Becket Hitch FAILURE - RIP my tree huggers

[Five Tango]

There is a video on YouTube that shows how to hang a Hennessey with a carabiner and two Descender Rings for each end of the hammock.I have done it,it's heavy,but it works and is convenient and quick to adjust.It's fine for car camping etc. but I would not hike with it because of the weight.

The better bet would be to see the video on HH conversion to Amsteel 8 inch CL's and use a Marlin Spike Hitch and/or get proper webbing to tie a becket hitch.If you do use the becket,it's VERY advisable to tie a small loop of cord to the CL to use in the knot untying process after hanging in the hammock.Basically,the little loop gives you leverage to pull the CL and the Becket against each other which Greatly facilitates release of the knot.

[Fimbul]

I use the Becket hitch on most of my Hennessy Hammocks. Never failed on me. The trick is to push the loop downwards a bit, before you pull the rope out.
I made this short video a few years ago - it's in danish, but you might get the picture... :-)https://youtu.be/tgyO2JnHE7g

[cmoulder]

Thanks for all the replies, guys.



Check this minute out of Derek Hansen's video: https://youtu.be/e7LZTHcNXs8?t=157

I did *exactly* this, and he even mentions the hennessy hammock. I figured this would work.

So is this way still "backwards"?

Well Hansen is the expert so I guess it is I who learned it backwards!

Seriously, it's a Becket either way but the vast majority on this side of the pond tie the webbing to the CL.

I use the Becket hitch on most of my Hennessy Hammocks. Never failed on me. The trick is to push the loop downwards a bit, before you pull the rope out.
I made this short video a few years ago - it's in danish, but you might get the picture... :-)https://youtu.be/tgyO2JnHE7g

Good demo!

[nordmarka]

I use the Becket hitch on most of my Hennessy Hammocks. Never failed on me. The trick is to push the loop downwards a bit, before you pull the rope out.
I made this short video a few years ago - it's in danish, but you might get the picture... :-)https://youtu.be/tgyO2JnHE7g

Hi Fimbul, what you show here in the video is exactly what I did.
https://youtu.be/tgyO2JnHE7g?t=99

So I wonder why my rope curled up on itself and was impossible to undo? I did put weight in the hammock, and I even "jumped" up and down a little bit to check that it was holding. But this small "shock loading" made it impossible to undo.

What are your experiences with this? Why did this happen?

[nordmarka]

Why not just tie the Hennessy lash knot? It works and will have you hanging rather than being worried you will get failure.
Shug

Thanks Shug. Been doing the HH Lashing for a while and wanted to expand my horizon. HH lashing is also quite time consuming and makes it difficult to adjust the hammock after the fact.

[nordmarka]

I have not yet had any issues with this approach: I tie a figure 8 loop(or Bowline) in my HH rope. If I want to make sure I can later undo that loop, I place a small trail stick into the loop, so that when I cinch down the loop, and/or get into the hammock, it tightens up on the stick. Then I can break or wiggle the stick(better yet a small piece of thin, light weight tubing) out of the knot if needed, which then makes the knot much easier to undo if I change my mind. If the stick fails or breaks, then it will just become as though I had not used the stick, and might be very hard to undo.

Thanks for the reply, BillyBob. So what you're saying is get a closed loop on the HH, or make a figure-8 out of the HH rope, and then use this for a becket hitch or a variant with webbing. Or just use the HH recommended lashing.

Thinking I might have to swap ropes on my HH, and use a CL.

[nordmarka]

Well Hansen is the expert so I guess it is I who learned it backwards!
!

Well I believe I tied it correctly, according to Hansen and Fimbul on here. So the takeaway from this is that the becket hitch can lock on itself if it gets shock-loaded or with heavy weight. At least when doing it with the HH ropes.

[Five Tango]

Fimbul,I liked your method and will likely try it soon.

[BillyBob58]

Thanks for the reply, BillyBob. So what you're saying is get a closed loop on the HH, or make a figure-8 out of the HH rope, and then use this for a becket hitch or a variant with webbing. Or just use the HH recommended lashing.

Thinking I might have to swap ropes on my HH, and use a CL.

Nordmarka: Yep, that's pretty much it. It is amazingly simple to just put a figure 8 or bowline loop in my rope, in fact I have been set up that way for a long time, on one end of my HH. ( I have a webbing with cinch buckle on the other end). Also, putting some sort of toggle(small stick or whatever) makes it pretty easy to untie if you change your mind, or decide you want the loop closer or farther away from the hammock. It also allows you to continue to use your rope for attaching the tarp via Prussik if desired. Main thing, it is such a simple approach to making the HH suspension easier to use. Sometimes I do a Becket with this, or sometimes I just do a simple slipped 1/2 hitch with back up knot( aka Claytor style), and that has neither slipped nor locked up on me over many years. And that means of making a Becket 3 times stronger ( on the video from Warbonnet) works fine on a slipped 1/2 hitch as well. But, so does the simple back up knot shown by Claytor. Many a time I have not done a back up knot. With or without, at least with the Claytor webbing, it has never slipped one iota.

I actually tied a double figure 8, to share wear and abrasion or to have a back up if one is worn through. Might not be needed, most folks don't double up with their continuous loops.

[nordmarka]

Nordmarka: Yep, that's pretty much it. It is amazingly simple to just put a figure 8 or bowline loop in my rope, in fact I have been set up that way for a long time, on one end of my HH. ( I have a webbing with cinch buckle on the other end). Also, putting some sort of toggle(small stick or whatever) makes it pretty easy to untie if you change your mind, or decide you want the loop closer or farther away from the hammock. It also allows you to continue to use your rope for attaching the tarp via Prussik if desired. Main thing, it is such a simple approach to making the HH suspension easier to use. Sometimes I do a Becket with this, or sometimes I just do a simple slipped 1/2 hitch with back up knot( aka Claytor style), and that has neither slipped nor locked up on me over many years. And that means of making a Becket 3 times stronger ( on the video from Warbonnet) works fine on a slipped 1/2 hitch as well. But, so does the simple back up knot shown by Claytor. Many a time I have not done a back up knot. With or without, at least with the Claytor webbing, it has never slipped one iota.

I actually tied a double figure 8, to share wear and abrasion or to have a back up if one is worn through. Might not be needed, most folks don't double up with their continuous loops.

So you don't cut the HH rope any? You just tie a figure 8 and leave the rest hanging? Have you swapped the webbing or are you using the standard HH tree huggers?