Tensahedron Stand

**Karla "with a k"** · 07-27-2018, 17:43

I've been following this thread and waiting until I saw others doing what I wanted to do. Finally, I felt I had enough pieces to build my own stand.
My main priority was a hammock stand which could fit in my car for camping. I followed instructions from various people on this thread and I'm so excited to have it all come together. It's a work in progress, but wanted to share the first part.

Here's the video. Part 2 "Working out the hammock suspension" and tarp coming soon.

**woodscavenger** · 07-29-2018, 19:27

My simple Tensahedron. Finished in about an hour last night.
(4) 3/4" x 95" EMT tubing
(1) 7/8" Poplar dowel (wanted something soft in order to whittle down more easily to fit inside the tubing)

Photos tell the story.
Rough whittle down of poplar dowel. Used a bandsaw to quickly create the taper end. Cut each one about 2" long.
Pounded into EMT tube with hammer to begin then used concrete floor and EMT tube as a slide hammer to drive dowel into EMT tube. Nice snug fit. Chose not to use epoxy.
Drilled hole near end with about 5/16" bit. Upper and lower hole on each tube are rotated 90 degree from each other. Upper holes overlap facing perpendicular to ground, lower holes overlap parallel to ground.
Chamfered hole to minimized stress on amsteel.
Quick Amsteel loop using figure 8 knot. Looped doubled end through holes then added a quick link to attach my whoopie slings. May eventually use a longer fixed loop to capture my whipped ends.
Lower legs held at width with paracord tied to Amsteel loops.

Hammock is DIY 11.5' long with fixed ridgeline. Longer attachement at foot end helps keep weight over non-stabilized end for safe entry/exit.

Will work on a tarp system.

I love this style since I can lay down in a non-tree area and look at the stars using my binos!!
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**nimrod337** · 08-02-2018, 12:43

So I just built my first stand (pics coming!) And I was about to start up my second for my wife... However, we like to hang tandem, for closeness, and single tarp usage. So I got to thinkin' "could this thing be used to hang two hammocks at once?? I used the galvanized steel top-rail so I could break it down into 8*4' sections, but I'm thinking if I leave the poles at 10', there might be enough room to put two hammocks in there with a spreader bar. So I think my only concern is weight. I'd say we are looking at ~350-400lbs between the two of us, and possible extras* Is the steel top rail strong enough for that load? Will having only one person in the hammock throw the balance off, and cause the thing to tip? (It doesn't seem like it would, but I thought I'd check with the web before wasting my time, or hurting myself.)

Thanks gang! This stand is so cool!

**Latherdome** · 08-02-2018, 13:15

Originally Posted by nimrod337

So I just built my first stand (pics coming!) And I was about to start up my second for my wife... However, we like to hang tandem, for closeness, and single tarp usage. So I got to thinkin' "could this thing be used to hang two hammocks at once?? I used the galvanized steel top-rail so I could break it down into 8*4' sections, but I'm thinking if I leave the poles at 10', there might be enough room to put two hammocks in there with a spreader bar. So I think my only concern is weight. I'd say we are looking at ~350-400lbs between the two of us, and possible extras* Is the steel top rail strong enough for that load? Will having only one person in the hammock throw the balance off, and cause the thing to tip? (It doesn't seem like it would, but I thought I'd check with the web before wasting my time, or hurting myself.)

The fun thing here is that nearly anybody can be a pioneer. I don't see any solid reason it can't work. Couple hundred years ago a mathematician Euler worked out formulas to determine the load at which a column of given material properties and dimensions will buckle. We played with those formulas developing the commercial flavor. At the end of the day, though, empirical testing is everything. That fat steel tubing is quite a bit stronger than necessary for the simple case tensahedron. Is it stout enough for 2 hammocks at 10' extension? Go forth and tell us!

**piebald** · 08-02-2018, 13:18

Yes please do tell, I'm interested in a tandem set up as well.

Originally Posted by Latherdome

The fun thing here is that nearly anybody can be a pioneer. I don't see any solid reason it can't work. Couple hundred years ago a mathematician Euler worked out formulas to determine the load at which a column of given material properties and dimensions will buckle. We played with those formulas developing the commercial flavor. At the end of the day, though, empirical testing is everything. That fat steel tubing is quite a bit stronger than necessary for the simple case tensahedron. Is it stout enough for 2 hammocks at 10' extension? Go forth and tell us!

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**Dynamystic** · 08-02-2018, 14:13

Originally Posted by piebald

Yes please do tell, I'm interested in a tandem set up as well.

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+1

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**nimrod337** · 08-02-2018, 14:25

**** it. Fiiiiiiiiiine!

I'll pioneer this one, folks. It's going to take a little while, as I got some seriously hectic weeks coming. Guess I need some new hack saw blades, and a sharper drill bit!

**Latherdome** · 08-02-2018, 15:09

This hasn't been tried yet either, to my knowledge: https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...=1#post1834116 If it works, would work with poles in the length/strength class of the commercial version, while what you contemplate would require the longer, stronger, heavier poles you're using.

**nimrod337** · 08-02-2018, 17:09

Right, and I think my backup plan is to find just a single tree, and use the two halves of my current stand to act as the second tree. This of course won't help when camping on the beach, or fitting into my kayak, but it's a good start for car camping when I can't be certain there will be 2 nicely spaced trees. I vaguely remember some sort of 3 hammock version of the tensahedron where the hammocks are arranged in a triangle... but I'm not sifting through the past 90 pages to find it!