Snapped my ridge line. Why?

**Gqgeek81** · 05-23-2016, 11:52

Looking for ideas on what I might have done wrong.
After a few recent trips on which I noticed my ridge line didn't appear to be doing much, I took some time to measure out exactly 83% of the hammock length and set the ridge line there. I think it did help with the comfort level. I've also been taking care to adjust my hang to 30 degrees just to see if it makes a difference over my usual, "oh I'm sure that's close enough" attitude.

On the 5th consecutive night, I set it up, had been in and out several times when I sat down and laid back to SNAP! the ridge line gave way and I dropped an inch or two.

The ridgeline was Lash-It with no obvious wear I know of. It snapped about 8-10 inches in from the head end well past any hardware or splices. The head end was at 30 degrees as verified during setup but I did have the foot end closer to 35. I also hang stuff from my ridge line but this probably amounts to under ~2ish lbs.

Any ideas what might have caused this? The only real headache it caused was that I had to fiddle with everything to make sure I had coverage under the tarp but I'd like to avoid a repeat of the issue. I want to replace the ridge line but if it's going to snap again I need to figure out what to change first.

To Dutch's credit, I was using a Stinger on one end and it held up just fine.

**Boston** · 05-23-2016, 12:14

Suspension was probably set too tight. You may have mis-estimated the angles. You also may have the ridgeline too short for the angle your setting it at. Or the line could have been damaged somehow.

This is part of the reason people say to ensure the ridge-line can be bent 90 degree by hand when in the hammock.

Or just make it out of 7/64 amsteel and never worry about it.

**La Picker** · 05-23-2016, 13:07

Lash-it is great for tarp tie outs, but I don't think I'd feel secure hanging from it. And depending on how you've got your hang set, the SRL can take a significant amount of the stress. I don't use anything less than 1/8 Amsteel.

**FatedStranger** · 05-23-2016, 13:16

Originally Posted by Boston

Suspension was probably set too tight. You may have mis-estimated the angles. You also may have the ridgeline too short for the angle your setting it at. Or the line could have been damaged somehow.

This is part of the reason people say to ensure the ridge-line can be bent 90 degree by hand when in the hammock.

Or just make it out of 7/64 amsteel and never worry about it.

Still new myself and I bought both 7/64 amsteel and some ZingIt/LashIt... and yeah, I like the idea of lighter cordage for the ASR but went with the 7/64 so I wouldn't ever have a worry. It's about a .3-.5 oz difference for the added security.

**Floridahanger** · 05-23-2016, 13:23

If you dropped a few inches, I must agree with Boston. It was too tight.

You should be able to hang the hammock with or without the SRL if the suspension angle is about 30* without changing the hammock sag. Once you start to go down lower than 30* angle the forces start to multiply.

**Stim** · 05-23-2016, 13:40

Originally Posted by La Picker

Lash-it is great for tarp tie outs, but I don't think I'd feel secure hanging from it. And depending on how you've got your hang set, the SRL can take a significant amount of the stress. I don't use anything less than 1/8 Amsteel.

This. I just installed an Dyneema ridgeline from whoopieslings.com and I spent the better part of 30 minutes making sure it wasn't too taut. Shug's video's helped me a lot, and I kept going back to what he said about it. I would set it where I thought was a good place and then slowly sit in my hammock and check it. Took me a little while, but in the end it worked out.

**Zilla** · 05-23-2016, 13:52

Using a stronger line is not the answer, hanging it right is, check out Papa Smurfs video on how to make sure your rl is just right..
If your snapping zing it then it's either too tight or maybe your line was damaged and you just didn't realize it.

**Gqgeek81** · 05-23-2016, 13:53

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.

**Eidson** · 05-23-2016, 14:13

Originally Posted by Gqgeek81

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.

The suggestion referred to is that you should be able to bend the ridgeline between the thumb and forefinger at 90°. Being guitar/banjo string tight isn't ideal due to the stress on it. The tighter it is, the more stress there is.
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.

**OutandBack** · 05-23-2016, 14:18

Originally Posted by Gqgeek81

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.

If you have access to trees the proper distance apart and you hang your hammock and notice a slight sag in the RL then it has done its job of telling you your hammock suspension is set correctly.
Only when tree's are too far apart does the SRL do its second job of keeping your hammocks sag correct to reduce calfridge pressure.
That said it never seems to work as well, for me, as finding tree's at the proper distance and hammock suspension hung at the correct angle.