Originally Posted by
nanok
a few years ago i was designing a new tree strap/tree hugger, partly to solve the problems you're describing. i started a thread here at the time, describing one of the first designs. it's a little bit complicated, but it does solve a lot of problems, so i though it was worth developing further. (i continued to play and the next version i came up with, shortly after, was good enough i'm happy with it and still prefer it today). I never documented the new setup, as there was no interest, but if you want to try, i can make time for it (i'm not just being lazy: i'd need to make some drawing/schematic, take some pictures, and also, ideally, make a short video, so it would take some doing). but i'll describe briefly what it does, if not how it works:
a normal tree strap how it is most often used requires a webbing length of PI*d (the circumfernece of the tree, 3.14 times diameter of the tree) to wrap around the tree safely. Being that it is a larks head hitch on the tree, and due to the capstan effect, most of the load is concentrated in the first few inches of contact with the bark, and there might be a load multiplier of the force in the suspension, depending on how the hitch is positioned on the tree (so overloading both the strap and the tree bark). The other problem i wanted fixed was that there should be an easy way to attach the tarp ridgeline directly to the tree strap, and to do so _before_ the hammock comes up, because the ridgeline should be attached up, like the hammock suspension is, and because it should be easy to attach it before the hammock, so the hammock is deployed under the cover of the tarp.
the result is a setup where the amount of webbing needed is only sightly more than "PI*r" (so half the usual, like 3.5ft for a tree that's 2ft across, instead of needing 6.5ft for the same tree), as that's as much as touches the tree, the rest is 3mm dyneema (like amsteel); both sides of the strap are loaded, so the load is distributed evenly (it's like doubling your strap width), and because the load is distributed like this, it also means the capstan effect is a lot less relevant, which further reduces the damage to the tree. It's also easily adjustable and no hardware (hardware could be used, i just like to do without). The way it works is that it creates an "attachement point" on the tree, where the tarp and the hammock can be connected separately (and, in a group scenario, it can also be easily shared with other tarps around. The disadvantage is it is a little bit weird to understand why it works at first, but it's not hard to setup once you get used to the fact that "yeah, it actually does work, even if it seems it shouldn't".
let me know if you (or anyone) want to play with it.
i'll just add a short silly note here, which is a bit of a story and not "technical". i really like forests and trees, always did, and i like big trees, old trees, and old growth forests. These days, i also miss them, as it seems so difficult to find them over here, with all the logging and "smart exploitation" (in some places, where exploitation is not "smart", it's hard to find any trees at all, of anysize). I know it might seem exaggerated sometimes how strict some rules are or how silly they seem, sometimes i'd argue they are indeed absurd, but often the rule being easily enforceable and easy to remember might be more important than it being engineering perfect. I'm a photographer, and i love photographing big ol' trees, one of the reasons i consider to cross the atlantic every now and again is that, well, you have so many of them, over there. They are still there because you let them, not by accident. just sayin'
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