The best and easiest way I have found to hang my hammocks quickly and securely are a figure eight on a bite wrapped around the tree with a larks head on the beiner and after all adjustments are made for height I tie off the larks head with a half hitch.
Animated Knots by Grog is a site I direct my Scouts to when learning knots. The smart device app is nice for those that have iPods/pads/phones or android devices.
But, you can never really go wrong with the Ashley Book of Knots by Clifford W. Ashley, 1944. It's a bit pricey, but it will tell you how to tie close to 4,000 different variations of knots.
Modified amsteel (EDIT: Error as pointed out by TominMN... it is actually <buntline> with no dash as in "Bunt-line") with a tail bury for 95% breakage of minimum breaking strength.
By the way, knot to put too fine a point on it, the Beth and Evans sailing page has the improved E Star knot for Amsteel!
That is right, we are Knot hammocker's, no longer will you be looked down upon for daring to espouse not eschewing knots, in favor of hardware or (dare we intone) friction knots.
I present a E Star knot which retains 95%...and yes you heard that right, 95% of 1/8" Amsteel strength, but you have to add the dreaded tapered bury.
For example, you wrap a D-Ring with a [EDIT, as per TominMN points out <redact bowline, replace with buntline] knot, then you taper and bury the tail in the loop that was formed.
Here is the .pdf, scroll down to the Blue amsteel...
http://www.bethandevans.com/pdf/estar.pdf
These are, or perhaps are not, the Amsteel Knot's suitability for knots in hammocking and will be subjected to Scientific Methodology to disprove their suitability for not knotting Amsteel knots.
Time will tell.
[EDIT]...and yes, we will surely all hang separately, if we choose to knot hang together. Cain't we all just get along? We have to knot our splices together till we all are the same color, eh! No more discrimination...
Last edited by joe_guilbeau; 09-18-2015 at 12:28.
Buntline Joe! (As in Ned... but I'm pretty sure he didn't come up with the hitch. I could be wrong though cuz those guys certainly had uses for hitches.)Originally Posted by joe_guilbeau
Of course to get to 95%, there is that pesky little splice!
Come on! A sailor that only knows ONE knot!
Need to get you to OLS!
They are showing 95% with a bury. It's 50% as a knot that does not slip. In one of the links I mentioned earlier, they show a bend with the same basic characteristics and it's in the same range. If you want near 100% performance (or really, over 50%), you will be doing some sort of splicing with a bury being the most straight forward.
Again, for anyone that missed it earlier, tying knots in Amsteel/Dyneema is something to be a little careful of. Common knots that you might already know that work very well with other kinds of fiber will slip on the much slicker Dyneema fiber. If you are planning on tying off your suspension with a knot in Dyneema, make sure you are using one that will not slip. The most likely candidate in my mind for that purpose is a Water Bowline, but it's not commonly known.
As for setting up a tarp and guylines, I found this video to be very helpful. Thanks Warbonnet! http://youtu.be/UHuUmNOwBAw
Ha! I know a "few" more.....Come on! A sailor that only knows ONE knot!
Need to get you to OLS!
Great Resource on all things knot.
http://goo.gl/c9dGuU
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it." - Yogi Berra
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