Need help comparing the two system

[blessedoneness]

I am really new to whoopie slings, and to hammocking in general. But I am fascinated about how fast a hammock can be set up. I wish I could build one on my own right now with my skill level.

At this point, I found two complete systems:

http://shop.whoopieslings.com/All-In-One-system-AI1.htm
http://www.jacksrbetter.com/HammockSuspensionSystem.htm

I would like to know you opinion about these two system in terms weights, pros and cons, etc. or possibly if you have any other set up that you could recommend me. Or should I just build on my own? I am willing to try. I would love to hear your opinion.

Thank you,
Ken

[heywoodja]

Build your own. I built both whoopies and continuous loops with my 8 year old daughter last night with only HF as a reference. She made zing-it whoopies all by herself this morning. Building your own hammock is easy too especially if you pick up one those table cloths.

[titanium_hiker]

It's a matter of history.

First* there was Hennessy- tree huggers, rope to the hugger, a knot to tie.
then came along Speer- one long webbing strap for each end of the hammock, tied with the four wrap knot to the tree. The problem with both these methods is that once you get it tied to the tree you can't adjust it in any way without retying your knot.
Then came buckles of many different types. The buckles allow for adjustability and a quick, easy set up. However, there is a weight penalty over the 'plain straps' method.

Whoopie slings are probably the newest of the bunch. They are adjustable and probably have some small weight savings- however you now have the sling, the toggle or (climbing rated) biner, and your tree straps. A criticism of whoopies is that it can be hard to hang in a smaller space between closer spaced trees as you need to have the webbing come off the tree, meet the whoopie, and the whoopie will have a minimum length built in for safety (you don't want too small of a bury).

Of course, there are innovations happening all over the place. Dutch and his whoopie hook, continuous whoopie loops, and I'm sure many others.

There are MANY ways to hang a hammock, and as long as you are using straps of some sort (for ethical reasons- not just tree protection but the fact that hammocking is banned some places because of perceived damage- this is mitigated with the straps) you can't really go wrong.

EDIT- just noticed that JRB does whoopies now. Wow. I haven't been around for a while.
Here's another Whoopie vendor: http://arrowheadequipment.webs.com/a...s/show/2575039

Hope this helps!

TH
- amateur hammock historian!


*in regards to the 'hammock revolution' and in regards to tree friendliness- there were other camping hammocks before 2002 but I'm not really familiar with them.

[oldgringo]

Nice history, TH!

[bradclarkston]

All three of those venders are high quality it dosent matter which one you go with.

I've bought from JRB and woppieslings and both are top notch. I've bought Amsteel from arrowhead to make my own and I'd recommend them in a heartbeat.

What I'd recommend is to buy your first set and then make one later as there silly cheap.

I would get at least eight foot woopies along with two Amsteel continuous loops on a decender rings along with tree webbing with loops sewn into each end.

That makes the best dead simple whoopiesling setup I've found

[blessedoneness]

Thanks everyone. I lost track of this post, my apologies for not responding sooner. I went ahead and order a complete JRB suspension set. It was nice talking with Jack on the phone, and he told me to stick what I have ordered. I hope this system will offer many other options to come in the future.

[blessedoneness]

It's a matter of history.

First* there was Hennessy- tree huggers, rope to the hugger, a knot to tie.
then came along Speer- one long webbing strap for each end of the hammock, tied with the four wrap knot to the tree. The problem with both these methods is that once you get it tied to the tree you can't adjust it in any way without retying your knot.
Then came buckles of many different types. The buckles allow for adjustability and a quick, easy set up. However, there is a weight penalty over the 'plain straps' method.

Whoopie slings are probably the newest of the bunch. They are adjustable and probably have some small weight savings- however you now have the sling, the toggle or (climbing rated) biner, and your tree straps. A criticism of whoopies is that it can be hard to hang in a smaller space between closer spaced trees as you need to have the webbing come off the tree, meet the whoopie, and the whoopie will have a minimum length built in for safety (you don't want too small of a bury).

Of course, there are innovations happening all over the place. Dutch and his whoopie hook, continuous whoopie loops, and I'm sure many others.

There are MANY ways to hang a hammock, and as long as you are using straps of some sort (for ethical reasons- not just tree protection but the fact that hammocking is banned some places because of perceived damage- this is mitigated with the straps) you can't really go wrong.

EDIT- just noticed that JRB does whoopies now. Wow. I haven't been around for a while.
Here's another Whoopie vendor: http://arrowheadequipment.webs.com/a...s/show/2575039

Hope this helps!

TH
- amateur hammock historian!


*in regards to the 'hammock revolution' and in regards to tree friendliness- there were other camping hammocks before 2002 but I'm not really familiar with them.

TH, thanks so much for the detailed lesson.

[MedicineMan]

Ti Hiker that should be a historical sticky here!

and just to add to the body of knowledge....say you are using whoopies and suddenly you discover that the trees are closer than you thought and that your woopies and tree huggers are just too long...that connecting the whoopies to the tree hugger leaves your hammock on the ground.....well there is a quick and easy answer=the Marlin Spike Hitch.
See many references to this hitch here on HF; suffice it to say that it will allow you to use only several inches of the tree hugger from the tree to connect your whoopie sling too; once I had four feet of tree hugger unused to make up the distance difference