Urban hanging

[HomesteaderWB]

I'm a relative neophyte when it comes to hanging, though a long long long time camper. At this point I mostly come and read here on the forum without comment because I can't really add anything. My planned motorcycle trip has been postponed, sadly, for how long I'm not sure.

Anyway, I'm curious about your experiences with urban hanging. A lot of the cities I've visited have alleys and courtyards, front and backyards with posts and trees and more. Here in the South it's common to have porches, often on second and even third floors. As strange as the current climate has become I may have a couple of potential hosts willing to let me stay on their properties, but they want me to "stay in my tent" rather than in their house, and that's cool with me.

So... Do any of you have advice or observations or anecdotes about actual urban hangs? Not suburban off trees, but in-city experiences using columns or posts or fences or light poles or whatever?

I don't know that I'll even be able to do this (my first plan was shot to Covid-scheiss), but I thought it would be interesting to read about your experiences.

Thank you very much

[SilvrSurfr]

Urban hanging - you mean like Camden, NJ, or New York City, or Newark, NJ, or Boston, MA? Yeah, I think I'll skip that.

[TallPaul]

If you aren’t flying, check out the various posts on hammock stands. Something like the Tensa or Turtledog stand would do great.

[P-Dub]

...using columns or posts or fences or light poles or whatever?

If you do try this, be very careful of anything that is not meant to take lateral forces. There's too many stories of brick porch columns (for example) collapsing after hammocks have been hung on them.

[PopcornFool]

Some cities (like Washington DC) still have trees!

[dscotthep]

Two or three summers ago I replaced a wood column on my front porch that was suffering from dry rot. I had a builder friend walk me through the process and was shocked to discover that the only thing holding those columns in place was 3 or 4 finishing nails. And probably gravity.

I had never tried to hang off of them, but if I had, I don't think they would have lasted a minute under my 160 pounds.

This friend of mind (who retired from building years ago) admitted that it was common to use only a few fasteners in these situations because the assumption is is that the weight from above will keep the post/column in place.

This is likely not universally true, but without a consulting engineer on hand to inspect it for you, how do you know?

I've never looked at porch posts again with a desire to hang from them. So, yeah, be careful out there.

[jeff-oh]

I'll second the caution of hanging from stuff unless you know for sure it can take a substantial side load. Lamp poles, porch pillars etc. are usually very thin walled and can not take the side load. The Tensa stand is very popular with MC tour hammockers as it was designed to pack down and fit in a pannier.

[Trail Runner]

Urban hanging - you mean like Camden, NJ, or New York City, or Newark, NJ, or Boston, MA? Yeah, I think I'll skip that.

I shouldn't be laughing right now. It's wrong. I know it. But...

[Irishjihad]

NYC here. Brooklyn, specifically. I have a backyard though, so can hang under my rear (steel) deck. That said, I've hung in some of the smaller parks. The bigger ones have too many park police, etc. I've only done a park overnight once. Another option when schools are out is the corner of schoolyard fences. Here they're usually 8' tall fences with 3" posts embedded in concrete (I'm an actual structural engineer, and feel safe with the lateral capacity), so I'll hang between the first pole off the corner in each direction. Sometimes not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

[Randonneur]

I routinely hang on my rig from the pergola at work at lunch.