A variation of the treeless hang

**bear bag hanger** · 10-14-2008, 09:28

If we could figure out a way to use hiking poles for the center supports and just carry the lines and hardware, it might be light enough and would solve quite a few problems I have when hanging in Florida state parks (where they don't allow you to attach to the trees) amoung other places. I'm considering ordering one just to see how it works and if it could be adapted. At 80 pound sterling (I'm guessing around $160?) it's a bit much just to see if they're for real or not.

As to tensioning the cables, I guess a set of turn buckles would do the trick? Not sure where I'd find ones light enough for backpacking. They're usually made from steel. Plus, my adjustable cabon fiber Leki poles might collapse (become shorter) under the weight.

If any of you engineering types should figure out solutions to all this, I'd buy a pair in a New York minute. I had to go to ground at Gold Head State Park in Florida and it pretty much messed up my back for the rest of the trip.

**warbonnetguy** · 10-14-2008, 10:00

you could always just use a truckers hitch to tighten up the lines.

**CajunHiker** · 10-14-2008, 16:31

They do (or used to) make small aluminum turnbuckles. Some old external frame packs had them. I'm thinking about how a tinkertoy type hub might be used to experiment. The center hole would need to be enlarged for my ski pole, and also have to have a tapered hole. The center standoff could be made of lightweight aluminum (maybe solid).
I was also thinking it would be cool if you could somehow used the weighted hammock support line to also supply the tension for the struts. Hmmm....

**TeeDee** · 10-14-2008, 16:52

You would have a problem with hiking poles: the locking mechanism would not hold and the poles would tend to collapse when the pole is loaded.

The solution I found for this when using them as spreader bars is to insert wood dowels inside the poles to limit how far they can collapse. The limits are far below their use as hiking poles though.

I don't think that solution would work here though since you would probably want the hiking poles near their max extent for a hammock support and then they might not be the right length for hiking poles.

If you had fixed length hiking poles, they would work, but you would have to be sure the length for use as a hiking pole and for hammock support are the same.

Just something to consider.

**Peter_pan** · 10-14-2008, 17:47

Did a test hang on a 30 year old ski pole couple of weeks back....held my 193...close though.... the 150 pounders may be alright with this approach.

Pan

**LostCause** · 10-14-2008, 17:47

I'm currently looking for a up-close photo of the unit to help discern how it works. I don't know if this helps at all but...

I don't know if the poles in the top picture are part of the gyro thingy or maybe part of a stake out thing. Any ideas?

**CajunHiker** · 10-14-2008, 22:28

I think this pic may show it the best...

**bear bag hanger** · 10-15-2008, 08:12

In thinking more about this, if using hiking poles, I'd have to go with fixed length poles instead of collapsable ones. Something I'd be more than willing to do if the rest of the support could be figured out.

**pedro** · 10-15-2008, 10:16

I'm currently looking for a up-close photo of the unit to help discern how it works. I don't know if this helps at all but...

I don't know if the poles in the top picture are part of the gyro thingy or maybe part of a stake out thing. Any ideas?[/QUOTE]

Those are supposed to be stakes for setting up in the sand.

**pedro** · 10-15-2008, 10:43

Originally Posted by CajunHiker

They do (or used to) make small aluminum turnbuckles. Some old external frame packs had them. I'm thinking about how a tinkertoy type hub might be used to experiment. The center hole would need to be enlarged for my ski pole, and also have to have a tapered hole. The center standoff could be made of lightweight aluminum (maybe solid).
I was also thinking it would be cool if you could somehow used the weighted hammock support line to also supply the tension for the struts. Hmmm....

The aluminum turnbuckles I've seen would be very iffy in this application. Dyneema should be fine for this, as some small boat sailors are using it for standing rigging. I would think that using the weight on the hammock to tension the system would not work too well, as my experience with this type of structure is that you should tune it pretty carefully for it to be effective.

Don't forget that if one part of this structure fails, it can release some very serious energy in the form of a whip or other projectile in the immediate vicinity of your body. Not trying to be alarmist or anything, but I have seen the results when this type of structure fails under load, and we're not talking about anything as gentle as having your butt dumped on the ground. Don't scrimp on materials to save weight at the expense of safety. Personally, I use 2 ski poles on one end of the hammock. That makes all the difference in the world. If you needed to bring 2 more poles in order to set up where there are NO trees, that's a weight penalty of about 1.25 lbs. plus stakes and lines. (Oh yeah, does the weight of this device include the hammer/mallet/hatchet for pounding in the pegs? I just want to compare apples to apples) The bigger issue for me is checking ski poles as luggage on a plane. Those surcharges are getting pretty bad!

Okay, I just did a trial hang with three 2 oz. home depot stakes on one end, two ski poles@ 48" and it was ROCK solid. The poles weigh a total of 1.25 lbs. My butt was well off the ground, and had a comfortable amount of sag (the hammock, not my butt!) This brings the total weight to 1lb. 10oz. for one end, and six ounces for the other, since I'm already using the poles for trekking. Add a few ounces at most for stake line. Also dirt cheap.

By the way, this is also a great way for two people two hang just the right distance away from each other.