The Ridgeline Media Systems Hang Time Hook is a cleverly-designed hanger for your digital (or other) devices. Right now it’s a 3D printed item, a bit rough around the edges, but with potential. Here’s what the designer says about his future production goals: “They are pre-production and rough, um… “no slip grip!” I hope to one day injection mold and in the near future resin cast for a superior finish and higher production.”
Full disclosure: we were given a pair of these Hang Time Hooks to try out over our summer adventures. What you will read below is our honest opinions of these items and how we used them during our travels. Most importantly, we will let you know if they are useful to us, making them a mainstay in our kit or not.
Features
The assembly was very intuitive. Even without any printed instructions, it was easy to figure out how to assemble, hang and use the Hangtime Hook.
It’s got a strong, rubber-lined big clamp/clip mounted via standard ball-socket joint to the proprietary piece: a clever ridgeline grip. This ridgeline grip comes in two different sizes (for Zing-It and Amsteel, which represent the two major ridgeline sizes current in hammocking today), and both sizes sport three attachment points that let you wind power cables or stabilize the angle of the Hang Time Hook when it’s weighted with your device.
The Hang Time Hook also comes with a button hole in the middle. What the heck is that for? Well, it gives users an option for hanging items with buttons. Simply slip the button through the hole and slide it down into the slot. It will stay in place as long as your sewing job will hold. Double check those buttons!
Use in the Wild
Depending on where we’re hanging, NMBL’s ridgeline can get pretty busy; this is a hang at a festival last year:
The Hang Time Hook let NMBL find her phone fast in all of that, and she felt it was always safe there. NMBL also hung a power pack in a mesh bag just behind a phone (with a minimalist 4″ USB cable) where it stayed all weekend giving her any viewing angle desired.
I generally keep a clean ridgeline compared to NMBL so differentiating between items isn’t a problem. If I’m going to hang something on my ridgeline it’s because I have a need. For example, I use a pouch to keep my glasses close by. While the Hang Time doesn’t come with a pouch, I can get a magnet ended socket to fit the ball which I can then attach to an actual glasses case. This adaptation will happen soon.
Even at places where we weren’t spending a lot of time with phones, the Hang Time Hook was a secure, dry, convenient place to charge a device and keep it within sight and out from underfoot.
Pros and Cons
We travel with Dutchware Half-Wit hammocks, which have an integrated ridgeline supporting a built-in half mosquito net. NMBL doesn’t usually hang anything on the Half-Wit’s ridgeline; she hangs a second ridgeline from tree to tree at the appropriate height for whatever rain-fly pitch the weather dictates, and this second ridgeline does all the cargo storage, lighting and clothesline duties. Because of the Half-Wit’s design, it was impossible to bring the Hang Time Hook inside the netting bubble. Good thing there were so few bugs this year!
That was really the only inconvenience we experienced: a bit of a design mismatch with the bug-netting on the hammocks we favor. NMBL did watch a few short Facebook videos with the phone pressed up against the netting; the view wasn’t badly affected by the netting, but the touch-screen sure was! She also tried setting it up with the phone on the inside of the net and the clip on the outside, but that somewhat defeated the clip’s interior grip surface, and NMBL wasn’t sure she could be trusted not to damage the netting like that anyway, so took it down again.
The Hang Time Hook, for its intended use, works best when you’re actually in the same space with the ridgeline. For adapted uses, like holding a glasses case or anything else you can think of to add to that ball/socket joint, its location will matter less.
NMBL and I hope this review is helpful to you. The Hang Time Hook does have a place in our kit, especially since its use and form factor makes it a no-brainer for us to carry. If you pick one up let us know what use you put it to. Better yet, let Ridgeline Media Systems know what use you’ve put it to. They will be happy to know!
DES out.
Motorcycle Hammock-Camping 
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