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  1. #11
    Senior Member Curt's Avatar
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    I tried for awhile to figure out a setup that could elegantly go from hanging to ground and never did really come up with a good solution. I really did not like having a pad in my hammock. There were times where it was acceptable, but as soon as I pulled it the hammock became infinitely more comfortable.

    I went with an excellent custom underquilt (Te-Wa!!!) and it is a dream for hammocking. Can't take it to the ground, though. I think the most likely tolerable compromise would be a 2 layer hammock with CC foam in between the layers. I don't need a 6th hammock, though, so I just commit to the air or the ground and deal with it

    -Curt

  2. #12
    Senior Member DaleW's Avatar
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    Mar 2011
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    Re: Weight ratings and durability of various brands???

    I got two new hammocks in the mail yesterday. The madness has begun!

    As I expected, the Grand Trunk Ultralight is very thin stuff with minimal suspension hardware. it is certainly worth the $17 I apid for it. I also got a Hennessy Expedition Zip which is a tank compared to the GT. To the point of my original post, both are rated for 250 pounds. I think there is more art than engineering in the weight ratings.

    The GT hammock will suit my needs for day hikes and car camping. I made whoopie slings for the Hennessy and got some long tree straps from Arrowhead, so I transferred the lines and straps from the Hennessy to the GT. That bumped up the weight on the GT, but left me with a complete system at no extra cost.

  3. #13
    Senior Member Jsaults's Avatar
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    Sep 2009
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    Pittsburgh PA
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    HH, CJH NX-250, WBBB 1.7 dbl
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    WARNING!!! I feel a Blanket Statement coming on!

    In today's litigious society, I doubt that ANY manufacturer, cottage or conglomerate, is going to market a hammock with a 250# rating that would fail at 251, or 255 or even at 10% over the rated load.

    That would be cutting things too close. I assume that "our HF folks" simply loaded their hammocks with bags of fertilizer or whatever until a failure happened. At least, that is how I would do it if I were a manufacturer. Simple and easy.

    Of course, if one were unscrupulous you could add 1# kittens until a failure occurred. Sort of hard to round up that many kittens for "animal testing".

    Jim

  4. #14
    Senior Member DaleW's Avatar
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    There's no doubt in my mind that manufacturer's cast a wary eye to weight ratings and possible lawsuits. How much "fudge factor" to apply is the manufacturer's margin of risk, as with any engineered product. I think you can see my point that there is a world of difference in the two models I mentioned. As another poster mentioned, the suspension is also a big factor in weight ratings. I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with the ratings, but I think it is interesting to note. Certainly one is much stronger and more durable than the other. I didn't expect anything different when purchasing either hammock.

  5. #15
    Senior Member Jsaults's Avatar
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    Maybe w could petition Consumer's Reports

    to perform "load to failure" tests on all of the populat brands? I would buy that issue.

    Jim
    Not a Civil Engineer but loves to analyze failures

  6. #16
    Senior Member DaleW's Avatar
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    Breaking things...

    Quote Originally Posted by Jsaults View Post
    to perform "load to failure" tests on all of the populat brands? I would buy that issue.

    Jim
    Not a Civil Engineer but loves to analyze failures
    Build a test frame and a way to pump water through a meter. Creeeeek, SPLOOSH!

    There are total weight loads and point loads-- it is the latter that would dump you on the ground first I think. I'm going to pat my pockets for tent stakes or any other sharp items before climbing in any hammock, particularly the light ones. RRRRRRRRRIIIIPPPP,.....MOMMY!!!!!!!!!!

    When I went to photography school, one of my instructors was head photographer for Boeing for something like 30 years. He showed us the high speed motion pictures from the 747 destruction test. They took the first 747, built a frame around it with all kinds of cameras and instrumentation, and then flexed the wings until they shattered. There were rivets and parts flying around like bullets. You would have loved it! Do you know that Boeing used more motion picture film during the development of the 747 than Hollywood and all the news teams combined? [exit factoid mode]

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