What is this purple nylon sleeve-thingy with chains on it?

December 3, 2006 2:10 PM

What is this purple nylon sleeve-thingy with chains on it? Here's a picture. It was dug out of someone's attic for a rummage sale and no one bought it because no one knew what it was. Lots of creative guesses, though.
posted by jumble to Grab Bag (9 answers total)

It looks to me like a ferret hammock.
posted by MsElaineous at 2:11 PM on December 3, 2006

It looks like something that you could fill with Kleenex and clip to the back of a car seat.
posted by bonheur at 2:43 PM on December 3, 2006

Seconding ferret hammock; just my first thought, but it does look like the ones in the pics. Though, none of the ones on that site have metal chains, from a quick look.
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:46 PM on December 3, 2006

My first thought was that it was the sling from a toy trebuchet.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 3:00 PM on December 3, 2006

Looks like a sling for a broken arm. Maybe like for a hospital room traction/elevation system?
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 3:09 PM on December 3, 2006

Best answer: Here is a ferret hammock that's tube-shaped, with a hole in it.
posted by cabingirl at 3:25 PM on December 3, 2006

Response by poster: The chains on the ferret hammocks are on the corners of square or rectangular material, while this is a tube and the chains aren't on the corners...I'm not sure.
posted by jumble at 3:27 PM on December 3, 2006

Response by poster: cabingirl, yay! You've dispelled my doubts. Thanks!
posted by jumble at 3:28 PM on December 3, 2006

It's not really a hammock - it's a toy that you hang in their cage and that they can sleep in or hide stuff in. The manufacturers and catalogs just call it a hanging tube. I have one just like it that I don't use, because the sounds of the little claws digging at the coarse nylon at 3 a.m. got to me (there's also a softer cotton one).
posted by dilettante at 5:27 PM on December 3, 2006