Triplezee

I'm not a great at math or physics, but I believe it was able to hold that weight because of a couple factors. The load on each point of the system is divided by the three anchor points. The screw, the tree and the branch. I think this splits the load so that each part of the system is taking one third of the load. Also, depending on the type of soils the screw is in it will hold more or less. The soil it was in for the instructable, was pretty rigid, so it supported the screw more. If i were going to use this for myself (185 lbs), I would add another 12" screw to the system. If I didn't need it to be super light and portable, I would use a 15 inch dog steel dog tie out. The orange screw is nice and light, but it does have some flex to it, which isn't ideal for this system. B…

I'm not a great at math or physics, but I believe it was able to hold that weight because of a couple factors. The load on each point of the system is divided by the three anchor points. The screw, the tree and the branch. I think this splits the load so that each part of the system is taking one third of the load. Also, depending on the type of soils the screw is in it will hold more or less. The soil it was in for the instructable, was pretty rigid, so it supported the screw more. If i were going to use this for myself (185 lbs), I would add another 12" screw to the system. If I didn't need it to be super light and portable, I would use a 15 inch dog steel dog tie out. The orange screw is nice and light, but it does have some flex to it, which isn't ideal for this system. But it does work for lighter loads!

Thanks for the vote, the comment, and the compliments! Glad you liked it!

Thanks KeithD2. I originally did a figure 8, but found the butterfly knot to a little less bulky and pretty easy to loosen. Either one works!

12" orange screw

Yeah Pedro_nf, that's the best way to do it. The branch on this set up was low enough where i could hop a little bit and reach the rope to pull it down.

Great suggestion, for tree protection! The anchor weighs 3.6 ounces. It may not be light for "ultralight" hiking, but you wouldn't really bring this nonessential piece of gear on an ultralight hike. But it's light compared to all of the other pole based solutions I have seen.

The right knot is so important. I'm a former firefighter and knot enthusiast, so I appreciate the knot love! Thanks!

Its an age old problem! Give it a whirl !