Advice on modifying my DD Travel hammock

[Gibbo]

Hi All - so having got my hammock from the recent group buy I need some advice please on modifying it in line with the set up shown in the download section on Bushblades tutorial.

I took a look at the DD Hammocks modification section and this shows (I think) what I would like but before cutting tapes I need to know I'm doing the right thing before I go and mess it up. This is the DD Hammock picture for reference.

If I bunch the hammock ends up by pulling the cord ends from either side should I can cut the tape long enough to tie a loop - number 1 in the DD diagram. This means that I won't be able to flatten the hammock out again though - does this even matter? I can then clip my karabiner into the loop and connect the other length of cut tape to it.

I know it seems fairly simple but it's the permanent bunching thing that makes me wonder since I'm not sure it would go back in the stuff sack. Any advice welcome.
Gibbo.

 

[mountainm]

Before you do this I'd recommend looking into amsteel/Dyneema whoopie slings if you haven't already done so:
http://www.whoopieslings.com/

Oh and mine goes back into the stuff sack in it's snakeskin so it is all bunched up.

 

[Jaysurfer]

I don't have any pics to show but my set up consists of the DD Travel which I have tied the cord at both ends off to make a complete loop just wide enough to flatten the hammock out.
I was then lucky enough to get hold of two metal hoops which I tied to the loops, I can not cut any of the cord just in case I ever want to revert back or un-tie the set up.

I then bought two lengths of flat cord and Karabiners and simply hook the Karibiners to the hoops and tie the flat cord round the tree which causes less damage to the tree than circular rope/cord.

J

 

[Jim_aramis]

Hi Gibbo, I've done the modification you mention on a DD hammock. I found the hammock bunched up more at each end so my feet get a bit squashed. I believe DD hammocks are now slightly longer then when I bought mine so it might not be such a problem.

The Krabs are ideal for hanging a dripline for water run off and it all tucks into a small alpkit drybag.

 

[Highbinder]

The first mod I made to my DD was something similar. I used the stock black webbing to form a loop through each channel. Each loop was about 6" or so in diameter and I tied each off with a triple fisherman bend. From that I had a carabiner and then onto webbing suspension.

It goes back into the sack just fine, I could fit the hammock and suspension into the snakeskin and the whole thing into the bag. If needs be you could always undo the knot. An alternative to the fisherman bend that is easier to untie is the Zeppelin bend.

What do you intend to use for your rope up to the tree? Climbing rope and tree straps? Existing webbing? Amsteel?

If you're changing out to carabiner you should think about your suspension a bit more. You've taken the first step so why not take full advantage of the change? By that I mean rather than have the tie off / adjustment point at the tree have it at the hammock - means you can make adjustments from under the tarp.

I used desender rings and 1" webbing, with a second carabiner at each end of the webbing, so I could just clip it around the tree and make adjustments from the rings on the carabiner. My straps have loops sown in but you can easily tie a fixed loop on the end of the stock suspension (water knot IIRC is good for webbing) and clip a carabiner (or even just feed the loose end) onto that.

I changed that out a few months ago - I still use the carabiner on the end of the hammock, but use a whoopie sling to tree strap. If you don't want to go whole hog and get whoopie slings, or you already have appropriate rope you could run a fixed line of cord between the carabiner and up to a marlin spike hitch and onto webbing around the tree and make adjustments through altering the placement of the hitch on the webbing.

 

[Jinsin456]

I think by far the best method to use is to pull the webbing through the seam in the hammock and cut it so that you have about 2 feet of webbing still in the hammock then tie this in a double fishermans knot to form a loop. Connect the krab to this loop and then follow this tutorial;

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53500

It makes it so easy to take the hammock up and down, I've done this quite a bit and can now erect my hammock in about 4 minutes and take it down even quicker! This also allows for drip lines, the only thing is that you may need to buy more webbing/tape as DD don't really give you too much. The other advantage of this is that it's extremely quick to adjust as you can just pull the knots on the krab and then redo them to suit in literally about 30 seconds.

Again this is advantageous as you only have one strap going round the tree so it packs up very easily with lots of room to spare.

HTH

 

[Gibbo]

Thanks to all who've responded so far.

What do you intend to use for your rope up to the tree? Climbing rope and tree straps? Existing webbing? Amsteel?

Initially I will use the cut off lengths from the existing tapes as supplied by DD but am looking to replace that with some 1" webbing.

If you're changing out to carabiner you should think about your suspension a bit more. You've taken the first step so why not take full advantage of the change? By that I mean rather than have the tie off / adjustment point at the tree have it at the hammock - means you can make adjustments from under the tarp. I used desender rings and 1" webbing, with a second carabiner at each end of the webbing, so I could just clip it around the tree and make adjustments from the rings on the carabiner. My straps have loops sown in but you can easily tie a fixed loop on the end of the stock suspension (water knot IIRC is good for webbing) and clip a carabiner (or even just feed the loose end) onto that.

I will be using karabiners - do you have pictures of the above?, I'm having trouble visualising your set up but I think I get it - the adjustment is done by sliding the descender ring? What is the advantage of doing it that way, simpler perhaps? Is it just that you're under the tarp protected from the weather?

I think by far the best method to use is to pull the webbing through the seam in the hammock and cut it so that you have about 2 feet of webbing still in the hammock then tie this in a double fishermans knot to form a loop.

