Y-hangs

A Y-hang is achieved by rigging both ropes so that each is attached to, and shares the load between, both anchor points. When the ropes are weighted, the load should be evenly distributed between both anchors.

Y-hang with a 120° angle between the two anchor legs — each anchor now takes the full 1 kN suspended load. This is the practical maximum allowed. — 120° Y-hang — each anchor sees the full 1 kN load. Never exceed this angle.

The angle of the Y is everything

Drag the slider to see how the force on each anchor changes with the angle of the Y. The rope colour tracks the IRATA safety bands.

Angle of the Y90°

Angle

90°

Per anchor

0.71kN

Multiplier

0.71×

Safe

Numeric reference table

Angle	Load on each anchor (with 100 kg load)
0°	50 kg
60°	57 kg
90°	71 kg
120°	100 kg
140°	146 kg
150°	193 kg
160°	288 kg
161°	303 kg
177°	1915 kg
178°	2873 kg
179°	5747 kg

The formula

Load at each anchor = (L ÷ 2) ÷ cos(½ A)

Where L is the load and A is the angle of the Y.

Worked example for A = 120° and L = 100 kg:

Anchor Load = (100 ÷ 2) ÷ cos 60° = 50 ÷ 0.5 = 100 kg.

Failure-of-one-anchor swing

Where the anchor points for a Y-hang are located a reasonable distance apart, consider the effects of the failure of one of the anchors (e.g. a swing likely to cause personal injury).