarp about in contact with the hammock RL- I get in, hammock sags, tarp does not. Nice tight tarp, but I am pretty well exposed on the sides with that HH stock tarp. I now have a good foot or more extra distance between me and the tarp. If you have any further tips about how you are getting improved coverage tying to the trees- or any pics of what you are doing- I would appreciate hearing/seeing it. Unless there is just nothing more to say than "have a line tied to the two plastic rings on the tarp and tie off to the tree below the hammock suspension".

[ragnall]

Ragnall, I am really fascinated that you can actually get improved coverage this way. I have been more like the OP, in that when I attach tarp to trees with any tarp or hammock, when I get in the hammock it sags towards the ground, I move farther from the tarp and usually have less coverage. This does not matter much with my rectangular JRB tarp. It matters more with my hex tarps and most especially with the stock HH "diamond" tarp. That tarp has so little side coverage that if I am not as close as possible to the tarp RL, coverage obviously becomes pretty scant.

I can't get any closer to the tarp- whether attached to the HH suspension ot tied to the trees- than the the HH RL about in contact with the tarp. The hammock RL is the limit, and I can pitch just barely in contact with this RL either by using the HH suspension or by tying the tarp to the trees.

But if the tarp is tied to the HH suspension, I get in, hammock sags, and tarp sags also. Loose floppy tarp results, but tarp/hammock RL contact is maintained. If I am tied to the trees- even if I start out with the tarp about in contact with the hammock RL- I get in, hammock sags, tarp does not. Nice tight tarp, but I am pretty well exposed on the sides with that HH stock tarp. I now have a good foot or more extra distance between me and the tarp. If you have any further tips about how you are getting improved coverage tying to the trees- or any pics of what you are doing- I would appreciate hearing/seeing it. Unless there is just nothing more to say than "have a line tied to the two plastic rings on the tarp and tie off to the tree below the hammock suspension".

I do set up with the tarp almost, if not, touching the ridgeline before getting in. When I used the stock attachment it looked like I had 4-6 inches between the ridgeline and the tarp that grew to a couple of feet and was just blowing in the wind. (It may not have been that big of a gap, but that is how it seemed from inside.) With the tarp on the ridgeline it does seem like the gap created when I get in is more like 9-12 inches. The view out the side was the other big difference. With the tarp tied low I just had a small slit that I could see under, but felt very exposed with the stock setup.

Maybe it is that the billowing of the loose tarp is what made it seem much worse than the tight setup tied below the hammock suspension. I have added Self tensioning lines to the sides of my tarp. I may have to try the stock setup again to see if they will keep out the slack when I get in, and see what the gap looks like then.

Ragnall

[nothermark]

FWIW - I think the root cause of your problem was taking out the original suspension while using the stock tarp. If one wants to modify a Hennessy suspension with a stock tarp it just makes more sense to leave the original rope in place and tie a loop or descender ring outboard of where the tarp and over cover attach. You can use any other suspension you want to at that point without changing the basic design of the package. It won't change the weight that much. It will greatly simplify the new setup.