Tree Hugger Help?

[ZorionEate]

So I have lurked here for quite a while gathering ideas for diy projects. When I decided to make myself a new hammock I decided to change up my suspension system too. I need advice on tree straps/huggers.

I am trying to decide how long to take the straps, and am looking for recommendations. I have 25ft of spider-poly to work with.

Straps will connect to a UCR suspension (probably via soft shackle). I am originally from the pacific northwest, but currently live in Japan. If possible a length that would work for both locations would be ideal. I use my hammock mostly for backpacking in the PNW, but will probably use it more for car camping in Japan.

Original goals for this hammock set up were:
1) Lighter than my original (really not hard, and already accomplished...)
2) Minimal metal hardware
3) No knots in the field. (I can tie knots. I can even tie complicated knots. On my couch with YouTube and step by step instructions. But after a day of hiking, cold & wet or being devoured by mosquitoes? I tend toward expedience if not always smart...)

[SavageX89]

I'd say split the 25 in half and there ya go. Two straps. Sew a loop in one end of each. Then feed the loose end thru the loop and then its just how do you want to connect to the hammock. A cinch buckle is nice and simple for those cold and tired days.

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[ZorionEate]

[QUOTE=SavageX89;1898454]I'd say split the 25 in half and there ya go. Two straps.

I debated that. But since I am also using a UCR suspension, this would most likely mean I would need to use a marlon spike hitch to connect the strap with the rest of my hammock system. Unless I am missing something? Now, that is a knot I can tie easily (tired, cold, etc...), but since I am paranoid this would mean I would always carry toggles with me backpacking... What if I can't find a stick? In the forest, next to trees... But what if?

[Bubba]

I agree and say split the length. You could buy some hardware to connect the UCR's to the webbing.

[SavageX89]

Ya Marlin Spike would work. Go look up a cinch buckle on dutchwaregear.com and you'll see an easier way [QUOTE=ZorionEate;1898462]

I'd say split the 25 in half and there ya go. Two straps.

I debated that. But since I am also using a UCR suspension, this would most likely mean I would need to use a marlon spike hitch to connect the strap with the rest of my hammock system. Unless I am missing something? Now, that is a knot I can tie easily (tired, cold, etc...), but since I am paranoid this would mean I would always carry toggles with me backpacking... What if I can't find a stick? In the forest, next to trees... But what if?

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[ChrisJHC]

If your tree strap is long enough then you can use the loose end of the strap as the toggle for a MSH.

Or a tent peg, toothbrush, hiking pole - you get the idea.

And I’ve never yet seen anywhere that has trees but no sticks at all.


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[hutzelbein]

If you want to use neither hardware nor knots, the only way of adjusting the tree huggers would be by winding them around the tree and hope the length will work out.

If you're willing to use hardware, Dutch Beetle Buckles would be an obvious choice. They work great with Spider/Poly straps. But there are plenty of other possibilities, like Adutchable Clips, Cinch Bugs, Spiders or Dutch Buckles.

An even simpler yet still fairly lightweight suspension would be Spider Daisy Chain straps and Mantis clips.

If you're willing to use knots, check out Jeff Myers' hammock related videos. He shows a lot of methods for attaching a rope to a strap.

If none of the solutions works for you, I'm afraid you have to either go to ground or learn levitation At least I don't know any method that is free of knots and hardware, yet fully adjustable.

[leiavoia]

12ft straps work well in the PNW with Woopies. If you went with cinch buckles then 15ft would be better.

I have never not found a stick for a toggle. Worst case scenario I could use one of my tent spikes, caribiner, tail end of strap, or switch to a j-bend (but that requires a knot obviously).

[scrope]

One way of thinking about your suspension system is that it really is a two part system. The first part is what wraps around the tree and give you an attachment point for the second part of you suspension (in your case, the UCR).

If you were to split your webbing you'd wind up with 12'. That would wrap a maximum size tree of 40" diameter -- pretty big. On the other hand,you can wrap and wrap and wrap it around a tree that's smaller than you'd want to hang from. So I would choose a length for the largest tree that you would ever want to encounter (and if you went smaller, you could have a couple of dogbones of amsteel to lengthen them if they were too short). It reminds me of my woodworking saying: you can cut it shorter, you can't cut it longer, i.e., you can always make a longer webbing shorter. I recommend this calculator to help: https://www.omnicalculator.com/math/circumference

I like my straps to have loops on both ends because I can always have an easy attachment point without having to do a MSH which is trivial to tie but that's a personal choice.

The only disadvantage of this system is that you want your final connection loop to come off the tree in the direction you want to hang. To accomplish this, I sometimes need to wrap the strap around the tree and see where the loop ends up. I then unwrap the strap, reposition it, and wrap it around the tree. I don't think its ever taken me more than that one extra time to get my loop positioned perfectly.

[Codea1991]

I like 6 foot straps personally.