Portable hammock stand for car camping 

Sounds great

Thanks

Thanks. I spent three nights in this set-up at the end of September and was comfortable which was the goal.

There is a steel rebar piece that i pound into the ground at the pole angle. The block and pole have a matching hole and drop over it. The bar keeps the base from slipping. It also loosely holds the pole in place while i get the ropes in place.

How did this work on the Appalachian trail? I am looking for a lightweight setup, in case I don't find trees, on a 50 mile hike.

Webb straps would work fine. There are lightweight hammock stands that you could use that are intended for backpacking.

This stand saggs a little overnight. After using it for a number of trips I threw it away and bought a tensahedrion stand which doesn't sag.

@@etownandrewghi I am actually working on a setup like this and came up with the idea on my own and found your video after the fact. Great video! Do you think it would still sag if I used Amsteel for my rope that has 0 stretch to it and is super lightweight and strong?

@nicolestockman88 that sounds like it would help. It would also be good to lay in it for a bit and then adjust the rope tension. Certainly having a top line helps give you something to tension.

@@etownandrewg I’m excited to try it! How long is the 3/8 rebar that goes into the ground and up into your poles at the bottom?

@@nicolestockman88 I think they were about 12" long. They went several inches into the wood pole, 2" board, then 7" into the ground.

Good question. I can see that a set-up video would be useful. I drew this out on a free drafting program called Draftsight to work it out. I did end up taking a tape measure camping to space the posts so that I hammered the stake into the ground at the proper point. The post stakes are 6'-4" apart. Stakes are hammered in at about 60 degrees to the ground. See further comments below on determining the angle. So after hammering in the post stakes I slide the post and it's base over the stake. The top rope that goes from post top to post top is 12'-10" from end of rope eye to end of rope eye. This is based on my tarp being 12'-6" long. The ropes from the post top out are about 12' long. I try to tie them to a post with the rope measured from the post top at 11' long. I generally eyeball this and don't measure it. When setting up I check the angle with my smartphone. There are a number of free aps that will tell you the angle the phone is at. The posts are 60 degrees to the ground. So after getting it initially set I go around and check the post angles and may likely go back to a couple of the tie-out ropes to loosen or tighten a little if needed. Now after having said all that the set-up does not require extreme precision but if one post ends up at a different angle from the other I do adjust the tension some to get them closer to the same angle. I have a favorite 3 pound engineers hammer that I take with me to pound stakes that I got at Harbor Freight. I also use it to removed the stakes by knocking them on each side at ground level to loosen them up enough so that they can be pulled out by hand.

Andrew Willis thank you, this helps!

I used 1/2" steel rebar by 18" long. So not ordinary tent stakes.

Thank you for the rapid response! I tried with sharpened wooden piles and it seems to work for the moment! But rebars seems like a sturdy solution!

imgur.com/a/ujBAlC9

@@Detteermiig wooden stakes could work if pounded in far enough into the ground. It is easier to hammer smaller steel stakes. Also note that my stakes are leaned back. Your stakes were positioned so that the ropes could pull them out.

@@etownandrewg yeah, we had to hammer them quite deep. On the first try we actually did lean them backwards, but they went flying. We thought it might be because the soil loosened, when it was leaning backwards. But perhaps we just didn't get them deep enough. To avoid the rope pulling, we might just screw a wooden stud on the side. Next time, I'll try to get some leftover rebars instead. Thank you for all the great advice!