Climbing sling to hang a DD Hammock

[Soundmixer]

A while back I mentioned on a hammock post that I used climbing slings to hang my DD hammock. Well I have finally got round to taking some pictures of what I meant.

The long slings are 3m long when pulled tight, so about a 6m loop. The short ones are about 0.5m. The carabiners are off a quickdraw and are non-locking. The carabiners stay on the hammock when I put it back in the stuff sack.

By doubling, knotting and other clever trickery these slings usually have my hammock up in a couple of minutes and down in the same.

So all I need to carry is the hammock and two slings. The slings are 20Kn breaking strain.

Cheers.

 

[markie*mark0]

similar idea to what i want to do. Am i right in thinking the climbing slings are endless i.e. do not need any knots?

 

[Limaed]

similar idea to what i want to do. Am i right in thinking the climbing slings are endless i.e. do not need any knots?

Thats correct, slings usually come in 15, 30, 60, 120 and 240cm lengths. You can also buy tape and fix to your desired length with a tape knot.

 

[dave53]

hi guys what is a tape knot regards dave

 

[Soundmixer]

Yeah they are endless. My plan was to do away with knots that tighten down and are a pain to undo in the morning.
The second half of the plan was to not cut into the tree with thin cord. So I had a couple of slings lying around and viola...
Limaed is right about the lengths and 240 would be correct. I should have posted this picture as well to show what I did ath the other end of the hammock.

This sling was doubled and wrapped twice because the pole is smaller.

Don't know if anyone else will get on with my system but it works for me.

 

[markie*mark0]

Liking this idea, but how do you adjust the longer sling length if the choosen setup trees are closer/farther apart?

 

[Soundmixer]

In the second picture the sling goes round the tree and through itself and then the long end goes once around the branch to shorten it. The orange sling was doubled, then wrapped twice through itself before reaching the carabiner. Both slings are the same overall length but I hung it this way to show different methods of hanging. If the longer one was still too long then an overhand loop tied in would shorten it to the desired length. I also always try to find the same tree spacings.

I've been using this method for about a year now and haven't found a tree spacing / size that I cannot hang from. We don't have too many oak trees this far north so the slings fit what we do have! Pine, birch and rowan, the slings work a treat. I've kept an eye on the stitching on the loop join and so far so good.
When I store the slings, I double them, double them again and tie them in a loose overhand knot. One quick untie and off we go again.

Cheers

 

[Limaed]

hi guys what is a tape knot regards dave

Dave, to tie a tape knot tie a loose overhand knot in one end of the tape then with the other end follow the knot exactly then tighten. This makes a solid loop of tape.
Climbers often carry tape for if they have to abseil off a climb. Rather than leave an expensive sling you just find a good anchor, cut the tape to fit then abseil off retrieving your ropes, leaving the tape behind.

 

[steveme]

Worked for me too - I saw your post on slings and having some kicking around tested it out last week and then tried it for real this weekend - very secure and very quick to set up and take down.

 

[Soundmixer]

Thanks Steveme.
I just like stuff to be simple

Happy hanging!

 

[DaveBromley]

I personally like using slip knots that allow for micro adjustments to be mad to allow the correct sag and height, I've found that the difference between a comfy nights sleep and an aweful one is a fine line

Dave

 

[resnikov]

Thats correct, slings usually come in 15, 30, 60, 120 and 240cm lengths. You can also buy tape and fix to your desired length with a tape knot.

Dumb question but is the length the total length of the sling or is it the length if you pulled it tight ? i.e. 30cm one - 30 cm loop so 15 cm when pulled tight.

Hope you get what I mean.

 

[Soundmixer]

Resnikov,

My longest slings are 2.40m when pulled tight, so 4.80m loop.
Not dumb at all, just confusing. Confused the hell out of me so I just took a few off the shelf of the climbing shop and rolled them out until I saw the one I wanted.
Really short for the hammock end, really long for the tree.
Simples!

 

[SussexRob]

This all sounds pretty interesting, especially as I had my first couple of nights in my DD frontline at the weekend. The trouble is, I can't see the pics. It may be because I am trying to view them in Istanbul (away with work), but it shows a frog and the wording domain unregistered.

 

[dasy2k1]

I use tape (cant afford pre made slings and go outdoors sell tape cheap per metre)
but i have kept the original strings in the hammock side of things (with an overhand loop to clip to the carabiners)

how easy was it to replace the original cords with climbing tape?

 

[Soundmixer]

The short slings were really easy to feed through the hammock ends.
I think I lay the hammock out flat and just fed them through the tunnel. I managed to hang the hammock outside the front of my house this weekend (my wife demanded I find a way because of the fine weather) but it did get me thinking about fitting an adjuster.
I think a sling at one end and a tape with a loop at the other my be ideal. Feed the tape through itself round the tree (or lamp post if it's my front garden), bring the tape back to the hammock where two metal rings are clipped on the carabiner, feed through, tension and secure.
Watch this space...