Stretch comparison

I went back to Änggårdsbergen nearby my home to try a new setup. It’s great to have nature reserve on your front step in the middle of a big city. I’ll miss this when I move to Stockholm in a few weeks.

This time my goal was to find a pair of trees where the my DD Tarp XL would fit and allow the DD Frontline Hammock webbing to reach the trees with double cords on each end. Then I would compare this to using non stretch lashing straps to evaluate if an investment of whoopee slings can be motivated.

A picture to illustrate my example (sorry about the strange angle, I was too lazy to bring the tripod for the camera this time):

DD webbing on the left and lashing strap on the right.
I tried to get the same tension on both setups. I did not experience a huge difference between the setups. I actually go a bit more comfortable hang with the DD webbing setup.

But using a different setup with static webbing attached to an easily adjustable cord would make things a lot easier and faster and give the option to fine tune the tension more easily.

I have to make one more test when I get the time. And that is to see what happens if you are forces to a long hang. If there are no suitable trees and you are forces to use single cord of DD webbing on each side, how will the stretch compare with a strap then? Stay tuned ;-)

And with the DD Tarp XL in its correct place.

First hanging

Finally, a summer like day in the beginning of May, an ideal evening for my first hammock setup.

I read all the forums, saw all the videos and practiced my knots. I was ready for my first hang. I thought… Well it wasn’t that bad. 

I used the "out of the box" DD Frontline Hammock and DD Tarp XL without any custom enhancements.

 

Let me take you through it in images.

A good tension at a sitting height.

Comfortable chair :-)

Now with me in it. Comfy when I got the tension right. It is more space between the hammock and the ground than it looks like.

Then it was time for the tarp. yes you are supposed to do it the other way around, but I was keen on testing the hammock! The tarp is a DD Tarp XL 4.5 by 3 meters. It's HUGE! My first mistake unveiled itself. Not enough space between the trees...

New trees wider apart. yes the tarp fits, but the webbing could not reach the full length with the default setup. I had to make my first modification. I tied a small loop on one side of the hammock allowing the webbing to get twice as long but as a single cord. This gave me problems later on.

The DD Tarp XL in all it's glory! Tension in the corners only. But pretty good I think!

Now with me in the hammock. As you can see the webbing gave way to much slack. Especially on the side with the single line webbing (to the left in the picture).

I put some more tension on it and got a better height on it. But it didn't feel safe nor comfortable. I did not get the tension I wanted and the angles were off. I think it is possible to use the default webbing setup with two lines of webbing to the tree if you find two trees, not too thick and 4.6 meters apart. But it might be the case that the webbing stretches too much too use with these distances between the trees.

The beginning

My friend and I went camping last summer and started thinking about using a hammock instead of a tent. We read about it during the winter and when spring came so did my birthday. I have reached the age where it’s hard to come up with something to wish for. But then I came to think about the hammocks again. Said and done, I wished for a DD Frontline Hammock, a DD Tarp XL, a cordage pack and a DD Hammock Sleeve. All neatly on offer in a DD pack from Husky Gård, to a reasonable price as well. And here it begins, I am a hammock owner – elevating my perspective.