Hammock Safety - Don't Let this Happen to You

[imscotty]

There was a terrible accident in Boston last week where a woman hanging in a hammock was seriously injured when the chimney the hammock was attached to collapsed on her.


See news story here...
https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2017/07/18/family-of-woman-injured-by-falling-chimney-in-north-end-says-it-would-be-miracle-if-she-walks-again​


Just a reminder that a hammock is a mechanical system that can create forces much greater than just the weight of the person in the hammock.


The horizontal shear force created in a two point hang = 1/2 weight / tan (angle of the hang)


At low angle hangs the forces can be quite large. A two hundred pound person hanging at an angle of 5 degrees would produce 1143 pounds of horizontal sheer force at each off the two attachment points. Please be sure the structure you are attaching to can withstand these type of forces​.


A 30 degree hang produces a much safer sheer force of 173 pounds for a 200 pound person.


Be careful out there.

[Feral Bill]

Physics always wins.

[HooKooDooKu]

link

Had to check the date stamp on this post to make sure this wasn't a old thread resurrected... because sadly, while this might be a 'current event' news story, people getting seriously hurt by hammocks is NOT something new.

Case-in-point from about 7 years ago (random related news story found with a simple google search)

[HooKooDooKu]

Physics always wins.

Unfortunately, lots of people don't seem to understand physics.
Simply Google "hammock death". I was surprised at the number of articles listing "freak" and "bizarre" in regards to similar tragedies.

[Traffic Jam]

What is an easy, foolproof way to measure the angle of a hang? I always eyeball it but could be way off base as I'm one of those ​people.

[rhjanes]

Hold up your hand, extend the pointer finger and the thumb only. "Make a gun" if you will. Eye ball a line (your hammock suspension) between the tip of the vertical thumb and the pointer finger tip. That is 30 degrees (if the hammock line runs along those points.

Attaching to ANY masonry is usually a bad idea. Brick walls, chimneys and such are water resistant make-pretty stuff. Usually NOT structural at all.

[ChuckT]

1143# versus the holding power of mortar? The physics wins everytime.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[Slo-go'en]

This is also the reason they don't want you setting up hammocks in shelters. Some of them aren't too sturdy to begin with. The walls and supports are designed to hold vertical weight, not being pulled in from the sides.

[Traffic Jam]

Hold up your hand, extend the pointer finger and the thumb only. "Make a gun" if you will. Eye ball a line (your hammock suspension) between the tip of the vertical thumb and the pointer finger tip. That is 30 degrees (if the hammock line runs along those points.

Attaching to ANY masonry is usually a bad idea. Brick walls, chimneys and such are water resistant make-pretty stuff. Usually NOT structural at all.

That is excellent, thank you.

[Maineiac64]

A 17 year old girl was killed in a Georgia state park when an old rotten tree she hooked to toppled over on her.

[jensaito]

Quite useful points, thanks!