Best carabiner for hammocks?

[Thoth]

Having recently bought a couple of EasyHammocks, one has been converted from the supplied climbing carabiner "tie, stand back and assess, then undo knot and re-tie" to a pair of triangular quicklinks on each end. They work exactly the same as the double ring buckles if the threaded sections aren't on top of each other, so you can cinch and loosen before putting the slippery hitch in and testing the hammock.

Hi Nice65, can you let me know where you got your 'triangular quick links' from please. Thanks

 

[Broch]

I know some people will get upset at this but really you do not need a climbing karabiner for a hammock. Any cheap one that will take half your static weight (plus a little margin) will do. Climbing ones are designed to take dynamic load of a fall which can be orders of magnitude higher than static loads (force = mass x acceleration and all that). The double rings fitted on many hammocks are not climbing rated after all!!

Of course, if you do go climbing, you do not want to mix different rated kit.

Cheers,

Broch

 

[Nice65]

Hi Nice65, can you let me know where you got your 'triangular quick links' from please. Thanks

It's my mate Greg that sourced them, I'm ok with the climbing carabiners supplied with the hammock. As Broch suggests, there's really no need for a climbing rated carabiner on a hammock. I did a quick search on Google for "triangular quick link", it throws up lots of hits. You'll need the ones that are proper equilateral triangles, and have the link on one side to You'll see Greg has put his screw links opposite to allow the biners to fit flush to grip the tapes.

I think his came from Amazon for a couple of quid each.

 

[sunndog]

For 'quick links' search 'rapides' or 'mailons' too. These are generally climbing crab grade strength, ie rated in tons or double figure KN's

I'v had one of those cheap 'nano' wire gate crabs let go on me before when i'v had to pull whoopie slings quite tight in a less than ideal hanging spot.
By contrast i have a bent DD superlight from other abuse (larksheading to a stand of saplings) that has been used for years since

 

[Thoth]

Found some thanks chaps. I actually wanted something to replace one of the metal rings on the pegging points of my Tentipi. One broke and I don't want to cut and re-sew the strap, a screw-gate triangular mallion is just the job.

 

[PDA1]

I know some people will get upset at this but really you do not need a climbing karabiner for a hammock. Any cheap one that will take half your static weight (plus a little margin) will do. Climbing ones are designed to take dynamic load of a fall which can be orders of magnitude higher than static loads (force = mass x acceleration and all that). The double rings fitted on many hammocks are not climbing rated after all!!

Of course, if you do go climbing, you do not want to mix different rated kit.

Cheers,

Broch

NO, NO, NO Yourmaths is way out on this, and you could get someone killed. When your hammock is hung at the recommended angle of 30 degrees, the static stress on each side is the weight of the hanger. Moving, getting into the hammockor wriggling can easily double, or even treble that load. If yo hang at less than 30 degrees, the strain goes up exponentially. for details see:
https://theultimatehang.com/hammock-hang-calculator/

General rule of thumb is that straps should have a minimum breaking strain of 500 kilos plus.so any metalwork should have the equivalent.

ANYTHING LESS IS DANGEROUS

 

[PDA1]

What's the bestest crab to use for hammocking?

Soft carabiners made from Amsteelused for whoopie strapa

 

[Insel Affen]

Although I'm not massively experienced, I've got some cheap (ish @€9) carabiners from a shop in Germany rated at about 40kN which using a rough weight conversion, should be good for at least four of me.

I mean it's never let me down (literally and figuratively) so I really only look at the kN (if it has one) versus the price.

 

[mousey]

I think the DD superlight are rated around 400kg, so nowhere near climbing rated but still enough for hammock use although they are around 8g compared to 19g for the lightest available climbing crab [Eldrid 19] DD superlight are also smaller and I think easier to use = to take in/out of a marline spike hitch. I don't hang over things I'm not prepared to fall on or a height I'm not prepared to fall from.

Edit////

Therefore I hang over soft stuff [no rocks or streams etc] and pretty low not in the tree tops...

