Yoga Hammock Hanging/Rigging...

AllysonKendal started this discussion · 6/10/2015

My goodness... can someone point me in the right direction!?! I'm looking for some info on hanging a yoga hammock/sling... Some of the sites geared more to aerial silks make it seem like I need an engineer or professional rigger to make something that can withstand drops and 3000 lbs of pressure... Then the fly gym seems like it's all like "put some eye bolts in a stud" (so I imagine the same thing would apply to another brand of hammock) So I'm not sure?!? I tried looking to see what weight a normal ceiling stud can handle and I can't seem to find it. Some info looks like you need to mount it so that they are different studs to distribute the weight... this flygym diagram looks like they are on the same stud: http://www.flygymfit.comhttps://pub-a085b59791bc4c1a94b0a223a67a37d6.r2.dev/wp-uploads/2015/03/ceiling-installation1.jpg And if you can mount them on the same stud, does that mean you could do a single rigging point if you wanted???? I have some gift cards and I was thinking about a yoga hammock (something without all those handles).... I'm still not sure if I'd actually use it.... but if I do I reallllly don't want my ceiling caving in on me :)

13 replies

Lucca Valentine · 6/10/2015
I wish I had a good direction to point you in :/ take this at face value cuz I'm not an engineer or rigging expert, and even used my yoga hammock on a portable chin up bar cuz i wasn't swinging on it or doing anything crazy, shifting the center of gravity very much. Anyhoo, some site I found said that the beam needs to be a structural beam (made to support something pretty significant) and not just a regular joist (apparently some of those are just not meant to hold a lot of weight and are simply there to provide frame work. So if you have a two story house, the beams in the ceiling of the ground floor would be pretty strong cuz they're made to support another level of the house. I was lucky because my pole room is right under the attic, so my step dad went up there and super reinforced the beams with more wood just in case. I mean like the bolts that are used to hold my hammock in place are like 12 inches long, but that may or may not be overdoing it, I'd rather be safe than sorry. I don't swing like crazy from my hammock or do drops of anything. I genuinely use it for more yoga related things and some strength training, so don't feel the need to secure it for 3000 lbs or whatever, but I def found that same info you're finding. It's my understanding that you can do a single point hanging set up, but I just feel safer distributing the weight between two points. My anchors are on two different beams as well. Maybe I can get up in my attic and snap a pic of how the beams are reinforced, but I don't know if that would be an option for you since you may not have the attic access (again, I was super lucky regarding that). I would GUESS that since you live in an older house that the beams are sturdy/structural, but totally get that guessing is not exactly ideal/safe here. I remember my grandma had a wicker swing inside her house and we would go crazy on it and it was fine and my grandma would use it an was fine (and she's built like a damn line backer), so maybe you can find someone who installs swings/a contractor and see if they can come investigate and give you their professional opinion, also, maybe look up the set up for sex swings cuz they are kinda similar o_O (I know that may sound crazy, but also know those are designed for a lot of motion and need to be sturdy, sometimes sturdy enough for two people)
AllysonKendal · 6/10/2015
Ha! I love your advice! I actually have a walk up attic right above my pole room and I can access the joists pretty easily (i'll have to pull up a floor board or two, but we do that from time to time to get to wires and stuff anyway.) So if eventually you get a chance to snap a pic that would be helpful. But because its a walk up attic and kind of like a 3rd floor I'd hope it was load bearing... even though its not finished, we had hopes of finishing it one day way down the line, guess that would be an issue if it wasn't structurally sound !!! Is it dumb that I'm more worried about pulling the beam down with a 12in bolt than I am about using a small bolt that falls out and i fall on my head (i mean I also wont be swinging like crazy or anything... and what, I'll be 16in above the ground at most?!? Ok well, I might just get the hammock and use it from my pull up bar and see if I actually use it enough to make the work worth it... I think my ideal situation would be a swivel single point mount.... not so I can swing, but so I can always face parallel to my wall (instead of perpendicular) so I don't kick it, and so it doesnt get in the way. Seems like split like stretches and back bend stretches face different ways. Anyway. It's all in my swiveling around head right now. :P who knows.
AllysonKendal · 6/10/2015
oh and my limited knowledge on sex swings... I feel like I recall most of them being doorway mounted... :P
Lucca Valentine · 6/11/2015
Ok can cool I'll try and get that pic is today! I have my hammock 3 ft away from each wall (as r commended by the manufacturer of my hammock) and it's been fine! But you can so such prettier things on swivel so def wish I had that sometimes. But the 3 feet thing has worked well for me, especially cuz each one of my legs is 3 ft long so that's kinda perfect. Occasionally I bump a row but VERY rarely
Lucca Valentine · 6/11/2015
You have more knowledge of sex swings than me then ;) I never even thought about it till I was typing that out last night and was like *hmmmm* lol
Lucca Valentine · 6/11/2015
Ok so keep in mind I have NO idea if this is overkill or not and everything covered in insulation so I'm not sure where I can step in the attic without falling through the ceiling, but here is a picture anyways! o_O I can try and get a better one when my step dad has some free time to safely guide me through it lol
Lucca Valentine · 6/11/2015
Basically he made a box like structure spanning the two beams that the hammock is hanging from as well as on top of those beams. So yeah the empty space is braced as well as the physical beams
Lucca Valentine · 6/11/2015
That plank (?) on the left hand side of the bottom picture with the cord over it is an original joist that seeks random but it's not part of the creation
Lucca Valentine · 6/11/2015
Most of the planks appear to just be nailed together except that one I got a close up of that has two screws drilled into it so I wonder if that is where one of the hammock screws (eyes?) goes into from the other side.
AllysonKendal · 6/11/2015
Thanks that was super helpful, and kind of looks like some things I've seen on the internet for like mounting oven hoods and other heavy things. So I ordered a hammock, and I'm just going to start with it on the pull up bar and see if 1. I use it and 2. what I use it for (so how much space would I need)... But if the door space isnt sufficient and i want to actually mount it I'm either going to try and do some surgery in the attic (when its not like 120F up there) or try something like this... but on sheetrock, with a white board that may or may not have a nice trim around the edge :)
AllysonKendal · 6/15/2015
Eeeek! It's on the truck for delivery! Hopefully its feels and looks as nice as it seems. :) I'm going for a pole lesson later today, so hopefully I can find some time to test it out.
AllysonKendal · 6/15/2015
Ok I can't say I feel 100% relaxed on it yet. I kind of need to learn to trust it more. I'm not sure if it's just going to take time or if I should perm mount it... Or if that would make it worse! Ha. I'm just hesitant... I laid on it... Just verrrryyyyyy slowly. But I also need to learn to tie the knots better. When I first hung it using the knots they had it touched the floor so I just loosened them and then re-tightened them and they kind of slipped on me.... But eventually got tight. I have some playing around to do I think.
Lucca Valentine · 6/15/2015
Allyson, this is where i learned how to do aerial knots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgOfn7nmO8I and on the hesitant note, when my brother was in town for Christmas and i wanted him to sit in the hammock and it was met with an "I DONT LIKE IT I DONT LIKE IT I DONT LIKE IT" as he was sitting back into it. It was kind of amazing, hes a big ole bearded guy and he was seriously horrified about laying in this hammock. Even after he'd been in it for awhile he was still freaked out and was stiff as a board the entire time ^_^ so i def learned that its not necessarily for everybody lol