"What one Man can do, another can do!"
i would worry if you were bending the carabiner round the tree as that would severely weaken it over time..... some people do that by threading the webbing through itself... that i dont like... if thats what you are saying then i agree!
and im pretty sure that despite doing it for fun, us climbers use them specifically to save our lives... otherwise we'd free climb with no protection!!!
did you get in touch with the other essex boys yet? it def sounds like you could get an essex meet going, theres at least four of you! do you have a crb?
ive never tried to get into my hennessy at 30ft.... id be worried about falling out the bottom!!! i usually clip into my harness and sleep in my bivi on mountain races... but not in the hammock...
A portaledge would be better suited or even a tree boat http://www.newtribe.com/catalog/prod...264cb41448b88b
But I get the gest of what you are saying and have the same concerns myself, especially when folks start using lighter and lighter weight carabiners, or carabiner replacements. One of the carabiner replacements looks basically like a machined aluminum, gate-less carabiner. Regardless, it seems that the more times you cross load, or bend, these carabiners the more you weaken them as most everyone is familar with the concept of metal fatigue and has probably intentionally broken some wire or flat piece of metal be repeatably bending it back and forth. Do climbers replace carabiners after so many uses like they do climbing rope?