Hammock + 550cord = fail?

[NKGMAN]

I have not been camping in years and it seams that my back knows that. Now that I am all into scouts with my boy (just bridged to Webelos) I will be spending two weeks at camp with him and want to get out even more alone with him. I just got an ENO Doublenest, rated for 400 lbs, so two people or me at 6'2 300 lbs and I am digging it. When I got it I went to Harbor Freight and found 2 inch X 6.5 toe straps with looped ends for $10 each and they rock. If I were going to try paracord (which I am not) I would at lease braid three strands). The straps are just so damn easy. Now I am looking to pick up a good sil tarp- George

Ah yes. Good ol "TOE STRAPS". Those are the best.

 

[Big Mike]

I wouldn't use paracord for a hammock.

The 550 rating is for static weight, without any other considerations.

Stronger cord would be better, or something made specifically for the task, like the ENO slapstraps.

It's the knots that can't handle the load.






Big Mike

 

[FTR-14c]

Do a search on a product called Tech Cord. At 5mm it's just a hair larger than 550 Cord and has a tensile strength of 5000lbs.

 

[Coal-Cracker]

amsteel blue is insane stuff. Same stuff we are using on my two winches. Stronger than steel, easy to splice and fairly light.

I switched my winch from steel cable to amsteel blue (3/8") last fall. That stuff is amazing.

The OP certainly wouldn't have any issues with strength with 3/8". This stuff is rated for 18,000 lbs. !!!
Even the 3/16" is rated for 5,400 lbs.

 

[thebrain]

I am a big boy and "real" paracord will hold me but the knots worry me and good luck getting out a knot that held a mans weight. I have seen straps made for hammock rigging and IIRC cost under $15 plus shipping and some come with carry bags and all and are made to keep weight down for the lightweight backpacker crowd. I quick search for hammock straps should get you there .

 

[KennyB]

The force on each ot the lines holding up your hammock is half your weight divided by the sine of the angle the line makes with the ground. Most people tie the hammock tight so it does not form a vee shape. The sne of a small angle is very small so the force would be high.

That's a cool formula, just noticed that if you use a 30 degree angle, the weight on each end is equal to your body weight no matter the weight. How easy is it to make a hammock at 30 degrees?

 

[Killinumsoftly]

It's rated for 550 lbs, you must be one big man if your worried it will break especially doubled up and with one going to each tree. I've used it to extend my hammock rope and I weight about 240lbs I felt safe as ever and had no problems

 

[desmobob]

My hammock looks great but came with really dodgy looking rope that is too short to wrap around even a small tree. I've replaced it with 550 paracord that's doubled up in the fashion seen here:

Basic Camping Knots

(Skip ahead to 20:27)

My concern is that paracord won't hold my weight given the force is not just horizontal but also vertical so the force isn't just equal to my weight.

Anyone used paracord to sling a hammock up?

Absolutely the wrong choice! Not strong enough and stretchy! Bite the bullet and order yourself up a nice hammock suspension set-up from one of the on-line hammock places. I use polyester (NOT nylon) webbing for the tree straps and custom-made (for hammocks, by a few of the hammock specialty places) adjustable Amsteel suspension (Whoopie Slings) from the hammock to the straps. No stretch, no worries, and packs small and very light. Another possible local source of Amsteel would be an arborist or arborist supply shop.



Stay sharp,
desmobob