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  1. #1
    New Member Daibhead's Avatar
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    Continuous ridgeline for hammock (not for tarp)

    Hey everyone, I’m looking for some input on a couple ideas I had.

    First, why doesn’t anyone create a continuous ridgeline of amsteel suspended between two trees, and then hang their hammock from prussics on that ridgeline? I’ve seen it done with rock climbing rope because that’s what was on hand. Seemed to make sense, and it could potentially use less amsteel than a whoopie at either end.

    My second idea is similar to the first. If you’re going to use two amsteel whoopie slings and a zing-it structural ridgeline anyway, why not create a zing-it dogbone ridgeline, then make your adjustable loops of the whoopie slings thread trough the bights on the dogbone? It would permanently connect the three, effectively creating a bi-material, adjustable, continuous ridgeline. Then you can use toggles or carabiners to connect your hammock to the dogbone.

    Has anyone tried either of these methods, or have any good reasons not to bother trying them?

    Thanks!

    Btw first time posting!

  2. #2
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    Not sure about amsteel, but have heard of this being done from a slackline.

    I have toyed with trying it when I next want to hand somewhere with trees too far apart for my normal suspension.

    Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

  3. #3
    FLTurtle's Avatar
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    I mean, I guess it would work. However, the CR between the trees is probably at 0 degrees on both...so you still got that crazy load on the trees when you get in the hammock. Running it thru the hang calculator, (had to use 1 degree) the shear force is 5,729 lb for a 20 ft distance and a 200 lb person. Pretty sure the shear force on a big pile of mountain would be insignificant compared to the tree. At that point, you're only worried about equipment failure. I've seen those folks that are high lining between mountains: https://nypost.com/2014/09/19/highli...-italian-alps/

    You could probably rig up the CR to droop at the 30 degree angle however I dunno how high up the tree you'd have to go or how long the CR would need to be. I guess the math would be the same for suspension bridges.

    I dunno, I been drinking since after lunch.

  4. #4
    LowTech's Avatar
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    I'm pretty sure Meyers did something like that. I'd have to search up the vid to see if I'm remembering correctly and share it. My bad, I must have seen it somewhere else. But this sounds like what you're talking about, from '08,

    https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/top...ink_source=app

    Single Line Suspension (SLS)
    Last edited by LowTech; 09-03-2021 at 17:01.

  5. #5
    Phantom Grappler's Avatar
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    Rather than using prusiks on hammock ends to a continuous hammock ridgeline-suspension, use a marlin spike hitch and strong toggle on each end attachments. A continuous loop could be larksheaded to hammock and larksheaded to amsteel continuous ridgeline—just to outside of marlin spike hitch.

    Or you can tie alpine butterfly loops in suspension and clip your hammock continuous loops to butterfly loops with hammock rated carabiners.

    Hammock rated carabiners rated around 2000 pounds
    And if hanging real high off a slackline, use climbing rated carabiners maybe rated 5000 pounds—I don’t know—I’m skeeeerd of heights!

    This way there will be no slip of amsteel on amsteel which would burn your amsteel if prusik slides. And it will slide.

    Don’t ask me how I know. Short story—my prusik suspension slid one night and turned amsteel black—severely weakening suspension!

    Possibly you can get away with using prusiks using two different diameters of climbing rope.
    The skinny rope forms prusik and the fat rope is your hammock suspension

    Good luck

    As long as you suspension holds your carcass high and dry off the ground—it’s a winner!

  6. #6
    LowTech's Avatar
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    My thought has been to have the hammock CLs attached to a couple UCRs on the main line. Then it's position could be adjusted as well as the hang.
    Setting the 30° from the trees to the hammock shouldn't be any harder.

  7. #7
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    welcome to the forums. leave all hope at...ahem, i'm sorry, enjoy is what i meant to say

    Quote Originally Posted by Daibhead View Post
    Hey everyone, I’m looking for some input on a couple ideas I had.

    First, why doesn’t anyone create a continuous ridgeline of amsteel suspended between two trees, and then hang their hammock from prussics on that ridgeline? I’ve seen it done with rock climbing rope because that’s what was on hand. Seemed to make sense, and it could potentially use less amsteel than a whoopie at either end.
    there's many possible ways to rig things, and some might be satisfying "visually", but the (or my) question is always: what problem are we trying to solve through it.

    in this case, leaving dyneema aside, and the fact that prusiks on dyneema don't really work properly for tarp loads, let alone hammock suspension needs, and sticking with climbing rope: to achieve a 30 degree hang angle (suspension angle) and the desired sag (structural ridgeline length) one would have to fiddle a bit, because adjusting the ridgeline length in this configuration will adjust the suspension length and thus change the hang angle. this would make for a rather frustrating experience, with a steep learning curve.

    if just only for being able to grasp how things work, to be able to adjust things independently is, i think a necessity. if you bring amsteel in the equation, then the use of prusiks or something similar is both problematic, and reduces the strength of the setup quite spectacularly.

    in the meantime, i'm not sure what it solves, or what benefit it brings (even if it's just for aesthethic /intelectual pleasure, i'm curious, the question is not rethorical). if you'd like to try it just out of curiosity, or the intellectual pleasure to experiment with a new idea (perfectly valid reasons in my book), then keep in mind: 1. prusiks on amsteel will not work properly, will have to find something better 2. the sag (hammock ridgeline length) will need to be adjusted first, and the suspension after, trying to adjust sag after hanging the suspension will be an exercise in frustration.

