Hennessy newbie question- Ridge line tension??

**warbonnetguy** · 09-06-2008, 10:34

putting lots of tension on the ridgeline will cause the hammock to have much more "inital drop" causing the user to have to factor this into the setup, usually having the bottom of the hammock much higher knowing the hammock will drop 2 feet once they weight it. this is not the best way.

as a rule of thumb, always set the straps around the tree as high as you can reach, or at least above head height (unless the trees are very close), the support lines should run at a good 25-30 degree angle and no flatter unless mandated by a long hang. if you have done it incorrectly, the ridgeline will sag while you are in the laying position. this is not likely to happen, but it would only mean that you have things a little too loose. tighten the supports a few inches, lower the straps a few inches. it is pretty difficult to set up with too much sag, most people (especially beginners) will tend to tighten too much anyway, so it is better to err on the side of "too loose" rather than "too tight" because "too loose" and you can see it in the sagging ridgeline, "too tight" is hard to know for sure. i put the straps higher than my head 95% of the time to get a ridgeline that is taut but not under any signifigant tension. the rl will often sag when i'm sitting in the hammock with my legs hanging over the edge, but will tighten up once i lay down.

oh, and i've read here on hf about several hh ridgelines failing from being pulled too tight, so it does happen.

**Rockdawg69** · 09-07-2008, 19:03

Okay! I've read all this info. I have an HH AS ultralight. I set the hanger straps above my head height and pull tension on the ridgeline until I have about a tight, almost level set for the hammock, generally, about 3 feet off the ground for me. I start out fine but by morning I have a lot of sag. Is this a function of the original tension not being high enough or is there something inherent about the HH Aym that it has more than a normal stretch with cooling temps overnight and/or a function of the time spent in the hammock? I'm only 140 soaking wet so it can't be my weight. My best guess on the angle of the strap set is about 25 degrees.

Rockdawg69

**Ramblinrev** · 09-07-2008, 19:08

Originally Posted by Rockdawg69

My best guess on the angle of the strap set is about 25 degrees.Rockdawg69

When is that? In the morning or at setup?

**Just Jeff** · 09-07-2008, 20:34

New hammocks will stretch pretty good the first several uses. Give it some time and it'll stop stretching so much. But if you hang the HH less than horizontal, you'll drop less when you get in. But then, not tight enough and your ridgeline will sag when you get in. Just play around with it and you'll get it in no time.

**Rockdawg69** · 09-08-2008, 18:00

The 25 degree angle is at set up once I get in. Seems to be more angle at daylight. I have used this hammock about 10 or 12 nights over the last 7 months. I had thought that the spectra line used for the ridgeline would have finished stretching by now. I also use 3 loops thru a biner on the tree huggers and a truckers hitch with a single half hitch of the running loop behind that hitch to lock the ridgeline once tension is pulled at setup. The knots are not slipping. I have not noticed any slippage of the tree huggers but I might better check that again on the next hang.

More practice with different hanging angles and tension is needed I guess.

**Ramblinrev** · 09-08-2008, 18:20

Are you using webbing or rope for suspension? When you talk about the ridgeline are you talking about the line inside the hammock or the suspension lines? If this is webbing... what is it made of? Nylon webbing, or dynamic climbing webbing will stretch like crazy and that will never stretch out. It will always do that. Next time snap a couple of pics of the setup and post them.

**warbonnetguy** · 09-08-2008, 19:22

so you're saying your ridgeline is taut before you go to sleep and then sags when you wake up? if that's what's happening, i don't think it's the ridgeline thats stretching. if you set it up so the ridgeline just barely came taut, and then had some moderate stretching through the night, then i could see it sagging. how tight was the rl when you went to sleep?

**Boundary Waters Hammocker** · 01-17-2009, 11:06

The ridge line is always pretty tight. I've decided that I'm not going to worry about it. I put what I consider a reasonable amount of tension when stringing the hammock, and assume the ridge line is engineered to accept that tension. So far so good.

**MacEntyre** · 01-21-2009, 08:25

The problem of having the hammock high enough to use the bottom entrance, without excess tension in the ridgeline, is one of the reasons I got the #2 mod bugnet zipper. With my Explorer now being a top loading hammock hung low, I still put the huggers as far up the tree as I can reach, even with trees 13 feet apart. It's much easier to get it right, though.

The last time I used the bottom entrance, I hung in a dry creek bed. The trees, about 14 feet apart, were standing on the banks two feet above the creek bottom. I put the huggers nearly as high as I could reach, and the bottom entrance was about waist high. That would have been too low if it were all level ground. BTW, the hammock did not sag much over night, but the huggers slipped on the trees! I've fixed that now, as well.

**BillyBob58** · 01-21-2009, 09:30

Originally Posted by Boundary Waters Hammocker

The ridge line is always pretty tight. I've decided that I'm not going to worry about it. I put what I consider a reasonable amount of tension when stringing the hammock, and assume the ridge line is engineered to accept that tension. So far so good.

I think with that approach, you have it covered. I'm pretty sure I stretched mine once when using the 3-1 leverage the - I can't think of what it is called- Hitch man or craft, or something?. It is so easy to apply to much tension with that. It is a good device, but a little caution is required. I'm lucky the RL didn't break.