Tensahedron Stand

[PharmGeek]

This has already been said perhaps - but buying out a zing it ridgeline that spans from apex to apex then down to the ground in say 9inch orange screws makes a very fixed system and tarp would not then need the bungee cord type aspect?

I really also like the gadget uk single version - I’ve used these orange screws along with raftingtigger and they hold for me in almost all situations including sand of the gulf coast (12 inch models)

The single version would maybe be a tad less bulk for my kayak camping and be relatively less complex compared to what I use now _ no ground pole system with either 9 or 12imch big orange screws.

Also this system seems like it will be far easier for the sand

I’m so psyched to hopefully try this soon

Disclaimer - I’m no engineer - just a Groupie


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[raftingtigger]

This has already been said perhaps - but buying out a zing it ridgeline that spans from apex to apex then down to the ground in say 9inch orange screws makes a very fixed system and tarp would not then need the bungee cord type aspect?

Works better with only one anchor. The stand needs to find it's own sweet spot. When you get in the ridgeline loosens. Put the head apex a little lower than the foot apex. Sit just past the cord limiting the base spread (toward the head), and pivot into position. The slightly head down puts you into the zero gravity chair position. VERY comfortable.

I rig my tarp with a bungee on one apex (or both). This lets the tarp ridgeline stay taut when you put weight on the hammock. Trying to prevent this with anchoring both ends defeats many of the advantages of the stand. I finally took Latherdome's advice on this and am sold.

[PharmGeek]

I’m slow.... but it sounds like if you have a hammock with a ridgeline - and that ridgeline allows for a lay you like - this may not match up?

I may be confused

I see your point about fixing a tarp ridgeline now based on this design


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[Latherdome]

I’m slow.... but it sounds like if you have a hammock with a ridgeline - and that ridgeline allows for a lay you like - this may not match up?

Tweaking suspension and/or pole length will let you dial in a reasonably stable ridgeline of arbitrary length.

[snwcmpr]

Reading this thread with interest.
Between trees, or a stand that is stable like turtledog stand, or Tato stand, the ridgeline is unaffected.
In this stand, the stand width is flexible. Thus as the stand goes wider the ridgline get tighter. Is this not an issue?

Ken in NC
(Costco down throws on sale, online today, in stores tomorrow, through the 27th)

[GrizzlyAdams]

I'm interested in adapting this idea for bridge hammocks, too (or, in my case, adapting a bridge design to work with a proven tensahedron design). Lately my PBH spreaders tend to be longer - more like 46" for fabric that's 58" wide at the ends to eliminate shoulder squeeze, but that's for bigger people (influenced by Bill Townsend's excellent Luxury Hammocks). I have hammocks for people my size that use shorter spreaders, too. Do you think I can dispense with the bridge hammock's triangle suspension and attach the corners of the hammock directly to the tensahedron struts? If so, could I dispense with the bridge spreaders, too? (Would likely need much stronger struts because the hammock would add significant bending forces, so retaining bridge spreaders is probably a good idea.) I know this method of hanging would affect the way the bridge functions, but would it change the balance or other factor of the tensahedron?

hey WV--
Directly attaching the corners of the hammock to the stand seems to me to introduce a number of constraints that impact the size of the stand...where you'd make the connection would define the distance of the hammock from the ground and the the width of the spread. You can take one of those constraints out of the equation if instead of think of the the stand as providing the spread (which has its own problems) you think of the stand as _supporting_ the spreader bars. I don't know what's possible with these stands, but for the purposes of imaging this solution suppose that you had rings or hooks attached to the stand at the appropriate place and then threaded the spreader through the rings, or dropped the spreaders into the hooks. You could make the spreaders as wide as you like, provided they are of a material sturdy enough to take both the usual compression force, and the transferred weight at the points of contact with the stand.

All of this is of course completely hypothetical. I find that most of my mind experiments don't work out in practice....

[WV]

Me too, Grizz. Thanks. I'm only speculating, but it may be that there's no way to avoid putting bending forces on either the hammock spreaders or the tensahedron struts or both, so much stronger members would be called for. Then there's the question of how the bridge would behave with a more rigid support structure. Didn't you once experiment with a 4 point suspension by running lines around big trees at either end?

[CaptainGravity]

Yes, combination of two monopole stands right?