What I've done so far is to cut the tapes the same as Jinsin456. Fitted the karabiners and attached the cut off length of tape to that pending receipt of the webbing. Happy to play around with the setup further so more responses/ advice welcome.
Gibbo.

 

[Highbinder]

Well the decender rings works just like a cinch belt, the advantage is you can make small/large adjustments without having to retie knots, this is the best pic I could find through google:

If you ignore the buckle looking thing on the left hand side thats' pretty much how I had it set up. LHS out of frame would be tree, RHS would be hammock.

Ultimately I got rid of the webbing setup as I found it hard to stop them slipping a little bit (2-3") on first weighting the hammock. That and getting a consistent safety knot (recommended you tie off a slippery half hitch behind the rings or buckle to ensure they dont slip) caused me problems. And it's not the most packable system, cord is a lot better in that respect IMO.


Couldn't find a pic showing my old set up. IMO the big advantage as I'm a bit of a short **** is because I don't need to tie any knots at the tree I find it a lot easier to push the webbing up high on the tree, which is important for the correct hang angle especially when the trees are further apart.

I've got a pic of my current setup if it helps,

The black is webbing, the red are whoopie slings and they're attached between the two with a marlin spike hitch, and you can juuust about make out the carabiners on the trees and hammock

 

[Gibbo]

Good pics and explaination - thanks. Those descender rings aren't cheap.
Cheers,
Gibbo.

 

[Puddock]

This seems like a very effective hammock system?

[video=youtube;B6ag9he2Z8w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6ag9he2Z8w[/video]

 

[trekkingnut]

[video=youtube;1iJTjful66M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iJTjful66M[/video]

descending rings explained by yours truly. absolutely love this set up. may not be the lightest but its damn fast and really easy.

 

[lab72]

[video=youtube;1iJTjful66M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iJTjful66M[/video]

descending rings explained by yours truly. absolutely love this set up. may not be the lightest but its damn fast and really easy.

Thats a top way I am liking that cheers

 

[trekkingnut]

Thats a top way I am liking that cheers

really glad i could be of help!

 

[Highbinder]

Those descender rings aren't cheap.
.

Aye unfortunately! For the cost I'd suggest you might be better off going straight to whoopie slings. IMO they're the best suspension system - light, packs down, easily adjustable (more so than descender rings), built in dripline, easy to make. The only 'downside' is your minimum hang distance is restricted but thats' not a real negative as you can double over or triple over the whoopie to get a shorter length.

 

[mountainm]

Aye unfortunately! For the cost I'd suggest you might be better off going straight to whoopie slings. IMO they're the best suspension system - light, packs down, easily adjustable (more so than descender rings), built in dripline, easy to make. The only 'downside' is your minimum hang distance is restricted but thats' not a real negative as you can double over or triple over the whoopie to get a shorter length.

I'd like to find the lightest alternative to tree huggers - and I know that attaching the amsteel/dyneema directly to the tree is a no no due to the cheesewire effect. So I wondered whether placing rubber beads at intervals around the dyneema on the tree would provide a ligther solution, or possibly weaving the dyneema through a short section of tube webbing where it makes contact with the tree to create dyneema tree huggers. Anyone experimented with this aspect of it? Then using softshackles instead of Caribs to get the weight down further?

 

[resnikov]

The only 'downside' is your minimum hang distance is restricted but thats' not a real negative as you can double over or triple over the whoopie to get a shorter length.

DOH! Had never realised that.

 

[palace]

Here is my set up

[/IMG]

 

[palace]

Here is the text that should have accompanied my picture.

I'm new to this forum however I am not so new to winter camping.

Here is my DD set up without the fly, I trawled the internet before purchase including this site.

you may notice my imediate mods, reduced tape/rope on hammock to 12" circle tripple fishermans knot enclosing 2" stainless ring 10mm thick, lighter than most krabs.

Then karrabina to 5 meter "treehuggers" made from 1" tyedown tape breaking strain 3400 lbs for a single tape then all is sewn with the same stretch cotton as seat belts @ £3 ($5) a reel, 3 reels per side 6 reels in total I weigh 280 lbs so I take no chances. I certainly would not remove a bottom layer & as previously stated by others either fitting of camp mat and particularly in my case strength.

 

[Teepee]

I'd like to find the lightest alternative to tree huggers - and I know that attaching the amsteel/dyneema directly to the tree is a no no due to the cheesewire effect. So I wondered whether placing rubber beads at intervals around the dyneema on the tree would provide a ligther solution, or possibly weaving the dyneema through a short section of tube webbing where it makes contact with the tree to create dyneema tree huggers. Anyone experimented with this aspect of it? Then using softshackles instead of Caribs to get the weight down further?

The soft shackles are great, been using them happily for a while. The tree huggers got me thinking about how to lighten them and a thread kicked off on HF about it-after much deliberation, we realised the best way was dyneema webbing-unfortunately not available anywhere in small quantities. The next best option is still polyester webbing-28g per 6ft hugger.

 

[mountainm]

The soft shackles are great, been using them happily for a while. The tree huggers got me thinking about how to lighten them and a thread kicked off on HF about it-after much deliberation, we realised the best way was dyneema webbing-unfortunately not available anywhere in small quantities. The next best option is still polyester webbing-28g per 6ft hugger.

Aren't climbing slings just Dyneema webbing? - A dyneema climbing daisy chain may do the trick?