Modification for the HH...staps instead of ropes?

[sirbingo]

Hey Y'all,

Has anybody removed the ropes from their HH and replaced them with straps...kinda like one big long tree hugger.

I notice that blackbishop351 appears to have done just this.

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/...imageuser=9511

How does it work? Are there any Do it yourself instructions on how to do this?

[hammock engineer]

I did that and I am very happy with the results. Here is a link to Jeff's site where there is a pic of mine.

http://www.tothewoods.net/HikingPicturesHotSprings.html

I cut my support rope leaving about a foot, tied a loop in the rope, and then sewed the straps into the loop. I made the straps about 13 or 14 feet. I had to add a drip string to the original HH rope to stop the water from running down the straps into the hammock. I tie the hammock to the tree using the speer 4 wrap knot.

[arkwater]

I found it simple to remove the cover on the end of the Hennessy and untie the support rope. Makes it easy to put it back to "factory condition" if I want to. The cover on mine was held with a small black zip tie, easily replaced with another. Not a bad idea to take a pic of the way Hennessy ties it just in case you want to put it back.

[hammock engineer]

I thought about doing that and I still might. I wasn't sure it would work, how long it last, or how I would like it so I wanted a way to change it or field repair it if needed.

The first cut to a perfictly good piece of gear was hard enough. Although the second cut was a lot easier.

Arkwater, how do you account for the water running down the straps?

[arkwater]

Actually I didn't use straps, I used 7/64 Spectra cord from Samson ropeworks. 1200 lb break strength and only weighs 0.048 oz/foot. I tied an inch of cotton shoe lace on each line near the hammock.

[Just Jeff]

Every now and then someone has trouble with water running down the straps onto the hammock. Leaving a small bit of Spectra to tie to the webbing also leaves a convenient place for a drip string, so you'll completely avoid that issue.

[hammock engineer]

My straps seemed to funnel the water in. It happened the first time I used it in the rain. Mine are different than the Speer straps. How do the Speer/Homemade hammocks do?

[Just Jeff]

Most people seem to never have a big problem with it. Some people have had enough of a problem to start threads on how to solve it. Several experiments detailed on WB and the Yahoo group.

Try hanging your hammock, then flipping it over a 1.5-2 times before you get in. That should twist the ropes enough to prevent a funnel from forming. Not sure if it'll work with yours since you have some Spectra still on there, but I think it's the easiest solution if it works.