Page 4 of 7 FirstFirst ... 23456 ... LastLast
Results 31 to 40 of 63
  1. #31

    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    South Elgin, IL
    Hammock
    DIY 1.7 MTN
    Tarp
    WB Edge
    Insulation
    Incubator20,UGQ
    Suspension
    Huggers and Amstel
    Posts
    352
    Thank you Latherdome, that helps a lot! I probably would not trust 2x4 construction lumber, even if it is Douglas Fir, so I will probably glue and screw some plywood on. Thanks again!

  2. #32

    Join Date
    May 2018
    Location
    Woods Cross, UT
    Hammock
    Dream Hammock Sparrow
    Tarp
    Bonded Wide Winter
    Insulation
    SheltoweeUQ/UGQ TQ
    Suspension
    Haven'tSettledYet
    Posts
    66
    Thank you for posting this! With some luck we'll be out of our town home and into a house with a bit of yard by fall, but the new place doesn't have trees (yet). I was planning on just making one of my DIY fence rail tensa stands a "semi-permanent" fixture off the patio, but this is much more pleasing on the eyes. I''ll definitely be back to revisit this idea, once the dust settles after the move.

    What an awesome community we have!
    Enjoying my fall into the rabbit hole...

  3. #33
    Senior Member West michigan's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Grand haven, MI
    Posts
    202
    Making grocery list figured out I can get the 10 foot 2x4’s on my kayak rack
    On vacation so making this today
    4 carbiners heavy duty which I already have
    2 lag bolts 5-6 inches I’m thinking ?
    4 regular washers
    2 locking washers
    4 -10 ft 2x4’s
    Webbing - any idea on length?

    Thanks again for sharing
    My son always tips my turtledog stand getting in and out
    He’s special needs and a solid 300 lbs so really stoked to make this for yard

  4. #34
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Portland, Oregon
    Hammock
    banana-shaped
    Tarp
    greenish
    Insulation
    yes
    Suspension
    disbelief
    Posts
    1,024

    XX folding hammock stand

    I don't have webbing length handy, as I used "too much" and just cinched up the excess. You want top and bottom independently adjustable. I'm guessing 30' would suffice. IIRC the lag [edit: carriage] bolts were 5.5", 0.5" diameter galvanized.
    Last edited by Latherdome; 06-01-2020 at 22:53.
    --
    Tensa Outdoor, LLC, maker of the Tensa4, Tensa Solo, and Tensa Trekking Treez hammock stands: http://tensaoutdoor.com/

  5. #35
    Senior Member gargoyle's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Muskegon MI
    Hammock
    G-Bird II/Bridge
    Tarp
    Ogee tarp
    Insulation
    DIY TQ DIY Down UQ
    Suspension
    whoopies
    Posts
    6,686
    Images
    45
    Not LAG bolts
    Carriage bolts or hex head bolts..
    Ambulo tua ambulo.

  6. #36
    New Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2020
    Location
    Bay Area, CA
    Posts
    9

    Variant of XX with possible advantages

    I like the XX design, but the below may improve it in some ways. Before I finally found this thread, I'd independently done a variant of the tensahedron that uses just one X on one side, retaining the tensahedron's V shape on the side where I want to get in the hammock:

    PXL_20201224_234726682.jpg
    PXL_20201224_234805225.jpg

    It's hard to tell in the photo, but I made the legs of the V long enough to stick out fairly far to the side. So the hammock is closer to the base of the X than the base of the V but the 3 points of contact on the ground have broadly equal weight. At a mathematical level, anyway, 3 points of contact is better than 4 because you can always find a stable arrangement and you don't get weird internal stresses if the ground is uneven.

    But you do get nominally reduced head-to-toe stability because the hammock is over a middle part of the triangle made by the feet. On the other hand, I was never able to shake the stand at all, even being a bit reckless in how I moved around in the hammock and intentionally sliding as far toward my head or toes as I could. Getting your center of gravity several feet away from the center of the hammock is remarkably hard.

    Like the XX, it doesn't collapse inward (very much) as you get in. That should make the addition of a tarp much more straightforward, though I haven't done anything for that.

    I found that the point where the X beams cross moves a bit as I shift my weight or get in and out, so decided that I *don't* want to pin them together. The fear is that if you don't place it perfectly, you'll force the beams to bend as you get in, which primes them to collapse under heavier loading. But when I initially form the X, I don't tension it very well. Properly cinching it up with substantial force would likely keep things in place better such that pinning the X legs works well. Haven't tried it yet, but that's desirable because it'll make things even more stable for holding a tarp.

