I can't believe they're so hard to find!

[twowheels]

I finally figured out where I'm going to hang in my upstairs office. There are two spots on opposite walls with doubled studs at just the right distance that puts the hammock diagonally across the room right over the unused area in the center. Being as the studs are doubled I thought I'd use padeyes with four screw holes spaced ~1.5" apart... no problem, right? Nope... I've been to three hardware stores. Nobody even knows what a padeye is... even showing a picture on my phone doesn't help. Nobody has them!

Must I order them online? Is there a major chain of some sort that carries them? Any particular type of specialty shop (other than marine, which we don't seem to have)?

I've considered just putting a lag threaded eyebolt in, but they're only rated for about 400 lbs and my understanding is that the rating is for a directly parallel (to the shaft) load, if the load is perpendicular to the shaft it's something like 25% of the rated load... I'm guessing about 33% of the rating, which is ~132 lbs, which is probably enough for a static load, each side holding half, but I'm concerned about dynamic load (I weigh about 180) when getting in and out, and I'm also concerned about the fact that the eyebolts aren't directly across the room from each other, so one of them will be loaded slightly from the side, which is also a no-no for eyebolts.

PS: I did find load rated heavy duty screws by SPAX (multiple material screws, rated for 1000 lbs direct load, and something like 450 lbs pulling down, when screwed into fir), so I'm ready to mount the stupid padeyes once I can find them!!!

Here's a very poor picture of what I plan to do... anybody see anything to be concerned with? Am I asking for trouble by using the studs next to the window, even though there are two? How about that diagonal wall near the door? it seems that since there's a double stud right there it's somehow part of the diagonal wall that makes the hallway wall directly opposite the double stud. Is it possible that the diagonal wall to the door is a weaker wall than normal? My thought was that all of the angles around there would lend extra support since they're probably all tied together somehow... (oh how I wish I could see inside the walls!)

[PuckerFactor]

What about going from the door post to between the 2 windows? What way, the forces on the door end would be perpendicular to the wall, and the window end should have a whole bunch of 2x4s in that corner.

Just a thought,
Acer

[twowheels]

What about going from the door post to between the 2 windows? What way, the forces on the door end would be perpendicular to the wall, and the window end should have a whole bunch of 2x4s in that corner.

Just a thought,
Acer

Thanks for the reply! Yeah, it's a thought that I had as well. That corner between the two windows is probably super reinforced since it's holding up the edge of the house, and the force would be perpendicular to each mounting point... problem is, it's also directly above the computer monitor. My first thought was that I'd use the hammock on nights that I get kicked out of the master bedroom for snoring :-), but the more I think about it, it'd also make a good chair for somebody to sit in while the computer is being used and a nice place to sit while watching movies on Hulu or while using the laptop, so going right over the monitor is probably not ideal.

I'm also thinking of upgrading to a nicer hammock. The one I have is just a cheap cotton one, or my Amazonas Moskito camping hammock, both of which are a bit small for me. I'm thinking of this:

http://www.mayans.com/familiarsize.html

Does 11.5 feet spread seem like enough to hang such a large hammock? I tied some ropes to the end of my cotton hammock to make it 13 feet long and held it up across the span and it seems like more than enough (if anything, a little too taught), but some sites are recommending hang distances of 14' or more for the same overall hammock length!!!

I'm becoming more comfortable with the eyedea of eyebolts (intentional misspelling) after reading various posts here and seeing that that's basically what every site sells -- you'd think that if they were that dangerous they'd have to sell something better lest they get sued out of existence!

Edit: To make this relevant to hammock camping... I'm dying to go on my 3 day hiking trip to use my Moskito in late July!!!! :-)

[SkyDog]

Or....

Use a piece of "top rail" - the galvanized pipe used on chain link fence. Put that between the two ends where it will prevent anything from collapsing inwards. Paint it to look nice.

Did that make sense? Top rail or even a 2"X2" wooden piece can be placed such that the forces trying to pull everything out of the wall are countered. Think of it as a ridgeline that's above where it would usually be....

