You would be surprised when you find yourself hanging in a spot that you would not like to fall from. My goal is to find spots no tent will hang.Originally Posted by speyguy
I never claimed to be a genius.
But I put the rings together. Set it up low the the ground and voila. Seems to hold just fine. But the load test point was well taken.
I also like hanging over water.
Is that too much to ask? Girls with frikkin' lasers on their heads?
The hanger formly known as "hammock engineer".
I have yet to try that, but my feeling is that hanging over water would be a great idea in the summertime - more airflow and just generally cooler.
"Physics is the only true science. All else is stamp collecting." - J. J. Thompson
I was just thinking about the way I want to setup using rings. I already have it sewn. There is just too much snow outside for me to mess with setuping it up a couple dozen times to see how I like it.
I am going basically a crazy creek setup but using rings. I have one line of webbing that goes from the hammock around the tree. Another piece that goes about a foot from the hammock that has the rings. The piece that goes around the tree goes into the rings.
I am gently with my gear, but something always ends up happening. Over 6 months something is bound to break. if the long end breaks I can rig something up around the tree into the rings. If the rings break, I can use a knot around the tree.
Just something I thought I would throw out there. Maybe less useful for a weekend hike setup where you can tough it out for a night or 2.
Is that too much to ask? Girls with frikkin' lasers on their heads?
The hanger formly known as "hammock engineer".
Are you attaching the short webbing (with the rings sewn in) directly to the hammock? I think cord would be a better option. Just put cord from the hammock to the rings, using two larksheads. If you're worried about durabilty and replaceability, some extra rated cord is a lot less bulky and more multi-purpose than webbing. Especially since replacement webbing would need to be sewn into the rings, whereas cord is just tied.
I'd also just use one length of webbing to the tree instead of wrapping it around and back. The slipping loop at the end (with one length of webbing) helps keep the hammock at the height you put it. It's also saving a good bit of weight, and I think it's easier to set up. I used a double-length like that with my slapstraps, and adjustments were difficult because of friction with the tree. You could carry a spare pair set of webbing for the same weight as doubling the thing in the first place, too. Direct replacement instead of requiring any stitch.
Just my .02
"Physics is the only true science. All else is stamp collecting." - J. J. Thompson
I might try that. Really I think my weight savings would be on the 2 or 3 oz range. But I guess they add up.
This setup keeps everything as one piece. Something I kind of like.
Another thought would be to have the straps that are exposed to the weather seperate from my hammock and underquilt. I could try to do away with my snake skins and replace it with a waterproof stuff sack that doesn't have 2 big holes in it like the skins.
Is that too much to ask? Girls with frikkin' lasers on their heads?
The hanger formly known as "hammock engineer".
Speaking of which, here's my latest storage idea:
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery....php?i=507&c=4
This is basically a Blackbishop Sack (according to Jeff) with a netting panel sewn on the bottom. I already had the sack made, so I just added the netting to the outside. If I made another one, I'd build it into the bottom. The drawback is that it'd be really hard to do if you were making a 'normal' square-bottom sack. The bottom would really need to be a separate piece.
Both of my straps are in the net panel, and the foot-end one is still attached to the buckle and hammock. If they were dry, I'd store the foot-end strap in the panel, but the head-end strap would just go inside the sack.
The sack is also a little overstuffed here because it's got the 60" wide hammock I just made in it, as opposed to the 50" one I think I'm going to stick with. At least for winter use. My hammock sock and Jeff's KAQ are also in there. Nice, neat, dry, easy package.
"Physics is the only true science. All else is stamp collecting." - J. J. Thompson
Interesting project. I'll have to see how the stuff sack idea works out. I am thinking that I can pack my gearskin using 5 stuff sacks the same size. One for bag and sleeping clothes, one for underquilt and hammock, one for clothes, one for food, and one for misc. If I need more waterproofing I can line each with a trash compactor bag as a second line of defense.
Is that too much to ask? Girls with frikkin' lasers on their heads?
The hanger formly known as "hammock engineer".
In connecting the rings to the hammock - I suggest the following:
wrap the cord from the hammock around the rings at least twice, preferably 3 times then tie a bowline with a single or double overhand safety knot.
http://www.animatedknots.com/bowline...matedknots.com
The larks head works okay for very flexible cord such as the BPL aircore, but with stiff cord such as the HH cord, the larks head tends to separate the rings which often leads to the webbing slipping - at least for me it does. I have used the wrapping and bowline now on very stiff cord up to 1/4" diameter with no slipping whatsoever. Wrapping the cord around the rings keeps the rings held firmly together.
I developed a version of a loop knot that I use on the rings now instead of tying directly to the hammock cord. I then have the option of using either a single webbing line to the hammock or a double webbing line to the hammock. To accomplish this I use a second carabiner (Nano wire) tied to the hammock cord with a full turn and 2 half hitches, but at 0.8 oz/carabiner, it gives me more options and flexibility. I find that for trees close together the double webbing line to the hammock uses up more webbing and I don't have a lot of excess laying about.
Thanks for the info. about the larkshead. Would hate for my HH Spectra to slip.
Last edited by FanaticFringer; 02-13-2007 at 23:58.
"Every day above ground is a good day"
Jeff, have you noticed anything like this with your rings? I seem to remember you using larksheads to attach yours. I haven't used them myself in the field, but I put a set on the Speer-type I just made for NCPatrick and everything seemed to hold up just fine.
"Physics is the only true science. All else is stamp collecting." - J. J. Thompson
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