New DIY whoopieslings

[silentbob]

When I started off hammocking I hung mine (a tenth wonder) with the webbing straps it came supplied with using the method recommended by BushBlade (look here if you've not seen his hammock tutorial before - great for beginners). But I want more "adjustability" so I've been researching whoopieslings for a while.
So today I have finished re-rigging my hammock. I made whoopieslings from 3mm dyneema. I didn't want to just thread them through the loops on the end of the hammock as I was worried that the thin cord might tear through the hammock material so I've folded the ends over themselves, gathered them up and fastened off with very tight paracord whipping.
The whoopie slings are then tightly tied around the hammock with the gathered ends acting as "stops" so the sling can't slide off.



Below is a close up of the "business end". The bobble stops it disappearing into itself if pulled accidentally before it is placed over the marlin hitch spike. The photo also shows the end splice to stop the free hanging end of the whoopie beng pulled through itself and falling apart.




Finally I added a ridge line to the hamock. It has a whoopie style constrictor so I can adjust the sag of my hammock. Once I'm happy with it I'll tie it off and forget about it - but at least I can re-adjust if it is ever necessary. A ridgeline bag (that I've not actually made yet!) will hang over the knots to keep it all tidy at the foot end of my hammock.



Next step is to get hold of webbing and some toggles for the Marlin hitches then I can try it out. I'm also planning on making a separate ridgeline for the tarp using the same materials. All the ideas were taken from Shug Emery's excellent 10 part hammock tutorial series on youtube.

I can thoroughly recommend long nosed artery forceps (you can get them quite cheap from medical equipment suppliers) as excellent tools for fashioning the splices.

 

[spandit]

All the ideas were taken from Shug Emery's excellent 10 part hammock tutorial series on youtube.

Really? Seems remarkably similar to the ridgeline I designed... and the whoopie slings using blue 3mm Dyneema with plastic bobbles... hmmm...

Anyway, looks good (although I doubt that door handle will support much weight! )

Rather than buying webbing, can't you use the rope that came with the TW hammock? I had to cut mine when I tied a knot that I couldn't undo (so I use a climbing sling for one end). Haven't used toggles yet - been using soft shackles but have removed some metal tubes from old tent poles for that purpose

 

[silentbob]

I've not seen yours yet Spandit - I'll have a search through the forum and have a look. I just searched the 'net for cord I could splice (as I've only ever used paracord for outdoors projects before now) and found it on a sailing supplier that also stocked the bobbles - which saved me a lot of time cos I thought originally I'd end up having to carve some little stoppers out of wood. I guess I could use the original webbing - it is just a little thick for my liking but I'll give it a go until I get hold of some thinner stuff. I like the idea of old tent poles for toggles - that is one of your ideas I definitely WILL steal!

 

[spandit]

Was it sailingmad.com? That was the cheapest I'd found anywhere. I also used a bobble on the free end - won't fit over the end splice.

I find mine a bit sticky - think the blue colouring is to blame - when you've put some real tension on yours, let me know if they're easy to undo again as mine aren't particularly...

 

[silentbob]

Just had a search through and found your posts - wish I'd seen them earlier - I always like to see how lots of folk use different approaches for the same task. Bobbles instead of end splices - Damn - why didn't I think of that?! Much more secure. And yes I did use SailingMad though I had a few issues with the way they send you a separate email with the paypal invoice. I've found another supplier that I might use next time.

I'm interested to hear you've found yours sticky as I was worried it might be a bit slippery if anything. For my separate tarp ridgeline I wanted to use prussiks to allow the toggles to be adjustable but they just don't grip - going to get some of those little cam devices instead. Anyway I'll see if it sticks once I've tested the hammock with my bodyweight.

 

[spandit]

I use £ shop paracord for my ridgeline as it doesn't have to be that strong. My Dyneema is more waxy than sticky, I suppose but when I smooth it with my fingers it leaves a mark.

I used both bobbles and end splices. I think I used a ballpoint pen inner as a fid

 

[Shewie]

Nicely done

I'm intrigued to see what Dutch is working on at the moment, sounds like another gadget I don't need but will no doubt buy

 

[the interceptor boy]

hi silentbob is there any chance of a better close up pictures of your setup, especially the second and third pictures, also you could take the strands out of paracord cord to give you better grip and friction on your ridge line, for prussick knots, the flatter is the line, better is the frictions on your ridge line. cheers the interceptor boy.rceptor boy.

 

[spandit]

The second picture only shows that he's threaded a plastic bead onto the adjustable loop to stop it getting pulled through.

The third picture is, I think, just another whoopie sling used as an adjustable ridgeline. I think it's a structural ridgeline

 

[silentbob]

hi silentbob is there any chance of a better close up pictures of your setup, especially the second and third pictures, also you could take the strands out of paracord cord to give you better grip and friction on your ridge line, for prussick knots, the flatter is the line, better is the frictions on your ridge line. cheers the interceptor boy.rceptor boy.

Sorry about the quality of the photos - they were taken on my phone. As Spandit said, the second photo really just shows the ball to stop the loop being pulled through. The last photo is indeed a structural ridgeline. It is simply two pieces of dyneema, one short one and one long one. The long one is spliced through the short one to create a constrictor section as you get with a normal whoopie sling.

Regarding the separate tarp ridge line - I think I'll go with Spandit's suggestion of using paracord - I can adjust what I already have and then the stick with the prussiks.

Thanks all for the opinions and advice - very useful.