Since you won't need a tarp, it won't interfere. Maybe paint it BRIGHT until you get used to it being there - careful of smacking your head.

[twowheels]

Or....
Use a piece of "top rail" - the galvanized pipe used on chain link fence. Put that between the two ends where it will prevent anything from collapsing inwards. Paint it to look nice.

I'm not sure I exactly understand what you're saying, but I might... I considered getting rid of the bed and going corner to corner in the other direction and rather than drilling building a stand that goes up each wall at the corner and has a beam across the ceiling to keep the corner stands separated... is this beam similar to what you mean, just from eyelet to eyelet? Being as I'm not a single guy I'm not sure that would fly... even my original idea, which put the beam all the way at the ceiling, was vetoed!!

[SkyDog]

I'm not sure I exactly understand what you're saying, but I might... I considered getting rid of the bed and going corner to corner in the other direction and rather than drilling building a stand that goes up each wall at the corner and has a beam across the ceiling to keep the corner stands separated... is this beam similar to what you mean, just from eyelet to eyelet? Being as I'm not a single guy I'm not sure that would fly... even my original idea, which put the beam all the way at the ceiling, was vetoed!!

Yes you've got it. Your concern is that the eyelets might pull out of the wall/studs. A "beam" (or "rail" or conduit / emt tubing) will keep them separated. It could be in sections and easily removed for appearance when not in use. The "cups" that hold up the ends of some shower curtains could hold the rail ends.

Even with fancy screws, there is the possibility of pulling the whole darned stud out of the wall. Many use a board across 2 or more studs. The forces are pretty impressive! My very first hang in the backyard, I had a big honking lag screw in a big wooden storage shed - carefully into a wall stud. Almost pulled the whole front end off the shed

Anyway, "appearance" is also important. Paint it nice or make it removable.

OTOH, a plate may also solve your problem. Marine stores have very nice looking SS plates with 4 or more holes AND an eye on them. If you are have a marine/boat store nearby, go shopping and look at their gadgetry.

I'm not "allowed" to do anything like this in the house NOR permanently in the backyard -- It's the garage for me WITH the door down!

[pedro]

As JD said, marine supply stores carry padeyes. They look a lot nicer than eye screws and have much higher load bearing ratings. IMO they also do a better job of holding and distributing weight without removing as much material from the joist.

[twowheels]

Thanks guys... I did manage to find some marine stores near my workplace, so I think I'll go at lunch tomorrow to see what I can find... I bought some 24 kN climbing carabiners at REI to quickly attach/remove from whatever I end up finding... in the meantime I also found some hitching rings on plates that, if I remove the non welded ring and use the carabiner in the hole instead, would probably be similar to using a padeye as they can mount with four screws across the two studs. I'm still going to look for padeyes as they look nicer, are easier to put the carabiner into, and would probably not wear out the carabiner as quickly since they're rounded, not just drilled.

My mission continues...

[twowheels]

Anybody know of a US based supplier for this:

http://www.outdoorgb.com/p/amazonas_easy_hammock_hook/

Looks like EXACTLY what I want, though $20+ shipping is a bit higher than I was hoping...

[SkyDog]

Anybody know of a US based supplier for this:

http://www.outdoorgb.com/p/amazonas_easy_hammock_hook/

Looks like EXACTLY what I want, though $20+ shipping is a bit higher than I was hoping...

Understood - that is what I was trying to describe. I think the term is "PadEye" - Here's a marine store in Spokane:

<http://www.greenboatstuff.com/>

I suggest you call them - they have a TON of different padeyes & such like this:

<http://www.greenboatstuff.com/jomadipadeye.html>

Where it sez: "Product Type: Johnson Marine Diamond Eye Pad - Material: 304 Stainless Steel – Eye Diameter: 1/4" - Length: 2 5/8" - Safe Working Load: 750 lbs – Width: 1 1/2” - Model # JOH-28-501 - Price: $15.49