Is there a trick to accomplish the magic 30 degrees?

[SilvrSurfr]

You'll notice that guy starts with the hammock hung at 5 degrees or less - definitely not recommended. And I'll assume he's using the standard Hennessy rope suspension, which does stretch. And he weighs at least 200 lbs., so something has to give. Pretty much a great tutorial on how "not" to hang a hammock.

I'm surprised the structural ridgeline could even handle that kind of stress.

[ThreeTracks]

Yeah. I found the below at The Ultimate Hang. I've also verified that the Hennessy hammocks do have a SRL.

Traditionally, the Hennessy is shown being pitched very tight across the anchor points. However, the tighter you pitch the hammock, the higher the horizontal “pulling” forces, which in turn, stretch the suspension components more. That stretch lengthens the suspension (a lot or a little), which changes the hypotenuse and the point where the tarp used to be, thus making it slacken.
[...]
Instead of pulling the suspension tight and “as level as possible”, hang the suspension at a 30° angle. This minimizes the horizontal pulling forces and minimizes the change between the original hang angle and the final angle once loaded.
http://theultimatehang.com/2014/01/1...-hammock-tarp/

So, if strung tight to begin with the hammock sags more. I'm not sure I understand why, because of the greater forces?

What I bolded is true. That's how Hennessy himself hangs the hammock in the demo videos. Strange. Well, now I know better.

You say the Hennessy rope stretches. I guess that's not so good. What's a better rope to use, should I want to change it? Dyneema?

[SilvrSurfr]

I lasted about ten seconds with that Hennessy rope suspension before making some whoopie slings. I couldn't stand the Hennessy knot!

[ThreeTracks]

But did you exchange the ropes or did you keep the original ones?

I'm so confused about all suspensions and buckles and things. I'll do the knot to begin with until I've learned a little more.

[Halfed]

But did you exchange the rope or do you still use the original ones?

I replaced it by beattle buckels because slashing the ropes were a pain to me. I didn't get hang of it, always having to adjust them over and over again.

[SilvrSurfr]

But did you exchange the ropes or did you keep the original ones?

Those original ropes went bye-bye in a heartbeat and I replaced them with whoopie slings. There are videos on how to replace the Hennessy ropes with whoopie slings. I think Dutch has a video. Like Halfed, I was constantly adjusting the rope suspension over and over again, and I just could not take it.

Here's a whoopieslings.com video:

[Phantom Grappler]

YouTube Getting a good hang angle
By Papa Smurf at Dream Hammocks
Short simple to understand video showing good starting points for 30 degree angle of hang using hammock structural ridgeline and suspension between two trees.
Do not worry about getting exactly 30 degree angle of hang—some say ridgeline should be 86 percent length of hammock rather than 83 percent length of hammock. That can throw your hang angle off a few degrees.
All this does is get you close to your comfort zone and you might adjust a little from your theoretical staring point. And it does another very important function—it keeps the stress on your gear including Trees, tree straps, other suspension parts, hammock, and structural ridgeline—to a practical minimum while meeting goal of being comfortable hammock.
A tree can fall on you at any time and chances are increased if your suspension is a flat horizontal line rather than the smiley face it should look like when viewed from side

[Phantom Grappler]

We miss you Marty
I used to visit Marty Gallimore at his Wilderness Logics shop and hammock showroom. I’d watched loads of videos and was asking Marty about SRL structural ridgeline...
Marty said, he’d been hammocking so long that he did not use a SRL, he eyed it in and he was dialed in.
Sometimes I’d talk with Marty about some of my ideas on hammocks—and as you know some of my ideas are off the wall—Marty would take time to discuss hammock ideas, and add more without making fun of some of my weaker trains of thought
Thank you Marty for being you...

[cougarmeat]

I never use the Hennessy Knot method on my first Expedition. Google around and you'll find videos that show using two rings on a carabiner connected to a tree with webbing. The Hennessy suspension line (rope/cord) is placed in the rings so they lock it. Without tension, the line adjusts easily. Once pulled tight, rings grab it; it is solid. But you can back up the lock with a slippery half hitch for more peace of mind.

After all this time, I still don't always get the suspension height right the first time. So it's important to me that I can easily move my suspension up/down the tree a little. Any knot would ... not ... let that happen.

I went though my "whoopie" period but they just took too much distance overhead for the area's I'd be camping. Now I use daisy chain but I may go back to webbing just for a change.

[boothbot]

I always found that hanging my Hennessy Ultralite pretty tight was more comfortable than at 30 degrees. They also hang it like this in the official videos. Of course I'm not very tall and pretty light and I was learning as I went on the AT with no guidance, so maybe I screwed up. I remember thinking "Well everyone is always talking about 30 degrees, but I swear this is more comfortable pitched almost horizontal?"

This was with original straps etc using the becket hitch