Hanging a hammock!

[kiltedpict]

Hi folks.

Looking for a recommendation on what size / make of rope / cord / tape to use for the ends of my hammock.

After reading British Red's post on setting up the hammock, I bought climbing tape and it was a disaster- none of the knots would hold. It felt like the tape was too shiny / slippery. Bought some thinner stuff, but same problems..

Could it be that the diameter of the tree makes a difference? Been using mine round large pine trees in Caledonian forests.

Just looking for personal recommendations.

Cheers folks.

ATB

KP

 

[Shewie]

Once you got enough tension on the knots it should all tighten up nicely as you putyour weight on it.

I use this stuff ....

http://www.profabrics.co.uk/shop/show_product_info.php?id=NTW

It was quite shiney at first but soon weathered well.

How are you tying it to the tree, are you going for the regular shoelace bow knot or something else ?

 

[kiltedpict]

Hi Shewie.

Was trying the Evenk Hitch / Siberian knot at one end and a tensioning hitch at the other..

Sorry of that's "knot" their proper names, but rope work is new to me....


.....I'll get me coat!

KP

 

[korvin karbon]

Hi Shewie.

Was trying the Evenk Hitch / Siberian knot at one end and a tensioning hitch at the other..

Sorry of that's "knot" their proper names, but rope work is new to me....


.....I'll get me coat!

KP

take your coat of and sit your **** back down. The forum is for asking questions, we all start somewhere.

I still use the tapes that came with the hammock and use a simple bow knot, tried the karabiner route and swapped back as i did not like having more stuff to fold into the roll.

As Shewie said, make sure there is tension. Do you have pictures of the knot you have done?

 

[Graham_S]

I use spectra rope (because it doesn't stretch)
On tape, I'd make a loop using either a fig 8 or a simple overhand knot.
then I''d put that around the tree, feeding the loose end through the loop. this will tighten up on the trunk holding tighter the more weight you put into it.
then I'd have a karabiner on the hammock and tie the tape to that using an evenk hitch.
It's the way I've found to work for me, and it's the method I used when I was using tape to suspend my hammock (I use a very similar method on the spectra, which is less stretchy, and stronger)

 

[MartinK9]

Simple bow knot here for me too with the supplied tape from DD Hammocks, after the stretch has gone, and retightened the set-up I have had no problems

 

[Crafty]

I would recommend a lorry man's hitch one end to tighten it and a siberian hitch the other end for quick release. I totally recommend paracord for such uses, lovely and strong - also multi-purpose if you need to use the inner strings for anything. I know it's slightly off-topic but; I also use the same pricipals for a tarp.
It's never failed me.

 

[Graham_S]

I don't recommend paracord for hanging a hammock, the breaking strain isn't really high enough for the job.

 

[Crafty]

I should of noted that I do double it up.

 

[Graham_S]

with the thinner diameter cord it puts more pressure on the knot forcing it tighter and making it harder to untie.
remember that knots will weaken the cord.
decent paracord will have a breaking strain of 550lb (250kg)
Double up and you get 500kg however tie a knot in it and you can half that again.
so we're back at 250kg.
a deflection angle of 30 degrees, as will happen when you get into it increases the apparent load by 52%.
add in dynamic loading (swinging caused by getting in/adjusting positions) and you're getting dangerously close to the breaking point of paracord.

 

[Crafty]

I'm only saying what works for me from past experience and I have still been still swinging in that hammock in the morning and I'm pretty fat! Also - using a siberian hitch - it is actually easy to untie.

 

[wentworth]

A few people on hammockforums.net have had paracord break on them when used for the suspension system.

 

[Gill]

spectra or amsteel blue is the best gear for hammocking , light ,strong and will not break with your weight. paracord is great cordage and the 550 breaking strain might hold you, BUT it is designed to stretch , not what you need when hangin.

 

[ex Member swampy99]

I got a 50m roll of heringbone webbing that is 50mm wide then I folded it and stitched it to a 25mm thickness and use it on my dd hammock, there is a picture on the thread "you don't need trees" I got the tape from Ace supplies www.acesupplies.co.uk not a bad company to deal with.
There was some stretch in the tape but that went after some use and readjusting. Had no problems all knots hold.

 

[Ogri the trog]

It hardly constitutes a knot....
http://www.imrisk.com/hammock/speerknot.htm
But its what I've always used. I have an intense dislike of trusting my sleeping torso to a slip-knot!

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[FGYT]

sorry but quick pull to release is not the knot i want holding me up with a bunch of jokers about couple of beers n a quick tug as you pass by

ATB

Duncan

 

[bushscout1]

Another thought regarding the type of 'cordage' to use when suspending a hammock should be the protection of the tree.

Using cord that is too thin (which in my opinion would include paracord) will be highly likely to cut into the tree / damage the bark.

On my Hennessey Hammock I use 50mm webbing tree huggers, however, on my group buy hammock I use 25mm webbing which is doubled around the tree (having a similar load spreading effect).

I am still trying different set-ups myself, hence, I won't give any advice on knots / set-up at present but I will post my 'ideal' set-up in the near future - once I've tested it enough to be confident with recommending it.

 

[Gailainne]

There are as many ways to sling a hammock as there are people using them, however thats not what you want to hear, as a good starting point someone already mentioned hammockforums.net, they have a forum thread called support systems, have a read thru that lot, should give you a few pointers , some of the rope names are different, but doing a search you can still find them.

FYI I use rated 25mm webbing (over a tonne) for wrapping the tree to support my hammock.

Attached to my hammock, I use 9mm rated non stretch climbing rope, thats looped thru the webbing and locked using hitchcraft tensioners.

They give a 2:1 mechanical advantage, I dont use that on the hammock but I do use it on the smaller ones which tension my tarp ridge line 3mm dyneema which as you can see is less dia than paracord and almost twice the breaking load.

Photo of the set up

Hope that helps

Stephen

 

[kiltedpict]

Cheers folks for all your advice...

Looking forward to trying them all out soon... right after I move house this week! Moving out to a wee village in Aberdeenshire that has a natural forest estate right on the back garden so will be able to practice hanging the hammock & tarp as often as I want! Will try and scout out the area and post pics next month.

ATB

KP

 

[heath]

When I first got my hammock I used a pair of old seatbelts, can't remeber what knots I used but it held up all right. Than when I was in the states I picked up a pair of these:

http://www.eaglesnestoutfittersinc.com/slap-strap.html

They were on clearance and they work really well, simple, fast and easy to adjust.

Heath