Snapped my ridge line. Why?

[akaCat]

To be clear, the ridge line was lash-it, the actual suspension line is webbing currently.

Bending the line 90 degrees? Not sure I'm familiar with that suggestion. My ridge line has always been tight enough to strum like a banjo or its loose and doesn't seem to be accomplishing anything.

I don't think ridgelines are meant to accomplish anything that they can't do with a little slack in the line.

[La Picker]

I don't think ridgelines are meant to accomplish anything that they can't do with a little slack in the line.

Well actually, if there is slack in your SRL it's accomplishing absolutely nothing except possibly giving you a place to hang your flashlight.

[PapaSmurf]

Zilla suggested Papa Smurf's (Dream Hammock) video and I would agree but couldn't find the link offhand. He shows this quite well in the video.

[pgibson]

Also sounds like you are using hard wear in the hammock RL.....that can significantly increase the wear on the line with the loads that are on it. It could be that an old stress point broke. Those bits of shiny are made for tarp ridge lines where there is fractionally the amount of stress on the line than in a suspension system....which your hammock RL is part of and carries load from.


The first ridge lines we made as replacements for a couple that had snapped the stock RLs from their Hennessys....reportedly rated to 300 pounds. The Wife had been snapped in the face by the recoil of the line when it broke. Personally from those types of experiences I really don't like to use or see lines that are not 3+ X the potential weight that will be in hammock....hardware used in there just reduces the potential working load, by how much is hard to say but it does drop it by some and everyplace the line has been weighted as is weakened by the stress of the line turning those sharp radius.

[sidvicious]

i'm trying to wrap my head around breaking a ridgeline............

[Floridahanger]

The technique is this:
1) Set the hammock up with suspension at 90* while the hammock is at around chair height.
2) Lay down in the hammock and reach up, grab the SRL between your thumb and first 2 fingers.
3) Turn your hand away from you and see how far you can twist the SRL. Should be around 90*(straight up and down).
4) If too tight(less than 90*), loosen the suspension. If the SRL is sagging while you're laying in the hammock, tighten the suspension a little.

A correctly placed SRL is dependent on a correctly placed suspension. It is a guide when setting up the suspension and can help you fudge the 30* a little. It will also allow you to hang items from it and suspend a bugnet in place.

**Edit** I see Papa and others beat me to it.

[Gqgeek81]

]

Thanks for that. Mine has always been tighter than any of those examples. Hmmmm

The first ridge lines we made as replacements for a couple that had snapped the stock RLs from their Hennessys....reportedly rated to 300 pounds. The Wife had been snapped in the face by the recoil of the line when it broke. Personally from those types of experiences I really don't like to use or see lines that are not 3+ X the potential weight that will be in hammock....hardware used in there just reduces the potential working load, by how much is hard to say but it does drop it by some and everyplace the line has been weighted as is weakened by the stress of the line turning those sharp radius.

FWIW that always concerned my in my old Hennessey. The amsteal lines should have virtually no recoil as it has almost no stretch. I am likely to get a load of gear dropping right onto my face though. I may hedge my bets and replace it with something like Tech Line with a higher strength. Or maybe I'll just go to full 7/64th and use it as a hand hold to get up with

[Stim]

Thank you for this!

[TominMN]

i'm trying to wrap my head around breaking a ridgeline............

More likely would be the ridgeline wrapping around your head...

Should never happen, but it does. Less than 30* and a decent bounce can certainly do it. Just to be safe, if I happen to do something stupid (highly likely!), I won't use anything smaller than DynaGlide. WBBBs come with 7/64" Amsteel.

[Phantom Grappler]

What they said is correct, but I'm likely to bend the rules a little and 1/8 amsteel has not let me down yet.


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