@ insel Affen, being pedantic I think your off by 10 with your kn conversion. 40kn = roughly 4000kg

 

[Insel Affen]

@ insel Affen, being pedantic I think your off by 10 with your kn conversion. 40kn = roughly 4000kg

That's be my fat fingers, you're correct with the conversion. (But you've not met me, I am quite chunky) [/QUOTE]

 

[Nice65]

Good suspension is recommended.

 

[Broch]

NO, NO, NO Yourmaths is way out on this, and you could get someone killed. When your hammock is hung at the recommended angle of 30 degrees, the static stress on each side is the weight of the hanger. Moving, getting into the hammockor wriggling can easily double, or even treble that load. If yo hang at less than 30 degrees, the strain goes up exponentially. for details see:
https://theultimatehang.com/hammock-hang-calculator/

General rule of thumb is that straps should have a minimum breaking strain of 500 kilos plus.so any metalwork should have the equivalent.

ANYTHING LESS IS DANGEROUS

Please don’t shout

My maths isn’t way out but I admit my post was in haste, tongue in cheek, a little flippant and contained a typo .

I am a chartered engineer qualified to rate systems and loads both static and dynamic and, I apologise, it should have said twice your weight not half your weight. However, no-one is going to die falling out of a hammock from 40cm (I’m living proof of that but that was due to alcohol ).

The actual calculation for static load is (mass x acceleration)/(2 x sin(A)) where A is your hanging angle. So, at 30deg that comes out at approximately the same as your weight (though tension is measured in Newtons). Example: 100kg bod in a hammock at 30deg: tension = 981N (0.98 KN) on each rope/strap.

Now let’s add the load due to sensible dynamics. Let’s say said 100Kg bod drops onto his hammock from 500mm above it and the elasticity in the whole thing means it stops falling after 400mm (I think that’s realistic as most of us have ‘fallen’ in and just touched the floor). That means the deceleration creates an additional tension on each side of 1226N (his velocity when hitting the hammock would have been just over 3m/s). Therefor the total tension is 2207N (equivalent to a mass of 225Kg under gravity – hence my basic estimate of a little over twice weight).

True, this goes up to 3227N (3.2KN) at 20deg but the cheapest climbing carabiner is rated at over 20KN (note that in climbing that is the breaking load not the SWL as in industrial lifting equipment). A cheap non-climbing carabiner (at around £3) is typically specified at 10 to 16KN. Even if you are 200Kg and go for the quoted 500Kg rating that’s still less than 5KN.

So, apologies for the initial typo, but I wouldn’t waste money on climbing carabiners for my hammock and I’ve never broken the suspension rig yet.

(all figures quoted without liability as I’ve had a couple of glasses of wine )

 

[sunndog]

Twas a fairly significant typo to be fair broch......"half your weight" implies you think each end of the hammock holds half of the load

(I'm just poking you, don't take it seriously lol)

I'v hung from dog lead clips before

 

[PDA1]

Apologies for shouting, but when I see someone blindly stepping off a cliff, I yell a warning really loudly.I think death will, as you state, unlikely, but as you typically land on the lower back, even a 45 cm drop could easily break the spine if you land on a firmly sited rock . Like you, I amalso a scientist, but I find when hiking/camping, the most frequently met law is that of Murphy. You are correct is stating that a 5000lb rated crab is overkill for hammock hanging, but I suggest the amsteel sof shakle at 4 grams and 500 kilo bs(approx,) is best, and for those who like shiny stuff, Dutchware titaniuum stuff at$20 per pop is sufficient (and only weighs about 8 grams,)

 

[Jared]

You can get quickdraws from EU manufacturers for less than £9. That is two climbing rated carabiners. No point imo messing with something not rated.

https://www.alpinetrek.co.uk/austrialpin-micro-wire-set-alu-drahtbuegel-quickdraw/

 

[Broch]

Twas a fairly significant typo to be fair broch......"half your weight" implies you think each end of the hammock holds half of the load

(I'm just poking you, don't take it seriously lol)

I'v hung from dog lead clips before

Agreed, I couldn't find a suitable embarrassed emoticon at the time!

 

[Insel Affen]

So I guess I'd better replace my paper-clips, green string and sticky-backed plastic then?