Pioneering thoughts:

I built a Tensahedron4 single hammock stand (the "classic" Leatherdome Tensahedron)
(4 8' tree stakes, 4 lashings, 1 ridgeline, tension strap on bottom, 2 balancing lines)

This Tensahedron2 single hammock stand (GadgetUK):
(2 8' tree stakes, 2 lashings, 1 ridgeline, no bottom tension strap, 4 balancing lines)

I think/hope three Tensahedron2s can be combined in a triangle to make a triple hammock stand:
(6 8' tree stakes, 6 lashings, 3 ridgelines, no bottom tension needed, 3 balancing lines)
lashings are at the bottom AND "tops" of each of the three stands

Would need three scout-sized test subjects though... luckily I have three sons! (And a soft lawn. Not sure how well this 3x thought would handle my 240lbs)

Attachment 157249

Might work as a square too... especially with some diagonal tension lines forming an X in the square... a square might be tarp-friendlier

1:12 model of a 6-pole, 3-hammock tri-tensahedron constructed today! Pictures below.

I plan to venture out for a couple more tree stakes tomorrow when the crowds subside and build a full version in the yard Sat pm!

Some notes on the prototype:
* Poles are 8' (inches, whatever), but maybe more like 6.5-7' once lashings are considered
* Ridgeline needs to be at least 9.5'=114" to handle 5.5x7.5 tarp (free!)
* I added some tensioning lines at the bottom. I think the lower vertices should be slightly splayed relative to the ridgelines above them... so the lower tension lines should be 5' or so. I think I want to splay a bit to ensure those lower vertices don't slip inward
* Three lines to pull outward on three higher vertices (purple) are 12'. Two decent stakes in "serial" will hopefully do the trick.
* I plan to test with two 118" hammocks, one 108" hammock, and three boys <110lbs each
* Note in the last picture how three rectangular tarps might weave together nicely

tri-th model.jpg
tri-th side.jpg
tri-th tarps.jpg

[Latherdome]

Look what GadgetUK437 made me do. It's a hoverhammock! 2 poles, guyed to tree limb. I ran out of light before dialing it all in, but was able to lay in it.



With the foot of the stand centered between middle of hammock and the point of attachment to the tree, the guys tend to pull the apexes together, all the usual steps to tighten ridgeline (shorter poles, steeper lean) not sufficient to correct. When I have light again, I'll try it next pivoting the hammock clockwise until the guy coming off the head apex is perpendicular to the ridgeline, clove hitch around limb, so it doesn't tend to pull it toward center. Same strategy should help setting up with a single strong ground anchor instead of a tree. I think. It's great fun finding out where my intuition is correct and where not! Today's B-roll recalls Lucille Ball trying to sleep in a spreader bar hammock. Mud and gravel doesn't hold even the big Orange Screw very well: many short falls today.

[raftingtigger]

Look what GadgetUK437 made me do. It's a hoverhammock! 2 poles, guyed to tree limb. I ran out of light before dialing it all in, but was able to lay in it.



With the foot of the stand centered between middle of hammock and the point of attachment to the tree, the guys tend to pull the apexes together, all the usual steps to tighten ridgeline (shorter poles, steeper lean) not sufficient to correct. When I have light again, I'll try it next pivoting the hammock clockwise until the guy coming off the head apex is perpendicular to the ridgeline, clove hitch around limb, so it doesn't tend to pull it toward center. Same strategy should help setting up with a single strong ground anchor instead of a tree. I think. It's great fun finding out where my intuition is correct and where not! Today's B-roll recalls Lucille Ball trying to sleep in a spreader bar hammock. Mud and gravel doesn't hold even the big Orange Screw very well: many short falls today.

Totally cool. Our pole design held his weight (160ish IIRC), with only TWO poles. The poles were engineered for FOUR poles, so this is looking really good.

Orange Screws, 2 were used: One SINGLE large screw was trying to hold the entire system up in loose mud. A smaller one was used for balance. I haven't run the vectors, but I suspect the force on the SINGLE anchor was in excess of 320#, likely much higher.

FWIW, PharmGeek and I have hung in beach sand with using 4 large Orange Screws, and in one test a single large OS didn't budge with a 160# tester standing on a guyline fixed to a handrail. In all cases we scraped off the top 1-2" of loose sand and placed the anchors in the firm sand beneath. I suspect mud is more challenging.