Handy Hammock - The Ultralight Hammock Stand

[macfly]

cv66seabear: thanks for getting the ball rolling on this!

Jason: Thank you for extending the group buy through Friday! I hadn't been able to keep up with the forums lately and just found out about it today. I put my order in for the stand + red hammock. Will be anxious to see how the WL Night Owl fits on it; if it works out, the Handy Hammock stand will be perfect for bluegrass festivals this summer.

[MAD777]

BTW, Jason has extended the wonderful HammockForum discount buy through today.
But, THIS IS THE LAST DAY!!

No more sitting on the proverbial fence!

Go back to Post #61 in this thread for the instructions....

[cv66seabear]

That's great! I wonder what the total number of members is? Jason?

[Envynlust]

got in on the group buy, setup for the first time today in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco (pic link below).

questions:

1.for converting for use with other hammocks, what type of knot should I tie - side guy lines to included connector set's?
2. anywhere else I can buy "beach peg' equivalents? since they are currently out of stock till june. I would love to be able to hang at the beach.


i will be attaching either a eno doublenest, or a xlc bb double 1.7 (if it ever ships, waiting 7 weeks now)

http://imgur.com/a/VqVaa#6

[Roadrunnr72]

Got mine about a week, week and a half ago. Will have to make the mods that are listed above, and made by Derek. When I set it up, I had to keep moving the inner ring for the strut, out towards the stakes. I didn't leave enough room to wrap the guy lines around the pegs. Once I got that figured out, I adjusted the other end to make sure I have enough line in the guys to go around the pegs. The next time I set it up, I'll have a tape measure and find out how long I need to make the other lines that are pictured above. It will make set up much easier....,RR

[cv66seabear]

You can try these:
http://www.rei.com/product/725165/re...d-tent-anchors

I think towards the beginning of Just Jeff's review of Handy Hammock there was someone who had another solution for beach anchors.

[wildewudu]

Got mine in late last week, finally! Went out the next day in between rain storms and set it up. I made the mods before hand: xtra cords to maintain correct distance between struts and anchors & shockcord to keep struts upright while setting up. Unfortunately, when I looked in my Handy Hammock bag for the shockcord it was gone! I had forgotten it at home.

The real PITA part was getting the lines connected to the red disks untangled, but once that was done the set up was pretty easy. I started by spreading out the red disks & cordage into an 'hourglass' shape on the ground. Set up the struts and inserted the bottom end into the middle two red disks. Since I forgot my shockcord (I tied two mini 1" diam. steel rings from strapworks.com to either ends) I had my kids hold up the struts while setting the anchor points. A few more times setting the anchors and I'll have the peg order correct, but for this one I had to refer to the diagram a few times (and I printed out Derek's illustrations for reference) to ensure I had it right.

Once up, I must say, it's an incredibly solid system. It doesn't move at all and my ground was relatively soft. I would've assumed that pegs would pull out, but they were all really solid and didn't budge. I couldn't bring myself to use 'lash it' for the disks on the bottom, but I had plenty of sterling ropes 1.5 mm cordage (100 lbs tensile) so I used that instead. I can see the value of the shockcord as well; not only would it make set up an easy one man job, but after I get out of the hammock, taking away all the downward pressure, it would keep the side struts from collapsing. For reference, I used my son's 9'6" red hammock in these pictures.

Only one way I can think to improve this: somehow get rid of all the excess line flopping around and/or prevent the line from tangling up during storage and deployment. Retractable lines, like what you would see for attaching fishing gear to a vest, would keep everything need and compact, or even line that wasn't as easy to tangle up.

Overall, I enjoyed the Handy Hammock, it's a solid piece of art, and look forward to using it more in the backcountry.

[Miguel]

Ok...so here it is with my wife's UL Switchback which is about ten feet The Handy Hammock is 9 1/2 feet. I laid in the Switchback with no problems. I then thought I'd experiment with moving the strut back about a foot since the hammock was longer. I could see the hammock was a bit taught. I pushed down on the hammock with both hands and much to my surprise both sets of stakes on one end popped out of the ground.

Apparently having your hammock too taught is a no no. This would be critical when extending the center spacer line to accommodate a longer hammock such as my regular Switchback which is 11'. I assume there is an optimal angle for the struts.

Has anyone else run into this issue and if so are there any guidelines for changing the center line to accommodate longer hammocks. That was a little disconcerting when they popped out on me so easily.

Miguel

[Jason Andrews]

It's great to see some pictures of Handy Hammocks in action. Looking forward to seeing them in some unusual places. Just had a skin throgh the thread and thought I had better answer some questions:

@cv66seabear
I've just totted up the sales from the Group Buy... 43

@trhang
Not sure I follow you, they show the same process. The cord goes under the ground plate, up through the hole and around the pegs. The illustration I posted also includes an additional twist to offer extra security. The illustration is the definitive instruction and will evenually be a fabric insert sewn into the rim of the stuff bags... it's one of several product developments in the pipeline.

@Envynlust

1.for converting for use with other hammocks, what type of knot should I tie - side guy lines to included connector set's?

The guy lines should connected to one of the connector rings with a simple cow hitch and that ring sits on the strut end, the other ring is what you attach your hammock to.

2. anywhere else I can buy "beach peg' equivalents? since they are currently out of stock till june. I would love to be able to hang at the beach.

We were sent this image by Seth Oakes:


Seth says:

Handy Hammock struts held up my 180lbs and a tarp under 40mph gusts at Cape Lookout, NC. Great product! Thanks again. I'm using 15" auger anchors at the beach. Not very weight efficient, but easy and strong. No trouble with the bulk when your backpack is a Jeep!

@Miguel
The optimal strut angle is determined by the ground anchor plates and the guy-lines so this doesn't change with hammock length. Secure the ground anchors of one end then draw out the guylines loing the ground. The apex of the guy lines will always mark the optimum position for the strut base-plate.

To accomodate hammocks other than the 9.5 foot lightweight one we supply you need to increase the spacer cord for the struts by the additional length added to the hammock plus the extra added by the connectors. For a Switchback which is 11 feet, you'll need to increase the spacer by about 2 feet to account for the extra length and the connectors.

Regarding the ground anchors coming loose, your images show a lot of the ground anchors above ground, you probably just need to sink them deeper.

For anyone interested in recent events at Handy Hammock, here are links to recent email newsletters:

#3 - April 2013
#2 - Februay 2013
#1 - January 2013

Hang safe!
Jason

[BlazeAway]

Now if this ain't pure beauty (well not the car) I don't know what is.







Thanks for sharing Jason.
Best,
Blaze