The Ten-Yard Hang

[Firesong]

I did this once. On a hike with my son. Had to pick a set of trees that was close to his tent. Lakeside but it was a stretch. The only time I had my single line suspension with speed hooks slip a little. Very poor angle. But it worked.

[Tikker]

I've just used some long chunks of mule tape

it's light, crazy strong, and just attach the CL's to it via beckett hitch

as others have mentioned, used poles to move the loops higher once they're around the tree

[SilvrSurfr]

"First down yardage" and "monkery". That's some good stuff there. ��

Wasn't it Silver Surfer that had pics of a hang with two massive trees that were way far apart? If I remember correctly he stood on a bike seat and still had to use a stick to get his straps high enough.

Wasn't me - I don't even own a bike!

[BigE94]

Wasn't me - I don't even own a bike!

Too bad. Id like to find that picture. Impressive.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

[Crazytown3]

I must be lazy at tree climbing. I just keep looking until I find the right trees. I'm a little North of you in Canada so I get the tree diameter, but there's always smaller trees up here luckily. I've never had to span a 10 yard gap. I have to bring the extra dogbones for the tree straps but you must be super picky about your site.

Sometimes it's just the way it is. There are times, not frequent, but occasionally, where I am at or near the treeline, and either hang long or find some nice, soft ground to lay on. Sometimes it's just the challenge of doing it.

EDIT: FWIW I use Dutchware straps and buckles, and get those straps as far up as I can.

[kitsapcowboy]

Sometimes it's just the way it is. There are times, not frequent, but occasionally, where I am at or near the treeline, and either hang long or find some nice, soft ground to lay on. Sometimes it's just the challenge of doing it.

Well said, CT.

[XJ35S]

Around here in the north east, or on my property, there are depressions in the ground. Small ditches or voids where a long ago tree had fallen and decayed away. I can span a good width with 2 15' 1" polyester straps becket hitched on. The problem is these depressions are usually quite wet and muddy.

Tons of dead wood for push sticks. The sugar Maples are fairly smooth barked. Most of my hangs are 6 paces, or around 18 feet.

[Mittagsfrost]

More pictures? Here is Hutzelbein's wide hang.
@hutzelbein tell us more, please!

[hutzelbein]

Wasn't it Silver Surfer that had pics of a hang with two massive trees that were way far apart? If I remember correctly he stood on a bike seat and still had to use a stick to get his straps high enough.

That was my hang:



Here's another wide hang:



I have frequently had to hang between trees further apart than I would like, but those two were my widest. So far. In my case, it's the limitations of public camp grounds that is the cause. When bike (1st picture) or car camping (2nd picture), I don't want to hang outside campgrounds because it's not allowed and I can't just hide away with a bike or car.

Over the years I have experimented with my suspension, and I'm not finished, yet. Initially, I used 8' Whoopie Slings and my Warbonnet webbing (12', I believe). I didn't care for the slick straps that came with the Whoopies, and the extra length came in handy a couple of times. Weight and bulk were not much of a problem because I didn't take it hiking.

The way my first Whoopies were designed wasn't ideal: they had a ring and continuous loop spliced into the adjustable eye, which was supposed to attach to the hammock. This meant that with wide hangs, it was difficult to adjust the length because the adjustable end was very high up. Additionally, the Whoopies were a problem in tight spaces, where I had to do this:



That's why I did go back to the Warbonnet cinch buckle suspension, with 15' webbing straps. I also carried 6' Amsteel Dog Bones for emergencies. That's what I used in the 1st picture: I exchanged the WB cinch buckles with the dog bones and larksheaded the cinch buckles to the end of the dog bones and threaded them on the webbing as usual. That worked but I didn't like detaching and reattaching the cinch buckles. It takes quite a bit of time. I wouldn't want to be doing that in bad weather.

Since then, I haven't had a need for an extra long suspension, but for the next tour where I might have to go wide, my plan is this:

12' Dyneema / Polypro straps from Dutch (121g)
a pair of Dutch Spiders (7g)
6' Amsteel Whoopie Slings with Dutch Whoopie Hooks spliced in the fixed eye (52g)
a pair of continuous Amsteel loops for the hammock (4g)
a pair of Camp Nano 23 climbing biners (46g)

The complete suspension should come in at about 230g / 8.2oz and would allow me to bridge 10 yards. It's very versatile: for normal hangs I can use straps and spiders, which will also allow me to hang in tight spaces. For wide hangs, I simply add the Whoopies. I haven't tested this exact set-up, but I don't see why it shouldn't work. I could save a little bit of weight by switching to Dutch clips, but since I use the webbing to help me climb the trees, I prefer climbing rated biners.

[kitsapcowboy]

Thanks for the great photos and detailed account of your experiences, Ms. H. That is very helpful. You new 230-gram backpacking kit is well thought out, and it seems like will be easy to use.