Portaledge

[SNORT]

Anyone got a portaledge double I can borrow please. Or single.

[Warren G]

Hi Snort

Sorry, I don't have one to lend, but I have been wondering about Portaledges for a while: surely its cheaper and easier to make one, than borrow or buy one?

Not that I need such a thing right now, but I was thinking of buying a big stretcher bed (the glamping type), connect a sling to each corner etc then hang it like that. For the tent around it one could easily fashion a basic fabric sheet with a zip. Last I heard a branded portaledge was over R11k, plus fly, while a DIY would have more uses and a fraction of the price

[Gustav]

Send us pics Warren.

[Hector]

I reckon designing a portaledge is harder than it looks. Check this out - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/11 ... ortaledge .
Maybe get a mate to take a video when you stand on that suspended camping bed

[Nic Le Maitre]

Not that I need such a thing right now, but I was thinking of buying a big stretcher bed (the glamping type), connect a sling to each corner etc then hang it like that. For the tent around it one could easily fashion a basic fabric sheet with a zip. Last I heard a branded portaledge was over R11k, plus fly, while a DIY would have more uses and a fraction of the price

Not quite that simple. The slings need to be adjustable so that it hangs flat, though purcell prusiks can solve that.
The camping stretchers usually work with the legs as a spring to provide tension while your weight provides compression and it balances the two. Without the legs (or with the legs unweighted) it'll just fold up.

You can make one from aluminium tubing if you can find someone with a lathe to turn the finials (not actually called finials but I can't remember the term). These things:

The narrow sections that join the thicker sections together.

A hammock and a bivvy bag is probably the simplest choice

[Hallam]

Ferrules

[Warren G]

Doh! Like I say, I have no foreseeable need in a portaledge, however a simple google search finds many people who have made themselves one: https://treefool.com/2014/09/07/diy-por ... and-light/ . If I did have a need for one I would never, ever justify the roughly R14k expense of buying one (including the cost of the fly).

Nic I hear you regarding them collapsing, but again there are several solutions to this, such as a simple leash between the feet and side rail, which could even be structural.
Your second concern (adjustability) can also be easily overcome by the use of adjustable tiedown slings.
3rd point which no one has raised is the Brand Factor: most climbers are brand conscious, and many would be cautious about a home made solution

I doubt Snort would actually want to make one: a bunch of effort for a very singular use item, where a simple hammock, or borrowing would be much simpler, so sorry for the tangent to your thread Snort. Be a rad home project tho

[Nic Le Maitre]

Ferrules

AAAAAAH! Thank you, it was bugging me no end!

[Stu]

Hi Snort

Sorry, I don't have one to lend, but I have been wondering about Portaledges for a while: surely its cheaper and easier to make one, than borrow or buy one?

Not that I need such a thing right now, but I was thinking of buying a big stretcher bed (the glamping type), connect a sling to each corner etc then hang it like that. For the tent around it one could easily fashion a basic fabric sheet with a zip. Last I heard a branded portaledge was over R11k, plus fly, while a DIY would have more uses and a fraction of the price

I built a portaledge a while back and it's a lot more work then you think. In the end I should've spent a little more money and just bought one.