With all the talk about whoopies and UCR's, I was wondering if anyone has tried the prussic to hang their hammock on?
With all the talk about whoopies and UCR's, I was wondering if anyone has tried the prussic to hang their hammock on?
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If memory serves.. the Single Line Suspension was envisioned using prussics. I have not studied that system so I don't know how well it fared. I have not heard of someone using prussics instead of buckles on suspension lines from the tree but I would be surprised if ti hasn't been tried.
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Prussics and other friction knots don't hold their position on AmSteel-like lines, which I believe is what gave rise to the SLSs with rings and Marlinspikes, as described in the sticky posts under "Support Systems".
Last edited by Frawg; 09-02-2009 at 16:46. Reason: changed "suspensions" to "support systems"
- Frawg
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The problem with prussiks is, they hold best when your prussik is at least half as small in diameter as the rope it's wrapped around. For climbing, that's great - your main rope is meant to catch falls, and has to be a lot thicker and stronger than your prussik ropes, which only need to hold body weight. The extra weight of the climbing rope is already necessary, so you aren't losing anything.
For hammocks, it's not quite as good, as your suspension now has to consist of two different rope diameters, one of which is way thicker than it needs to be to hold you up safely. It adds bulk and weight with no real benefit.
Furthermore, we're often using fancy modern fibers in our suspension cords, and those fancy modern fibers tend to be very slick, which makes it even tougher to get a prussik to hold.
Prussik's are great for holding a tarp in place or similar things, but for bearing your weight in a hammock, there are probably better techniques.
Tried Prussics and a lot of other friction knots way back when I was developing my version of the SLS.
Bottom line is as MustardMan says: you will probably need the main rope to be 1/4" diameter to use 1/8" diameter Prussics.
I used 1/8" Spyderline for both the main line and the Prussics.
Result: the Prussics held for less than 30 seconds, then one slid and dropped me to the cushioned floor. On the Prussic that slid, the polyester sheath was literally welded to the polyester sheath of the main line from the friction heat.
Tried a lot of other friction knots, every one I could find on the internet and that was a quite a few. Same final result for all. Some held longer and some shorter times. approximately 1 minute was the Champion time.
I think the results would be even worse using the newer, coated single braids.
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I love my setup and I use prussiks at both ends. I have a HH Exp with stock rope. I use tree huggers with biners. I then use a prussik from the biner to the stock rope.
The diameters are not too far off of each other, and never had it fail. Quick, easy, super adjustable, cheap, and no modifications needed although I may trim the stock rope back a bit since I don't need as much due to no knot being tied.
Here is my whole setup with my DIY hammock next to a Sigg 1L for comparison.
That's a great idea! Unfortunately with AmSteel Blue line, the Prussik doesn't generate enough friction to grip securely. That's what gave rise to the recent UCR / whoopie sling splicing around here. I use UCRs the same way you use the Prussik, with a loop & toggle instead of a 'biner.
- Frawg
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I've got to try this. I recently changed my hex tarp ridge lines to use double prussiks joined by a marlinspike (I think that's the correct name). I was using Figure9's, but got really tired of them always being in the wrong location.
For my hammock I'm currently using a Munter Hitch but I wanted to try a prussik setup also.
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I have the HH Hyperlight and use the stock spectra with a prusik back to itself. I loop it onto a biner that is looped through the huggers.
Works great.. no slip..
even jump around a lot got up. moved them (without caution) like i would in the night and got back in..
No slip
great solution if you dont want to chang out your stock suspension.
I figured if i went with whoopies that i woudl only save .28 oz. anyway after doubling the length to still get the 6 foot on each side.
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