Confused about ridgelines

[pickuptruck]

also confused about ridgelines...particularly about how strong the breakstrength should be? in the instance of a structural ridgeline, my understanding is it will bear quite a bit of weight to hold the ends of the hammock closer together...
and so, have a lot of force exerted on it...
i am a big boy...300lbs, so i'm thinking i should use line as strong as my suspension lines, (like amsteel blue)...
am i right?
thanks in advance

[Richard Tipton]

also confused about ridgelines...particularly about how strong the breakstrength should be? in the instance of a structural ridgeline, my understanding is it will bear quite a bit of weight to hold the ends of the hammock closer together...
and so, have a lot of force exerted on it...
i am a big boy...300lbs, so i'm thinking i should use line as strong as my suspension lines, (like amsteel blue)...
am i right?
thanks in advance

That's what I use, but you could get away with Zing It or Lash It.

[perdidochas]

Hi all, long time lurker first time poster! I was not sure how to phrase my question so it was hard to use the search function please forgive me if this is well trod territory.

I recently bought a 11' argon Dutch hammock and as I suspected, it has the perfect lay for my particular fatness/tallness combination. This will be a yard and periodic camping hammock so I don't want to bog it down with a structural ridge line but I do want to be able to set up a working ridgeline for both the hammock/bugnet and the tarp when camping.

a) do they hang from the same ridgeline? I am thinking not since I would (barring gale weather) want the tarp higher than the ridgeline of the hammock.

b.)do I hang a tarp ridgeline just using rope and knots? that seems difficult to get taut, even a whoopie seems like it would be difficult to tension tightly enough. I have zing-it, (which also seems like it would be bad for the tree under load.)

c.)would a separate hammock ridgeline for the bugnet/sock/whatever need to be tied into the hammock's suspension (as in one rope from hammock end to the tree, two ropes from hammock end to hammock end) to hold up a bugnet effectively so there's only one tiny hole at each end? If so what do I string the hammock ridgeline to? The continuous loop?

thanks in advance

b. That's what I do. I use a bowline on one side, and a trucker's hitch on the other. There isn't much force on tarp ridgelines, so I wouldn't be too concerned about the trees with zing-it.
c. I attach the hammock ridgeline (structural ridgeline) to the ends of my hammock, just below where I have it gathered/attached to my suspension.

[Mrknot]

Would mini carabiners, (non climbing rated ones), be strong enough to keep a structural ridgeline secure? I see that Dutch sells small, titanium biners for this purpose, that are not rated for actual hammock suspension. Would the little cheapie aluminum ones, (the kind one would use to hold their keys), also work for a removeable ridgeline?

[JackJ]

Would mini carabiners, (non climbing rated ones), be strong enough to keep a structural ridgeline secure? I see that Dutch sells small, titanium biners for this purpose, that are not rated for actual hammock suspension. Would the little cheapie aluminum ones, (the kind one would use to hold their keys), also work for a removeable ridgeline?

Of course mini-carabiners are not all the same, but I have successfully used several different models (including Dutch's inexpensive aluminum mini) on structural ridgelines with no signs of undue stress, even though the Zing-it has been quite taut. That said, I've also seen some that look too flimsy.

[mab0852]

When I was starting out I made a ridiculously adjustable ZingIt whoopie ridgeline. I think it goes from 80"-115". Anyway, it goes on every new hammock so I can get it all dialed in. Once I've settled on the right length, I take it off, measure it and make a fixed length SRL that stays with the hammock from then on. If for some reason I don't want the SRL, I remove one end, coil it up and leave it hanging on the other end until I'm ready to reattach it. FYI at 310 lbs I never got close to breaking a ZingIt ridge line. Unless you run your hammock suspension way to flat, you aren't putting much load on the SRL.

[Mrknot]

Of course mini-carabiners are not all the same, but I have successfully used several different models (including Dutch's inexpensive aluminum mini) on structural ridgelines with no signs of undue stress, even though the Zing-it has been quite taut. That said, I've also seen some that look too flimsy.

Common sense will prevail.
I'll use my best judgement...
Thank you!
A poorly hung SRL will not send me to the ER...I'll experiment :-)

[Boon Booni]

You've got to consider that the loads on the structural ridge line will be very different from hang to hang. When the trees are the perfect distance apart there is no or almost no load on the ridge line. Where the structural ridge line comes into its own is when the trees are too far apart and you can't hang the straps high enough. At that point you will basically be hanging from the ridge line and you will want real and sturdy hardware on there and you will want it to be of the same material as the rest of your suspension.