afternoon out 02

[mousey]

Well rugby was cancelled so after a bit of garden and house tidying the Mrs went to the horses, me and kids went to the park again...

No tarp needed this time, so played with a hammock. This one's a homemade, with whipped ends, using my recently bought webbing (in bright red)

The Mrs gave me a load if wide ripstop fabric a few years ago, enough to make two hammocks. Using a loop of dyneema (a length with a figure of eight knot) as whipping for the ends. I have a light weight crab attached to the loop.

I use a length of webbing as a tree strap and suspension. Using the crab on the loop as the spike in a Marline spike hitch. Personally I have found this the easiest method for hanging a hammock.

I saw an american chap hanging a hammock using only webbing, he had the webbing rolled up and just wrapped it around the tree a number of times and even the slight friction of the webbing wraps keeps the webbing against the tree. Once you sit in the hammock it tightens up and doesn't slip, but as you've not fixed it in any way is incredibly easy to undo, it just takes a little time to roll your webbing back up again...

You just hold the roll of webbing against the tree and unwind it from your roll to wind up around the tree.

I guess it's 2 meters long maybe. I measured it by how big a coil, tightly coiled, that would fit into a British army ammo pouch. My hammock with stuff sack, loops, crabs and two rolls of webbing fits into one ammo pouch.

 

[Woody girl]

Must admit I've been using my hammock for ten years or more tying it to trees in the long accepted fashion. Learned about webbing straps and carbinas this summer. I'm a total convert. Quick and easy. And as I suffer from fybromyalga often holding my arms in the air for the few minutes it takes to tie a hammock off properly can be painful. My system is slightly different but it works beautifully and I can put it up in no time at all and pain free! Way to go!

 

[nobby8126]

Quickest way to set up for a lounge mate, nice one

 

[mousey]

Yes, I've been playing with different suspension for a while. Tried:-

1, just tying - bit of time to adjust, I always need to adjust, very rarely do I get into a hammock without thinking one end [or both] could do with being a touch lower or higher!
2, using two 'rings' to clamp cord - ends up crushing the cord - strength issue over time? just wasn't keen on damaging the suspension.
3, webbing straps, with toggle and dyneema cord. - Straps protect the tree, very important to me [also leave no trace thing]
4, slight adjustment to above using crab instead of a toggle - crab is more secure and acts as a drip ring if under the tarp.
5, adjustment to above using just webbing strap, no other cord involved. - trying to simplify, using less separate parts
6, adjustment to above using a 'rolling' method to apply webbing to tree trunk. - it's just neater and easier, although takes a bit of time to pack up properly.

It's all been about ease, speed, fairly lightweight, least amount of equipment needed, space, etc - it's all a compromise and what works for me. [you are not me, so what I do may not work for you ]

I usually have a limited time, so getting setup as quick as possible and packed away fairly quick are high priorities. Also with practice you get quicker, and having the ability to setup quick [here experience helps] when it's dark, you're somewhere unfamiliar or bad weather hits; then you can be under shelter, dry, chilling out with a brew on in no time - and it's nice to appear professional even when no-ones there to see you

I've not tried whoopy slings, but I don't think they'll add anything really.

 

[nobby8126]

Yes, I've been playing with different suspension for a while. Tried:-

1, just tying - bit of time to adjust, I always need to adjust, very rarely do I get into a hammock without thinking one end [or both] could do with being a touch lower or higher!
2, using two 'rings' to clamp cord - ends up crushing the cord - strength issue over time? just wasn't keen on damaging the suspension.
3, webbing straps, with toggle and dyneema cord. - Straps protect the tree, very important to me [also leave no trace thing]
4, slight adjustment to above using crab instead of a toggle - crab is more secure and acts as a drip ring if under the tarp.
5, adjustment to above using just webbing strap, no other cord involved. - trying to simplify, using less separate parts
6, adjustment to above using a 'rolling' method to apply webbing to tree trunk. - it's just neater and easier, although takes a bit of time to pack up properly.

It's all been about ease, speed, fairly lightweight, least amount of equipment needed, space, etc - it's all a compromise and what works for me. [you are not me, so what I do may not work for you ]

I usually have a limited time, so getting setup as quick as possible and packed away fairly quick are high priorities. Also with practice you get quicker, and having the ability to setup quick [here experience helps] when it's dark, you're somewhere unfamiliar or bad weather hits; then you can be under shelter, dry, chilling out with a brew on in no time - and it's nice to appear professional even when no-ones there to see you

I've not tried whoopy slings, but I don't think they'll add anything really.

Whoopie slings are great, light and easy to make. I've found a static ridgeline really helps in getting consistent sweetspot

 

[mousey]

Maybe I will try whoopie slings at some point in the future, cause there do seem to be many folks who rave on them. I have a feeling that for me they'll just be something else to fiddle with while bringing little benefit [that and I don't have any dyneema spare at the minute to play with]

I've played with ridgelines, but never really got on with them. I find a hammock pretty comfortable either tightly hung or with a lot of sag, so I've never found it necessary to have my hammock at exactly the same angle on every hang - although I do try to pick trees that are roughly the same distance apart and hang from a similar height in most cases, so I suppose the angle doesn't vary much. I have found a ridgeline handy for clipping stuff to / organising, but it also got in the way when sitting / getting in and out [at least in my experience] I have thought about putting a line on the inside of my tarp [as I hang my tarp under my tarp ridgeline.... another point of contention!]