    My second idea is similar to the first. If you’re going to use two amsteel whoopie slings and a zing-it structural ridgeline anyway, why not create a zing-it dogbone ridgeline, then make your adjustable loops of the whoopie slings thread trough the bights on the dogbone? It would permanently connect the three, effectively creating a bi-material, adjustable, continuous ridgeline. Then you can use toggles or carabiners to connect your hammock to the dogbone.
    i might be missing something, but this is a common setup: whoopie sling suspension with a fixed length structural ridgeline. the order in which you connect carabinners to dogbones "may vary" (well, it's generally best to not tri-load carabiners, so strictly speaking the order shouldn't vary, but let's not go there). it is a reasonable idea and is in regular use quite succesfully around here (though use softshackles, for the connection, carabiners "if you must", but definitely not toggles, please)


    Has anyone tried either of these methods, or have any good reasons not to bother trying them?
    as i said, i don't see reasons not to bother, if you're curious enough to try that's reason enough, worse case you'll learn something, and maybe even come up with something new. just stay safe, and make sure the anchors can withstand your rigging angles. the prusiks are a problem on amsteel, so that would have to be worked out, but i'd suggest to test with climbing (or rather static) rope first, and see if you like the results in operation enough that it's worth for you to work out a solution for the prusik problem. the second idea is a good one, perfectly viable and already in use (which is not to say it cannot be refined further)

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by LowTech View Post
    My thought has been to have the hammock CLs attached to a couple UCRs on the main line. Then it's position could be adjusted as well as the hang.
    Setting the 30° from the trees to the hammock shouldn't be any harder.
    hmm, okay, that could be a step towards fixing the prusik problem (although the angle between ridgeline and hammock cl's seems a bit problematic for a UCR burry). and the possibility to move the hammock at will once setup looks tempting (so maybe a reason to consider such setup), but there's a problem: if you move the hammock close to one tree and farther from the other, without moving the suspension high on the far tree and low on the close one, then you'll end up with uneven rigging angles (namely, very low angle on the far tree, so overloaded suspension), not to mention tilted hammock ridge.

    if i would try, i would keep an adjustable ridgeline (like a ucr), separate from the whole "continuous suspension", to serve as a "sag yardstick", so that when i move the hammock i don't have to find the previous sag again, as it will be set when the "yardstick ridgeline" is taut, this would make experimenting with moving the hammock much faster

  9. #9
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    I use a setup slightly similar with a twist. I use amsteel with a fixed eye on one end to hammock carabiner, to descender ring on tree strap, across to descender ring on opposite tree strap and then down to extra-long bury UCR (about 15") and then a separately adjustable SRL between the hammock carabiners. I string the rope tight when I hang it and by the time the amsteel stretches its at just about a 30* angle most times.

    From what I've seen tying up to "not impressively sized" trees, I don't think this approach pulls the full 1* shear force as it's split between a 0* component and a 30* component (although I don't doubt it is probably more shear force than a plain 30* hang)

    This has been my standard camping with the scouts (much of it on/around the AT in GA) for the last couple years. It has allowed me to stretch between trees as much as 30' apart and does a great job of keeping the tarp taut as long as there's weight in the hammock (when I actually care that my tarp isn't saggy) as I put it over the top rope (held tight via prussiks). I've been debating moving my tarp down to the SRL (just have to run the prussiks down the rope inside the descender rings) but haven't really tried that out yet as I haven't seen the need.

    Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

  10. #10
    LowTech's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nanok View Post
    hmm, okay, that could be a step towards fixing the prusik problem (although the angle between ridgeline and hammock cl's seems a bit problematic for a UCR burry). and the possibility to move the hammock at will once setup looks tempting (so maybe a reason to consider such setup), but there's a problem: if you move the hammock close to one tree and farther from the other, without moving the suspension high on the far tree and low on the close one, then you'll end up with uneven rigging angles (namely, very low angle on the far tree, so overloaded suspension), not to mention tilted hammock ridge.

    if i would try, i would keep an adjustable ridgeline (like a ucr), separate from the whole "continuous suspension", to serve as a "sag yardstick", so that when i move the hammock i don't have to find the previous sag again, as it will be set when the "yardstick ridgeline" is taut, this would make experimenting with moving the hammock much faster
    I think if the hammock to UCR shuttle was a soft shackle (or such) and included main line it would avoid the bad angle on the burry.

    The "yardstick", I'm w/ you on that. I was already thinking about the other purposes it would have to serve if I was going to carry it around. It would probably just be a couple/few dogbones that I'd carry anyway linked together.

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