Another DIY Tensahedron Hammock Stand

[kamileon]

New to the forum and hammocking in general. I read the original diy post by Latherdome, thanks by the way, and thought right away I need to build one of these.

So a quick backstory. I am in the military, US Army, and spend a lot of time in the field. We got a new guy and his first time in the field with us he slept in a hammock. I was amazed how comfortable it was. Way better than the horrible cot they give us. And me being 6’5” the cot is a few inches to short, not comfortable. So now I sleep in my hammock when in the field. Only problem is we are in the desert and not many trees so I usually hang from two military vehicles. Not practical and dangerous.

So I saw this stand and new it was perfect for me. Im not worried about weight, I usually have a 60 lbs pack on back so another 15 or so is no big deal.

I used the emt build like most the other ones on here. I made each leg in three sections, 3/4” emt connected to 1” emt in the middle. Its all held together with 550 paracord. Eventually I will put rubber grommets in the holes to prevent wear on the paracord. I made the legs 7.5’ long, perfect for my ENO camonest xl. I weigh about 240lbs and it holds me great. There is a little bow where the emt joins together due to difference in diameter . Looking for a way to make a tighter fit to reduce the bow. All in all a great stand.





Used bolts through the emt as a stop. There is a 3” overlap in the poles. Did this for strength.


Paracord holding it together. Good flex room this way.


And nap time......

Next step is getting a tarp over it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Latherdome]

Great build there, smart use of fattest pole in the middle. There are so many ways to do this, and I never tire of seeing variations.

At your height I'm surprised you don't find the hammock a bit short, but if comparing to a too-short cot, well, you're in heaven. There's a contingent on here who will tell you your hammock should be 12' for most comfort at your height. That takes poles about 101", no suspension needed.

I'm ex-Army myself. I never understood why hammocks didn't take off as bed replacements after their widespread deployment in European navies, and in US forces in tropical theaters. I'm tempted to guess a lack of imagination/innovation about stuff like underquilts, proper hanging technique, adequate size etc. But how about now? I wonder if it's a lingering cultural prejudice associating that much comfort with indolence and that much resource efficiency with primitivity or maybe ... pacifism? But man: field hammock stands with woobie UQ and TQ: good rest has got to be some kind of secret weapon.

Coolest grommets for EMT stands I've seen are the hand-peened copper tubing inserts seen in Jeff-oh's thread. Hard metal, meet soft metal.

[kamileon]

Yea Im starting to see more and more people with hammocks now out in the field. I don’t understand why the military hasn’t adopted them either. It packs down super small and even fits in my cargo pocket of my pants.

I haven’t seen those grommets before. I will definitely try them out. Thanks for the tip.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Latherdome]

I haven’t seen those grommets before. I will definitely try them out. Thanks for the tip.

https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...=1#post1918795

I wonder even whether similar wouldn't make a good basis for taking up the slop between pole sizes. You could sort of tune the clearance with hammer whacks, and it should hold up pretty well, slide easy.

[BigGreenMoose]

Nice stand... I keep toying with building one, but not sure I'd use it enough.

On the military-use comments, my grandfather came home from WWII with an RCN-issued hammock... You can see it in the muster pic about the middle of this page: https://www.navalandmilitarymuseum.o...the-kit-muster

When I started hammock camping a number of years ago, I showed my dad and he told me about Grandpa's hammock that he and his siblings use to play/camp in growing up.

I guess they are better suited for rolling ships than the varied sleeping conditions an army contends with.

[Hanging Roy]

@Kamileon, excellent! I like that. I've had 4 brothers in the military, and my father was in the navy during the Korean war, I never heard any of them mention hammocks. Maybe the military don't want you to sleep to heavy, so your always ready to attack someone due to being angry from uncomfortable cots, got to take it out on someone.

EMT isn't very expensive either. That was great idea. Thank you.

[kamileon]

@Kamileon, excellent! I like that. I've had 4 brothers in the military, and my father was in the navy during the Korean war, I never heard any of them mention hammocks. Maybe the military don't want you to sleep to heavy, so your always ready to attack someone due to being angry from uncomfortable cots, got to take it out on someone.

EMT isn't very expensive either. That was great idea. Thank you.

To be fair this isnt my idea. There are several others who have built this stand with emt long before I did. Many of them can be found in Latherdome’s original thread about his Tensahedron stand. I just used some of there design ideas.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Latherdome]

On the military-use comments, my grandfather came home from WWII with an RCN-issued hammock... You can see it in the muster pic about the middle of this page: https://www.navalandmilitarymuseum.o...the-kit-muster

I researched a bit more. Standard issue were 6’ hammocks not counting clews, with 18” headroom (sag?) by regulation. Space efficiency a higher priority than comfort. The clews mean that’s much less than 30°. Spreader bars to prevent squeeze pitched so tight. Derek has more: http://theultimatehang.com/2013/01/2...clew-tutorial/



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cTall]

There is a little bow where the emt joins together due to difference in diameter . Looking for a way to make a tighter fit to reduce the bow. All in all a great stand.

I found this 2in shrink tube works pretty well to fill the gap between 3/4 and 1in EMT
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JMJBTSD...v_ov_lig_dp_it

I started off using duct tape, but it moves and rips very easily. This shrink tube is like a hard rubber. a heat gun or blow dryer activates the glue on the inside and shrinks the rubber so that it grips the emt very tightly. I've also learned by trial and error that one wrap of duct tape and 1 1/4in shrink tube will work really well. I'll get some pics uploaded if you want to see the finished product.

[kamileon]

I found this 2in shrink tube works pretty well to fill the gap between 3/4 and 1in EMT
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JMJBTSD...v_ov_lig_dp_it

I started off using duct tape, but it moves and rips very easily. This shrink tube is like a hard rubber. a heat gun or blow dryer activates the glue on the inside and shrinks the rubber so that it grips the emt very tightly. I've also learned by trial and error that one wrap of duct tape and 1 1/4in shrink tube will work really well. I'll get some pics uploaded if you want to see the finished product.

I'm going to have to give this a try. I have another hammock stand project I think this will be useful on as well. Thanks for the idea.