hanging a hammock in the garage?

[Cody Croslow]

Hi All,

What are the odds of me tearing my garage apart by hanging my hennessey in it from a stud on each side of the garage perpendicular to the garage door, in a two car garage.

I want to know if i'm safe by hanging my hammock to do some testing… I'd like to know if i'm going to destroy my garage… you know, by pulling the walls down…

thoughts??

[Ken Thompson]

Since you can't get around the studs for the straps, or can you? How were planning on attaching to the studs? How much do you weigh?

[Cody Croslow]

Hey Ken,

I was just going to screw in a bolt with a ring/loop on the end (I'm not sure what these are actually called… Eyebolt? bolt-hanger?), and just run my suspension cord straight through these.

I might actually just screw a 2×4 across two studs, and then run the straps around that, but again, I'm worried about the wood breaking and either dumping me on the ground, or worse, making the garage fall on top of me…

I weigh ~180lbs on a heavy day.

[Kevin Babione]

You sound like you saw your garage being built…

Google "Hammock Stand Plans" and you'll find a couple of pretty easy plans that you can build without spending a lot of $$$. The ones I've seen use bolts to hold them together so you can easily take it apart when you don't need it.

[J Davis]

I'm a 365 day hammock sleeper, the last three houses I've used the same 1/4" thick x 3-1/2" long eye-bolts #175 rating they are screwed into studs after drilling a smaller hole. Soap the threads and use a screwdriver or crescent wrench to screw them in. I'm #175 but have slept 2 with no issue.

The eye-bolts are at a slight angle across a corner of a room.

[Greg Mihalik]

You won't pull the walls down.

1/4" will probably work. But by the time threads are rolled in the root diameter is about 1/8".

To protect my a$$ I'd go with 3/8" or 1/2".

Edit: In a perfect world the root dia. of a 1/4"-20 tpi bolt is 0.185, versus 0.125.
In the real world of junk steel, stress risers, and 60 pieces a minute, you are betting a lot on very little.

[J Davis]

Not true,

[Tim Marshall]

be safe and span 3-4 studs with a 2×6 that will spread your load over more of the structure. You can the wrap that or use the lag bolt to hang from. Do this on both sides. We use straps rated to 3x what is needed and hammock fabrics that are at least twice as strong as needed but are willing to trust a single 2×4, not me (i have seen them split lots of times so there is no way i will trust just 1 with my butt, or worse yet my kids).

-Tim

[Cody Croslow]

Thanks for the replies guys!

For the record… my garage is unfinished, so I can actually see all the studs, outer wall, and rafters.

I have tried hanging straight from the rafters because they are much bigger… and couldn't get a good hang with my hennessey. I think if I could adjust the ridgeline it would work better, but, alas… to no avail.

I also tried hanging from the 2x4s that were already installed in the sides of the garage, but they're too low, I'll have to figure out the perfect height and put a couple more up, or make a stand. The problem with making a stand is that I really only want to set it up so I can test my shelter system outside, and if too cold/wet/whatever, I can still bail to the house.

[Tim Marshall]

There is a hang calculator out there that will tell you how high to hang for a given span. I want to say it is called the perfect hang calculator. Can anybody help find this?

[Randy Smith]

Hang Calculator
http://theultimatehang.com/hammock-hang-calculator.html

[Tim Marshall]

That's the one

[Dale Wambaugh]

You can hang from the rafters, but your hammock needs to be higher off the ground to compensate for the higher termination point for your suspension. That on-line calculator will do the trick there.

I drilled holes in the joists in my basement and used 1" tubular webbing tied in loops and used a carabiner to attach my suspension.

I agree on spanning several studs with a 2"x6" and good fasteners.

If you use vertical posts for an outside setup, you will need 4"x6" minimum and I would use 6"x6" posts. The hammock setup puts a surprising amount of stress on the timber where is meets the ground. A 200 pound guy can bend a 4"x4" like a noodle and it will break.

[josh wagner]

or you can add a 2nd or 3rd stud to the existing stud, flush up against it. this will give you extra holding power. me personally, i wouldn't hang from just 1 stud…

[Matthew Perry]

FWIW, ENO just came out with a home hanging kit.

http://eaglesnestoutfittersinc.com/product/HK001.html

[george carr]

Here's the setup you need:

Here's a link for building your own:
https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=51787

[Steven McAllister]

I just received a Vivere Universal stand yesterday.

I went that route because it is relatively light and portable. I wanted something that I can use when at the cabin or car camping in other locations where tree hanging is not allowed.

It can also be moved from inside to out in the yard depending on the situation.

http://www.vivereltd.com/product.php?nv=132&prod=106&act=p7menu2&mrkt=U

[David Thomas]

>"For the record… my garage is unfinished, so I can actually see all the studs, outer wall, and rafters."

At 180 pounds body weight and a 30 degree angle, the down force on each eye bolt is 90 pounds but the side force is 156 pounds. The joist/truss is strongest against down forces, but not so strong to the side, especially if it hasn't been sheathed by plywood or drywall.

So slide a 12-foot 2×4 up there and nail it off to the joists just above where you'll put your eyebolts into the joists. Then the joists won't get pulled sideways by the tension on the hammock ropes.

Or, since only compression is a possible issue, put blocking (14.5" or 22.5" lengths of 2×4 or 2×6) in a line between your two attach points.

Why are you sleeping in the garage? Did you forget to give your wife a Christmas present? Or you did get her a present but it was a washing machine or BP gear you wanted?

[Dale South]

For the past six years I have hung from the studs in my 16×16 storage utility building using eyebolts directly into the studs. i am 5'9" and 175 lbs. The building is still standing, the walls are still upright and I did not die.

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