Behold: Super Whoopies!!!!!

[Redoleary]

100% straps and ring buckles or elephant trunks, dutch buckles etc. are tree friendly, infinitely adjustable and do not suffer the minimum tree distance thing that whoopies do. They are IMHO negligibly heavier than straps and whoopies, but definitely bulkier.

[trippaw]

Two points here: much of the damage to the tree from cordage is hidden from view. It is the crushing of the little capillaries that carry nutrients up the tree. These are between the hard outer bark and the wood. The ranges know this and won't be happy with any cords wrapped around a tree. Granted, the worst offenders are bear bags thrown over a branch and hoisted. That action does cause visible damage, since the cord is literally sawing through the bark as it slides over the branch. A hammock will only cause visible damage in only the most severe windstorms. The invisible damage is still harmful.

That said, unfortunately your straps are straps in name only. The webbing needs to bear the load for the weight of the hammock and you to be distributed over the full 3.5 cm. As built, your straps are really only a cord cushion. While that is a good idea, a cushion needs to be able to distribute the force. Some folks use sticks to lift cords off the tree. Really, a set of 6 inch sticks will distribute the weight far better than most straps used around here, but that is because the force that was concentrated in hat piece of 7/64ths amsteel is now spread over 6 whole inches. The webbing, as you have it configured, may spread the load over 1/8th of an inch at best.

I love that you're innovating though! That is what makes this community so fantastic! I hope to hang with you someday to see what you ultimately come up with, because the out of the box thinking here is destined to discovery.

[Paul Zissou]

What type of cord or strap would be best used for hanging a bear bag?

[Benny]

I'm definately aware the straps are cusioning as opposed to weight bearing. That being said they are roughly 3 x thicker than seatbelt type webbing & more rigid.

This is a legit Q & not trying to take the p!$$, how much protection does a tree need?
I can understand soft bark trees not handling it well at all but a hard bark tree that can withstand fire, give a sharp axe grief & in the case of Nth America have bears scratch those whopping great claws all over them, is a hammock with with any sort of protection going to cause that much of an issue?
Again that is a Q, educate me.

I'll give it more thought & testing for sure but from the tree out the back I can't seen any damage caused by this set up.

Maybe the webbing & decender rings are the safest/easiest way to go. I agree the little extra weight is very negligable but they definately don't have the cool factor like Whoopies.

[dejoha]

Very interesting. It reminds me of what climbers/rappel folks do to protect trees by using a towel, pad, or carpet fragment to protect the tree from the rope.



I'm not sure if the webbing is thick enough for that small of cordage, but you're on the right track.

This set up could also benefit from using the DutchWare Whoopie Hook instead of a carabiner to save weight.

Also, if you're going to use the webbing anyway, you could set it up like how DutchWare does their strap/Whoopie combo, by only using the webbing around the tree and then the Whoopie goes to the hammock with the Whoopie Hook.

Keep on innovating!

[trippaw]

What type of cord or strap would be best used for hanging a bear bag?

I throw an unloaded cord over a branch and hoist a pully up with another cord in it. Tie off the pully cord to the tree and use the pully for heavy lifting. I'm never lifting tons of weight -- just my food, so I don't think the bark is being compressed there, and the friction cutting is negligible, since no loaded ropes ever slide on the bark of the branch, thanks to the pully. Of course I have to carry the pully (to the horror of some of my gram counting friends) but it does make hoisting far easier (which they never complain about, btw).

Just my 2 cents.

[SwampHanger]

There are tricks to saving the cambium layer on branches. Look at "sherril tree" catalog and look up cambium savers there are a few types. Bad part is you do have to carry a little more. I'm an arborist and use two types depending on the situation. I don't have to worry about bears so the thought never ocurred to me about bear bag damage. By the way using the pully method is great but you mulitply the weight the branch is exposed to. So make sure she's solid or your head might get sore.

[trippaw]

By the way using the pully method is great but you mulitply the weight the branch is exposed to. So make sure she's solid or your head might get sore.

Very true. Avoid the widowmakers!