Testing Tree Straps with Our Poncho / Hammock Set Up - Sleeping arrangement

Description

Our ponchos can be set up effectively as hammocks and we often use them for that purpose. The ponchos are supplied with parachute

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cord or optional Dyneema cord for hanging a hammock or for tarp use. Many of our viewers have suggested that we use tree straps to avoid damage to the bark than can occur when using cord. Most of the trees in our area have very tough bark so it's not an issue. But I decided to experiment with using tree straps to see how that might work. Also in this video there is a short clip of how I set up my sleeping arrangements with some of our gear, using a PSSL Poncho, an Under Quilt, and a Survival Blanket, oh and a few EZ Clip Midi's.

Tags: hammock,poncho,tree strap,dyneema cord,amsteel blue,parachute cord,survival blanket,under quilt,desert,camp,outdoors,bushcraft,survival

Video Transcription

I tell you what a lot of people have written in telling me I shouldn't be hanging my hammock set up from a tree without a tree strapped because I'm going to be damaging and killing trees but let me tell you what where we live where we can most the time we're in the junipers and stuff like that you think you're going to damage that tree with a rope I bet I could hang from a chain and I wouldn't hurt it but anyway I decided regardless I'm going to mess around with the tree straps and work on a way to make them work make them uh you know easy to use with our Poncho's so I'm just playing around today let's see we couldn't do here that out of the way take the rest this down and we're going to play around with tree straps just get a little weight on the end of our cord this is Dyneema that we could be parachute cord just as easily same way drop that in there and shake it through so just like usual once you've got your loop through the end whether it's Percy quarter Dyneema and then on the other side you take cord coming out of there and you just going to run it through this thing step in there

if you got everything tight now you're good to go now we're ready to do our our straps now these straps have a have a nice own on a loop and I sewed on one end and starting partway down there's a series of loops and right now at this point we're not going to make these straps we might at some point but you want to get if you get some you this is stronger if you get the kind that's become like come like this and then double back and then thereby tacked right there

that makes in testing that makes a stronger strapped and the kind that are just folded over and just bar tack loops anyway so this this end here is your adjustment end and this other end here is the end you put around the tree all right now I'm going to put this strap in the tree at a higher point than I normally do just because I'm I'm normally yeah 12 to 15 feet apart on trees or somewhere thereabouts and I don't know I'm I'm at least I'm at least 20 or more here so I'm going to put the strap up a little higher in the tree that I normally would so I just wrap it around and I got this I I'm going to pull everything through the eye and then cinch it down like that alright this carabiner comes with this particular set of straps it's got a little locking lip on it and anyway so all I'm going to do is take my cordage that goes through my poncho here

I'm going to pull it up pretty pretty close here maybe a hands like the way it doesn't really matter and then I'm just going to tie two half hitches and it seems to work just fine cool them down good now the nice thing about the is in these three strapped is I can just click this carabiner wherever I need to to get me the right amount of tension or you know for how I'm hanging between the trees alright so now you can see that that's a little bit low I'll be dragging my butt on the ground on that so I just unclick the carabiner slide it up here you know ever I think I need to go something like that and I can try it out I need to tighten it some more I can go more on this in I got room to go on that in and now I'm good to go so it is it's nice I can hang farther between trees or the tree strip and if I'm on delicate trees that are I guess in some other parts of the country then I'm not going to hurt the trees because I'm using the straps see how it all goes that's a pretty comfortable hang right there that's not bad at all I want to tighten it up I can just move my carabiner I'm a little tighter than I was I was paying mighty low so it's pretty simple works well three straps do work well with the Poncho's basically you're just tie it around a carabiner with your cord instead of tying around a tree it hangs up pretty nice I just switched from one tree to the other in just about a minute so you know it works really well

the disadvantage is of course this is about an extra pound of weight to use these straps head and you got another bit of it's about as much bulk for the straps as it is for the whole poncho and parachute quarter Dyneema so it's extra space extra weight but you know it does have its advantages too so anyway I'll keep testing and trying messing around a little bit well last night this is where I slept my yuppie SSL poncho and multicam bring it up to hang from a tree as a hammock put an under quilt on it and since it was sets was raining it was in the mid to low 30s when I went to bed last night the rain was kind of freezing a little bit as it came down I just threw this one of Arsenal's survival blankets this a real tree extra I just clipped it I just clipped it on here some of our MIDI clips and then I just threw it over top of me and that's how I slept you notice I don't I didn't put a tarp up or anything and it was like light rain light rain misty rain icy rain all night long and all I did was have this over me didn't get a bit wet no problem so you know you don't always have to have a tarp over you if no if it's not a heavy rain you might be just fine with something like this so anywhere peri peacock wilderness innovation just giving a little heads-up on just some stuff I'm messing around with as far as three straps to be used