First Gathered-End DIY

**Rampant** · 05-25-2012, 12:13

Originally Posted by BeachBumb

Just to be clear, I think they are only recommending 25' Amsteel. A 6' sling is double that length plus a little for the fixed loop, 1 end has a fixed loop, the other end grows and shrinks. So 6' up one side of the loop + 6' back down + some for the fixed end loop.

Someone please confirm this.

When I make whoopie slings I usually calculate: (Finished length I want x 2) + 1. So if I want a 6 foot finished whoopie sling, I start with 13 feet of amsteel.

But trust me, you might just find that it's a lot of fun and want to keep doing it! My last order of amsteel was 150 feet.

**Laochri** · 05-25-2012, 14:37

Originally Posted by titanium_hiker

marlin spikes or rated biners for hooking the straps to the whoopies.

I have another option for that.

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=52892

This is just my personal observation; Marlin spikes are great for cordage, not webbing. See, I am a Rock Climber, and a stickler for not having kinks, folds, and knots (other than water-knots) in my webbing. It drastically degrades the break strength. Yes, I know there is no way a hanger will come close to that threshold, but still.

Originally Posted by Rampant

When I make whoopie slings I usually calculate: (Finished length I want x 2) + 1. So if I want a 6 foot finished whoopie sling, I start with 13 feet of amsteel.

I thought 25' per sling. Your method is logical and sound.

**Merganser** · 05-26-2012, 13:40

Originally Posted by MAD777

I wholeheartedly agree on buying 4 yards of fabric. The longer a hammock is, the more comfortable it is. If I were your height, I would go with 10.5 feet finished length. Add hems and whipping length to that.

I agree10' 6" is plenty. I'm 6' 2" and make mine 11' hemmed. Most of the commercial hammocks, including the infamous blackbird are shorter than this.

On the Amsteel I would go with a lighter color for visibility. Also, the darker colors bleed off a bit.

**hppyfngy** · 05-26-2012, 14:27

Double ditto to what everybody is saying. 4 yds of 1.1 or 1.5, (I prefer the 1.5 personally but I'm #180) that will allow you a little extra for a bishop's bag or whatever.

Suspension is up to you and there are lots of options. As you're a climber you probably have this worked out. Simple setup is to attach a pair of descender rings to the hammock body and use the tree strap like a belt.

One other thing is you'll need some cordage if you're going to do a whipped end. I like gutted paracord but almost anything that will hold a knot will do. No sense wasting amsteel on whipping.

**BeachBumb** · 05-26-2012, 20:20

So where is a good places for us to get 1.1 ripstop by the yard (not more than 5 yard min). I have done a lot of research on HF, most of the posts are a year or more old. It seems that those sources no longer exist or are out, hancock and joanns both have the 1.9 (or at least I think, since they can not tell me either)

So I guess its order from a website, but where should we look?