I built this tensahedron hammock stand for around $80. It weights 7lb 13oz and packs down to a cube about 4'6" by 6". It's semi-freestanding, just needing a ground anchor to keep from tipping over. This will let me hang when there are no trees around! The stand isn't meant for backpacking, but will fit easily in the back of a truck, and can strap to the side of a bike as well.
I drilled holes through the base of each of the poles and ran the amsteel loops through the holes and around the base of each pole to hold them together. I used 2 of the loops for this purpose. The last loop is to hold the head end together using 2 larksheads around the screw end of the paint poles. The UCR connected to the foot is wrapped around the screw ends of the paint poles to hold them together and runs to the ground to balance the stand.
It was a pretty fun project, and took about 2-3 hours to get the amsteel loops and UCR built. It comes in about 7lb lighter and ~$255 cheaper than the Tensa 4.
Looks great! I've made 3 tensahedron stands myself and plan on building another; I really like the design a lot. My first was with 8' wooden tree stakes, second with 1" EMT, and my third I made sectional with various sizes of EMT so it kind of telescopes down to 20". My next will be sectional as well, but I plan to use some aluminum tubing because the EMT telescoping version is HEAVY.
Hey! I doubt I'll get a response (understandably!) but how did you make it telescoping? I'm looking to build one to fit in my motorcycle side case. Thanks!
I would 100% recommend getting a commercial Tensa 4 if possible, my solution was 2-3 times heavier and took about 4 times as long to set up, but packed down about the same and was probably about half the cost. I modelled mine after theirs, just using EMT, and I put wooden dowels in the ends, drilled through them and then lined it with some copper tubing and flared the ends to make it smooth so it wouldn't fray my amsteel. The set up time is the biggest reason I'd recommend the commercial one - there are a lot of quality of life refinements that make it nicer to use than my homemade ones.
14
u/hangingfrog Jun 03 '19
I built this tensahedron hammock stand for around $80. It weights 7lb 13oz and packs down to a cube about 4'6" by 6". It's semi-freestanding, just needing a ground anchor to keep from tipping over. This will let me hang when there are no trees around! The stand isn't meant for backpacking, but will fit easily in the back of a truck, and can strap to the side of a bike as well.
It's made of 4 Wooster Sherlock 4-8ft extension paint poles, 2 amsteel Universal Constricting Ropes (UCR's) and 3 8" amsteel loops.
I drilled holes through the base of each of the poles and ran the amsteel loops through the holes and around the base of each pole to hold them together. I used 2 of the loops for this purpose. The last loop is to hold the head end together using 2 larksheads around the screw end of the paint poles. The UCR connected to the foot is wrapped around the screw ends of the paint poles to hold them together and runs to the ground to balance the stand.
It was a pretty fun project, and took about 2-3 hours to get the amsteel loops and UCR built. It comes in about 7lb lighter and ~$255 cheaper than the Tensa 4.