Camper dies after tree falls on [tensile tent] in Cornwall

[Latherdome]

Sad. I wonder what kind of liability calculus, both ethical and legal, the manufacturers of these tensile setups must run. They seem inherently more dangerous than conventional hammocks.

[Billy Goat]

I don't like the idea of the Tentsile. One, it's a tent. F that. Two, it puts tons of stress on the trees. We hang around 30* to minimize damage to trees. These things use ultra heavy ratchet straps and anyone could just crank down on em and pull a tree down. No thanks. Put a couple people in there and now you have these crazy lateral forces multiplied on the trees and you're just asking for disaster.

I feel for his family. I feel for the poor fella that died. But these Tentsile things seem like the cigarettes of the camping world. They're bad and everyone knows it, but they're not illegal and some folks think they're cool.

Cheers,
The Goat

[Torbs]

Either way, it is always important to respect Mother Nature’s power and carefully inspect the trees you intend to use and your surroundings. Tragic story.

[Smckinney0031]

And this is exactly why I went to ground this weekend. This and heights are a couple of my biggest fears.

[IRONFISH45]

Trees fall, land shifts, lightening comes out of nowhere sometimes, flash floods, wild fire and people shooting guns. These things all happen from time to time.

Many years ago the forests were really dangerous from hunters. That has calmed to almost no risk now. Trees do come down, without warning. Last summer (or maybe the year before). We were at a small BLM camp site, little kids were playing and a tree came down killed a little guy and hurt his cousin. So sad, but a fact of life.

[MAD777]

Trees do come down in a forest when no one is around. But I've always feared the stress these tensile tents, and even single line suspensions, put on trees.
A sickly, but apparently healthy tree may survive another year on its own, but I believe these high tension suspensions can bring a weak tree down.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[cmoulder]

Trees do come down in a forest when no one is around. But I've always feared the stress these tensile tents, and even single line suspensions, put on trees.
A sickly, but apparently healthy tree may survive another year on its own, but I believe these high tension suspensions can bring a weak tree down.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

Agree. Very sorry for the guy and his surviving friends and family, but honestly, this is one of those things that I look at and say "Who thinks this is a good idea?"

[jellyfish]

Very sad. I had a close call last summer when a tree fell right where I was set up about an hour after I packed up. You can try to be a cautious as possible, and then something happens.

[cmoulder]

Very sad. I had a close call last summer when a tree fell right where I was set up about an hour after I packed up. You can try to be a cautious as possible, and then something happens.

Indeed. I've hung between very strong and healthy trees during some big blows with fingers crossed. But when I walk in the woods I see strong, healthy trees blown down as well here in the NE where topsoil is frequently just a thin cover over rock.

[akaCat]

Agree. Very sorry for the guy and his surviving friends and family, but honestly, this is one of those things that I look at and say "Who thinks this is a good idea?"

Someone who doesn't know a lot about either trees or lateral forces, and figures "if they're selling it, it's got to be safe, right?"

Of course, I have no idea what sort of warnings come with those Tentsile tents. Maybe the instructions are chock full of bold red text telling people not to hang more than 3 feet in the air, and not to hang from any tree that isn't perfectly healthy etc. But the very first image on their webpage shows a tent suspended at least 8' off the ground, so people are likely to figure that it's just a warning in case you fall onto rocks while getting in and out of the thing. If they don't ignore the warning entirely.