    For reference, I used (nominal) 2x2" douglas fir pieces 10' long and chosen to be as straight as I could find. That length worked fine to both hold the hammock high enough and have a 10.5' space between the top ends while still having plenty of width across the base of the X. Having dialed in the cord lengths, I went ahead and spliced Amseel eyes in fixed lengths for the 3 lower cords on the X. For the other two longer legs in the bottom triangle, I made a single long Amsteel cord with eye splices at the end and just tied a loop near the middle to grab the bottom of the V. I tuned the two halves of that to be slightly unequal so that the base of the X is held in such a way that the two legs never touch. If pinning the X, you'd need a slightly different pair of lengths and trial-and-error will be needed. Here is looking down one leg to see how the two legs are held close but not quite touching.

    PXL_20201224_234826997.jpg

    My particular prototype is fiddly because the loops can fall off while you're trying to assemble it, but I wanted minimum extra pieces. So I just drilled 1/2" holes and pushed 1/2" diameter Aluminum rods through. Works really well to put the forces directly to where things can most strongly hold them. I used longer ones to pin the top of the X to the top of the V. Worked OK, but it'll tend to get loose over time as it's easy to yank on the long legs and crush the wood around the Aluminum, slowly enlarging the holes. So better methods of attaching everything would seem to be a particular area of improvement. In particular, please don't judge me too harshly for the crappy tying together/rat's nest at the bottom of the V! But note that the two legs of the V can be attached flat-to-flat against the top of the X (as I've done) OR can be flat-to-flat against each other. But not both, so round poles may make life easier.

    PXL_20201224_235120414.jpg

    I weigh about 170 lb and saw no hints of any problems even bouncing a bit in the hammock. Hope this is amusing and maybe useful to someone...
    Last edited by kirin; 03-13-2021 at 03:33.

  7. #37
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Portland, Oregon
    Hammock
    banana-shaped
    Tarp
    greenish
    Insulation
    yes
    Suspension
    disbelief
    Posts
    1,024

    XX folding hammock stand

    Quote Originally Posted by kirin View Post
    I like the XX design, but the below may improve it in some ways.
    I love it! In keeping with my not very good proposed name, this should be the VX, not to be confused with the horrible nerve agent.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Last edited by Latherdome; 03-11-2021 at 18:28.
    --
    Tensa Outdoor, LLC, maker of the Tensa4, Tensa Solo, and Tensa Trekking Treez hammock stands: http://tensaoutdoor.com/

  8. #38
    Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Location
    Baltimore, Maryland
    Hammock
    Warbonnet BB XLC
    Tarp
    WB Mountainfly
    Insulation
    Yeti 20
    Suspension
    homemade whoopies
    Posts
    61
    Wow some very clever people at work! Well done.

  9. #39
    joe_guilbeau's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    San Antonio, Texas
    Posts
    1,019
    Images
    1
    Quote Originally Posted by kirin View Post
    I like the XX design, but the below may improve it in some ways. Before I finally found this thread, I'd independently done a variant of the tensahedron that uses just one X on one side, retaining the tensahedron's V shape on the side where I want to get in the hammock:

    PXL_20201224_234726682.jpg
    PXL_20201224_234805225.jpg

    It's hard to tell in the photo, but I made the legs of the V long enough to stick out fairly far to the side. So the hammock is closer to the base of the X than the base of the V but the 3 points of contact on the ground have broadly equal weight. At a mathematical level, anyway, 3 points of contact is better than 4 because you can always find a stable arrangement and you don't get weird internal stresses if the ground is uneven.

    But you do get nominally reduced head-to-toe stability because the hammock is over a middle part of the triangle made by the feet. On the other hand, I was never able to shake the stand at all, even being a bit reckless in how I moved around in the hammock and intentionally sliding as far toward my head or toes as I could. Getting your center of gravity several feet away from center is remarkably hard.

    Like the XX, it doesn't collapse as you get in, making the addition of a tarp much more straightforward, though I haven't done anything for that.

    I found that the point where the X beams cross moves a bit as I shift my weight or get in and out, so decided that I *don't* want to pin them together. The fear is that if you don't place it perfectly, you'll forcing the beams to bend as you get in, which primes them to collapse under heavier loading. But when I initially form the X, I don't tension it very well. Properly cinching it up with substantial force would likely keep things in place better such that pinning the X legs works well. Haven't tried it yet, but that's desirable because it'll make things even more stable for holding at tarp.

