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Hammock saddle

swampsnyper

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2015
Messages
4,463
Location
Warrior, Al
Since I started making hammocks I couldn't help but think of them as a saddle. I've been thinking of how to attach it to a BOD harness. Hammock material can be found in a material that's very light, packable, comfortable, soft, quiet and with a little stretch. Those qualities will work perfect for a saddle where they can spread out the support and give in the high stress areas relieving pressure points. I'm thinking of having it in a small stuff pouch on the side of the harness and pull it out once in the tree. What makes it a comfortable saddle also makes it vulnerable to catching briars so it's not something I want to wear in. It's not a material I would trust to support my life so other considerations are being analyzed where I'm supported by the safety harness but pressure is taken off of the harness slightly by the hammock seat and if the seat would start to give way, weight would be transferred more to the harness. Not in a drop, but gradually transferred.
I had a scrap piece of tarp material I tried out at ground level without connecting to a BOD harness yet because I don't have that worked out yet. So it's not what I would feel as safe yet. It's not the material of choice but I just wanted to see how it felt. It was great! Very little pressure points and I think I can take that out completely with a slight design change. Plus the material I want to use will be a lot softer and has more stretch.
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I'm a hammock nut myself (I even started a little hammock side business http://www.hautehammock.com) and I've often thought of doing something similar. For hunting purposes, I can't really see a hammock working better than a SitDrag or some of the FrankenDrags that have been built by members here.

Have fun and good luck.
 
Cool saddle; thanks for posting.

I thought of doing something similar, but I was going to suspend a nylon runner by girth hitching it just above the knots that hold the hammock material to your ropes. My intent was to have this runner simply hang about 1" below a 'seated' hammock seat. It would serve no other purpose but to catch my happy @$$ in the event that the hammock cloth decided to let go! Perhaps this would suffice and replace the need to wear a harness?

My logic was:
1. If the saddle ripped, this would catch me.
2. It wouldn't weigh much and would still enable me to ball this up and put it in my pack.
3. If I had to 'use' the safety strap I wouldn't worry about comfort at that point, I'd be heading to the homestead for the night.
 
That looks cool! Might cause me to fall to sleep if its that comfy :lol:
 
I really like where your head is at, even if it doesn't work out. Couldn't you design something up with webbing integrated into it so that you don't need to use a rock climbing harness? That way you're not depended on the hammock material. Its really the same concept as a regular saddle, like maybe webbing around the edges? Anyways, isn't the material a little noisy though?
 
That material is a little noisy because it's tarp material. I have some hammock material that's a lot softer and quieter. It won't make enough noise to worry about.
As far as strap support, that will be defeating the purpose of the build and be just like the other harness I made. Being strapless is what removes the pressure points. The BOD Rock climbing harness is very light as is. Maybe lighter than the sit drag.
 
Rock climbing harness with sewn lineman loops weighs 14.1 oz

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Hammock saddle with amsteel loops weighs 3.9oz (design will change)

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My DIY saddle weights 12.3oz

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Stock sit drag weighs 6.4 oz

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I'm on to something now. I used triglides to adjust the right tension on the seat and take tension off the belt. They are under strength for what I need but I had them on hand to test the design out. They slipped a little. I just need to find some heavy duty webbing adjusters. I've seen some on fall protection safety harnesses before but can't find them online. Can't find anything heavy duty in 1in. A triglide with a d ring on the end would be perfect. I know y'all are the ultimate surfers. Help me find the hardware please!!!

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Let me look in my buckets. I bought a bunch of safety harnesses for cheap to cut up and salvage the hardware. I may have something for you. The trick is going to be finding them that small.

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I wasn't able to find a d-ring triglide combo but I found these triglides and these d-rings. I have 2 of each if you want them
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Erniepower said:
I wasn't able to find a d-ring triglide combo but I found these triglides and these d-rings. I have 2 of each if you want them
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Thanks Ernie but I have some heavy duty D-rings already. I seen cobra buckles makes a adjuster in 1in aluminum thats rated 18Kn. But I don't think it will grab the polyester webbing well. Its pretty slick. I may have to go to nylon tubular webbing or just rethink the attachment design. I may have to sew some loops or double the strap up like atlas straps but I was trying to stay away from using a lot of carabiners. Or go to rope and prussics.
 
Guess I need to get back on this project but with fleece. I really like where y’all are headed. This hammock saddle was the most comfortable saddle I’ve been in. Just needed to figure out the bridge. And the wonderful minds here have struck the fire back in me.
 
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