Handy Hammock - with 11 ft hammock?

[DanglingModifier]

I've read through all the comments and reviews I can find for the Handy Hammock and it seems like the upper limits of hammock size and operator size haven't really been fully described or perhaps explored. The manufacturer currently advertises compatibility only up to a 10.5 foot hammock, but dejoha indicated some success with 11 foot tests after minor mods of the strut suspension in his review comments at The Ultimate Hang.

Can folks chime in with their experience and thoughts about using the Handy Hammock with an 11 foot hammock? Further, at what point should operators be concerned they might exceed a safe operating height or weight limit? (e.g. I'm assuming you might be pressing your luck if you were extra big, or had two grown people suspended).

Specific personal examples of hanging successes or failures with the Handy Hammock struts (and your own hammock, ideally 11'), in either single-strut and dual-strut scenarios will be greatly appreciated. Experiences using it in sand, soft soil, and hard soil are a big bonus. If you're a 6'5" 300 pound guy who hangs successfully with a dozen pomeranians and plenty of room underneath for an oversized UQ we want to hear about it.

Disclaimer: A couple people have described adjusting the angle of their struts to accommodate a different hang. According to the manufacturer (and the laws of physics) angle adjustments of the struts beyond their intended 60° compromises their strength and is ill-advised. If you've had good/back luck with that kind of an adjustment we're interested in hearing about it, but I probably wouldn't use it outside of spec like that personally.

[hk2001]

I use a 10'9" hammock on the handy hammock stand . I weigh 220lbs, and I decided to leave the struts as they were designed to be. Now, the one thing I've noticed with the stand is the best way to get a decent hang with a large hammock is to loosen (or completely remove) your ridge line. I've had to sacrifice some sag in favor of ground clearance, but it works.

Maybe there's something I've not figured out yet.. I've only had the system for 3 weeks.

I've had a lot of success in using it in hard soil, and have not tested it in sand or loose soil yet,. I did modify one of my hammocks for the stand, completely removing the suspension system in favor of ccontinious loops and carabiniers. I also made mods of the mods Derek suggested, it streamlines setup soooo much

[gmcttr]

The struts can easily be placed farther apart, but as hk references, additional length will require flatter hang angles possibly effect comfort and increasing forces applied to the entire system.

I've been meaning to try it with ~13' of bridge hammock since I hang them at a flatter angle to start with. If the rain holds off today (big if), I'll give it a try and report back.

[DanglingModifier]

Thanks for the input so far guys. I look forward to any updates and I hope more people chime in.

Hk2001, what sort of clearance (if any) were you seeing when you had optimal sag versus less sag? We're very close to the same size of hammock and body weight, so I'm particularly interested in your experience.

If I picked up some struts I'd anticipate using a single strut most of the time, where a bit more clearance might be available due to hanging the foot end a bit higher on the tree it would be paired with. I'm surprised more people aren't espousing and expounding that usage model. I recently talked the lady into joining me for some camping and backpacking in coastal CA and OR, and despite a ton of trees it was rarely easy to find trees close enough together to hang really close to each other. Hanging hub-and-spoke off a single sturdy tree should allow you to always pitch two hammocks close enough together to match the intimacy of a tent.

[mychal]

Worked super for me. 12' hammock. 6'5" 230 lbs. I _love_ my Handy Hancock!

https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...ad.php?t=93354

[gmcttr]

I got out in the sprinkles and gave the Handy Hammock a try with a bridge hammock.

The setup was under trees where the ground was still firm enough that I had to use a hammer to fully set several of the stakes.

I moved the strut bases about 10' apart and could have had them a bit closer as I used 12" continuous loops on both ends of the suspension triangles.

With the hammock set up fairly flat, by the time the struts and stakes took their "initial set", I was about 6" off the ground. I reset with the hammock even flatter and had about the same results. Looking things over I found the stakes on one end had pulled out several inches.

I did not consider this to be very successful and feel the stresses placed on the anchoring system were beyond the intended usage. Longer stakes could be used but that gets to be a pain in firm enough ground to hold a bridge hammock.

No fault of Handy Hammocks. I was simply trying it under conditions it was not designed for.

This remains a sweet setup for GE hammocks.

IMG_4523 (Medium).JPG

[DanglingModifier]

I bet you'd have slightly better luck without those continuous loops on each end. Whether that would make enough of a difference on the height of the hang or the stresses on the stakes to be considered a successful hang, I'm not sure.

[DanglingModifier]

Worked super for me. 12' hammock. 6'5" 230 lbs. I _love_ my Handy Hancock!

https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...ad.php?t=93354

Great write up on the Handy Hammock with a larger hammock, and a big guy in it! That's exactly the sort of stuff I was looking for, I just missed finding/digging into the post earlier because your thread title didn't mention the Handy Hammock.

[mychal]

Great write up on the Handy Hammock with a larger hammock, and a big guy in it! That's exactly the sort of stuff I was looking for, I just missed finding/digging into the post earlier because your thread title didn't mention the Handy Hammock.

Yeah, I'm a rookie with hammocks as well as a rookie with posting.

[cougarmeat]

I have yet to use my HandyHammock set up but hope to soon. We have volcanic rock less than a foot under the soil around here so I'll have to find a nice grassy park to try it out (so I can get a good anchor). It was my understanding that the "Mod" was just additional lines to help in placing the anchor "triangle" and moving the struts a bit further apart. It seems to me that the "magic" of this set up is, IF it is set up with the expected angle, the pressure on the pole is "compression" and it is very strong in that direction. But if you change that angle, you are changing the forces from compression to "shear", i.e. bending. and I think anything portable would bend pretty easily.