Tensahedron Stand

[Latherdome]

Leatherdome, Was looking at your web site and something caught my eye. Could you add further explanation to the " extremely cool small national armies, " comment about users of the Tensa stand? I am intrigued.

Just a fantasy of a modern military re-embracing hammocks as they did for centuries, then strangely stopped. Of course, they’d want portable stands and we have this design...


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[Crazytown3]

If it helps, I consider myself an extremely cool small army, although not national by any means.

[jeff-oh]

If it helps, I consider myself an extremely cool small army, although not national by any means.

Sovereign Citizen????

[Archy88]

Hello all,
I have just browsed every page in the thread.
With the help of jeff-oh and latherdome I have decided to go the tensahedron route to potentially replace my turtle dog setup.

This will be packed in my truck while we go RV camping and therefore I'm not too concerned about weight. Therefore, I intend to go with 4 fence top rails which I will purchase tomorrow. My 550 paracord arrives middle of next week. I also need to accommodate a 12' tarp.

A few things that you might be able to help/clarify with:
1) I will use the rails at full length to start and likely cut them at 5' and used the swaged end for connection. Can I use a diagonal lashing to join the longer lengths at an x until I figure out what length I truly want?
2) Similarly, am I correct to say that a shear lashing would be used at the bottom joints? At least to start with...
3) I would like to stick with paracord for all uses on the stand. What other ties/knots/terminology should I know going into this?
4) Am I safe to assume a 1/2" hole made at the top and bottom of the rails is sufficient? I plan on making these 2" from either side and possibly using the copper protection method.
5) Is there any benefit to having the head/foot side different heights?
6) Sort of related. What are the cheaper collapsible options for porch tarp poles? I plan to start with some old Hillary tent porch poles but I would like something to pack with the hammock.

[Crazytown3]

Sovereign Citizen????

Nah, closer to Pigpen (apologies to Charles Schulz).

[jeff-oh]

A few things that you might be able to help/clarify with:
1) I will use the rails at full length to start and likely cut them at 5' and used the swaged end for connection. Can I use a diagonal lashing to join the longer lengths at an x until I figure out what length I truly want?
2) Similarly, am I correct to say that a shear lashing would be used at the bottom joints? At least to start with...

Lashings on the slick poles will slip if there is any prying load. Thus at the top joint they will slip. I was successful using lashings at the ground end as that joint did not want to separate.

3) I would like to stick with paracord for all uses on the stand. What other ties/knots/terminology should I know going into this?

I LD and I differ here but agree either method works. I use bolted joints and hang from a nylon spacer. The advantage can be that you can tune the suspension length and directly connect the tarp to the stand. But you can only bolt the one end of the poles if solid. If you end up cutting them into multiple pieces, then you can bolt both ends.
Check out these threads if you have not seen them. DIY Tensa Stand
Improved Tensa Stand

4) Am I safe to assume a 1/2" hole made at the top and bottom of the rails is sufficient? I plan on making these 2" from either side and possibly using the copper protection method.

If tying with a loop just need hole large enough to feed the rope through.

5) Is there any benefit to having the head/foot side different heights?

No but it would be a PITA to have the figure which pole goes with which end. Symmetry is good.

6) Sort of related. What are the cheaper collapsible options for porch tarp poles? I plan to start with some old Hillary tent porch poles but I would like something to pack with the hammock.

Porch poles? For like setting up in porch mode? Most just use their trekiing p

[jeff-oh]

Nah, closer to Pigpen (apologies to Charles Schulz).

[Latherdome]

I LD and I differ here but agree either method works. I use bolted joints and hang from a nylon spacer. The advantage can be that you can tune the suspension length and directly connect the tarp to the stand.

Agree both methods work, but there's no difficulty tuning suspension length or connecting tarp directly to stand with my preferred rope loop method. The advantage is simplicity and symmetry top and bottom, which, as you say, is good. I'm not seeing an advantage to your method unless it's an aesthetic preference for joints having only the minimum necessary mobility.

[Ridewest]

When I tried my ridge runner hammock with the Tensa4 stand the only way I was able to achieve a relatively flat lie and clearance for the spreader bars was to narrow the base of the stand which gave me the length I needed for the ridge runner. It was also necessary to stake down both ends of the stand. Tensa : ridgerunner 4.jpg Tensa : ridgerunner.2jpg.jpg
My concern was that I may be putting too much strain on the poles ( I'm not a skinny guy, about 230lbs) I eventually bought a Warbonnet Blackbird hammock to use with the stand and it has been flawless I just returned from a 2 week motorcycle trip with the stand in tow for those areas where there are no trees or you are not allowed to secure anything to the trees. Priceless to be able to use the hammock anywhere

[Latherdome]

When I tried my ridge runner hammock with the Tensa4 stand the only way I was able to achieve a relatively flat lie and clearance for the spreader bars was to narrow the base of the stand which gave me the length I needed for the ridge runner. It was also necessary to stake down both ends of the stand.
My concern was that I may be putting too much strain on the poles ( I'm not a skinny guy, about 230lbs)

These instructions for bridge hammocks are noted in the current User Guide under Tips & Tricks, linked from our Support page. We always advise anchoring both ends as well, without tensioning the one on the head side.

You are correct that having the poles at a shallow angle to achieve the necessary width would stress the poles more, but by also running the base narrow, so the poles are more upright viewed from the ends of the stand, you relieve that stress so it's about the same as used with a gathered end hammock. The poles would be stressed least of all if they were basically vertical, with the imaginary hammock hanging straight down. The more you open the stand up in either base width or apex spread, the more stress for a given weight in the hammock. Part of the reason we advise strongly against tensioning both guylines is to avoid the scenario where the user has the base very wide, and little or no hammock suspension. The user would find that the seat is too low and that the sag is too deep. Instead of the correct remedy of narrowing the base and adding hammock suspension, the user might try tensioning the head end guyline to pry open the stand, tension any ridgeline, and raise the hammock. This would "work" but put huge stress on the poles by having them at a shallow angle on both axes, potentially resulting in failure below the weight limit.