    For reference, I used (nominal) 2x2" douglas fir pieces 10' long and chosen to be as straight as I could find. That length worked fine to both hold the hammock high enough and have the top wide enough for my 10.5' hammock while still having plenty of width across the base of the X. Having dialed in the cord lengths, I went ahead and spliced Amseel eyes in fixed lengths for the 3 lower cords on the X. For the other two longer legs in the bottom triangle, I made a single long Amsteel cord with eye splices at the end and just tied a loop near the middle to grab the bottom of the V. I tuned the two halves of that to be slightly unequal so that the base of the X is held in such a way that the two legs never touch. If pinning the X, you'd need a slightly different pair of length and trial-and-error will be needed. Here is looking down one leg to see how the two legs are held close but not quite touching.

    PXL_20201224_234826997.jpg

    My particular prototype is fiddly because the loops can fall off while you're trying to assemble it, but I wanted minimum extra pieces. So I just drilled 1/2" holes and pushed 1/2" diameter Aluminum rods through. Works really well to put the forces directly to where things can most strongly hold them. I used longer ones to pin the top of the X to the top of the V. Worked OK, but it'll tend to get loose over time as it's easy to yank on the long legs and crush the wood around the Aluminum, slowly enlarging the holes. So better methods of attaching everything would seem to be a particular area of improvement. In particular, please don't judge me too harshly for the crappy tying together/rat's nest at the bottom of the V! But note that the two legs of the V can be attached flat-to-flat against the top of the X (as I've done) OR can be flat-to-flat against each other. But not both, so round poles may make life easier.

    PXL_20201224_235120414.jpg

    I weigh about 170 lb and saw no hints of any problems even bouncing a bit in the hammock. Hope this is amusing and maybe useful to someone...
    The design intrigues me. I have adopted the Military Surplus Aluminum Mast poles to use as tripods. Each tripod leg is two of the mast sections. With your adaption, I should be able to use three mast sections for each of the four legs. Should not have much flex.

    Each mast section weighs in at 2.2-lbs. So approximate weight would be 26.5-lbs. Each of the four leg sections would then be 6.6-lbs and 48 -inches long.

    Portaging will consist of four 6.6-lb x 48-inch sections strapped together. Small enough for portability. Just thinking some things through here.

  10. #40
    New Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2020
    Location
    Bay Area, CA
    Posts
    9
    Great to see folks' thoughts on this. I hope your version comes out well, joe_guilbeau, and would love to see pictures if you build it.

    And Latherdome, I hope someday Tensaoutdoor.com can commercialize a "Tensa4 VX" and "Tensa4 XX" to go with the original because each one has strengths for different applications.

    For example, with the XX, you can fully attach a hex tarp to the frame with no stakes for a totally free-standing option. If a couple of stakes and/or porch mode is OK, then the VX makes it easier to get in the hammock. If you don't need a tarp or can dial in its attachment carefully, then the original Tensa4 is going to be lighter and makes it more natural to raise your foot end. Cool to have all 3 available for folks to choose the perfect one.

    There'd be some development to sort out the cord and (increased) leg lengths. But you've already figured out hard stuff like how to make good collapsing poles and how to connect their ends and such. Let us know if you expand the product line some day!

  • + New Posts
  • Page 4 of 7 FirstFirst ... 23456 ... LastLast

    Similar Threads

    1. Gear Guide Folding Hammock Stand with parachute hammock.
      By VTX88 in forum Do-It-Yourself (DIY)
      Replies: 0
      Last Post: 11-19-2015, 09:15
    2. Folding / take-down hammock stand
      By PropellerHead in forum Do-It-Yourself (DIY)
      Replies: 11
      Last Post: 12-08-2013, 19:55
    3. New Folding Hammock Stand Idea
      By GrumpyTom in forum Do-It-Yourself (DIY)
      Replies: 15
      Last Post: 06-20-2013, 16:40
    4. TD stand with folding wooden tripods?
      By scroungetech in forum Do-It-Yourself (DIY)
      Replies: 10
      Last Post: 03-30-2013, 13:57
    5. sportsmans guide folding hammock stand ??
      By spike64 in forum General Hammock Talk
      Replies: 4
      Last Post: 12-20-2012, 10:25

    Bookmarks

    Posting Permissions

    • You may not post new threads
    • You may not post replies
    • You may not post attachments
    • You may not edit your posts
    •