Hanging On Ivy

[gdkaufmann]

Hanging this past weekend, the only option I had for hanging were two large diameter trees covered in ivy. I've attached photo that sows what I was up against

Sadly, where I live and hang this may be a common occurrence in the future. Everything seemed fine until the second day of the hang, when the straps began to slide on the ivy.

Initially there seemed to be enough friction and roughness in the ivy stems to hold things in place, but as time went on I wound up with my butt on the ground. The continuous tarp line (made with Dyneema) seemed to fare better, but also slipped a good bit.

Any suggestions on how to combat his type of slippage (other than 'DON"T HANG ON IVY')?


BTW - Hammock is an ENO Doublenest hung on Atlas straps.

Thanks for the help.

Cheers,
Glenn

[Whiskeyjack]

That's a lot of ivy. If you're not worried about damaging the ivy, I'd figure out where you want the tree straps, then remove the ivy before putting your straps on. Any ivy that has rooted farther up should continue to grow just fine.

[gdkaufmann]

Hi Jack,

Thanks for that. Yeah, I'd think the ivy would recover the patch I remove pretty quickly.

Sadly, I was at a "natural beekeeping" conference, so the idea of destroying any greenery would likely have been frowned upon.

[Whiskeyjack]

The only other thing I can think of is to pick smaller trees and wrap the strap a couple of times around. That should hold it tight.

[gdkaufmann]

Good idea.

I'm also considering trying to work in underneath the ivy (against the bark). But that sounds like a painful way t lose skin on my hands.

[gtstricky]

If you could find some pieces of wood to put between the strap and the tree that might help. One in back and one on each side of the tree might provide enough grip to help hold it. That way the strap is not holding onto just the ivy.

[Hudsonhawk]

What are you using for your tree straps? Like already suggested if you can wrap multiple times around the tree it will help, or if on very large trees using a dogbone doubled back through one loop providing more friction around the trunk.

I have seen and climbed on some ivy, back in my arborist days that was thick enough that I wouldn't hesitate to hang from also.

[gdkaufmann]

Thanks all for the advice.

BTW - Hudson I'm using ENO Atlas Straps.

Cheers,
Glenn

[ntxkayakr]

Buy a machete and pay some dude from Southern Mexico or further south to show you how to use it. LOL

[Bushwhacker]

You could also try wrapping your straps in some sort of rubber, or placing elastics along it. Or you could wrap it with material from an anti-slip mat.