trying to make whoopie slings

**Borday** · 10-06-2012, 23:01

electric fence wire works great for the amsteel, and 22 ga. soild copper for the tech line / zing it

**WVbackpacker** · 10-07-2012, 18:23

After hours of frustration of trying to make a continuous loop out of 7/64" amsteel blue, I finally had success! I tried guitar strings, speaker wire, and other tools with no success. I went out and got a loop turner and it worked wonders. Best $5 I've ever spent.

**hammock_monk** · 10-07-2012, 19:05

Yep, that's what did it for me, too. Congrats!

**JaxHiker** · 10-07-2012, 19:05

Congrats! I find that 7/64 is very easy to do with 18-ga floral wire. I always had a problem with the loop turner catching and pulling the material.

1.75mm Lash It is a pain to work with. The wire I use for splicing is so small that it bends a lot and my hands start hurting trying to carefully milk the line down the wire. 2.2 is a breeze, though.

With practice you'll get better. Yesterday I was doing a hammock presentation. Thirty minutes before it started I couldn't find my CRL. Fortunately I'd brought my line and tools with me and I was able to whip up a new one in about 10 min. Of course as soon as I was done I found the other one.

Oh well, I'd been wanting to make a 50-footer anyway. The cool thing is that the 50' in 1.75 weighs the same as my 35' in 2.2...1 oz.

**gmcttr** · 10-07-2012, 19:44

Originally Posted by JaxHiker

...I always had a problem with the loop turner catching and pulling the material...

If you had a Dritz loop turner, it must have been faulty as there is nothing on the loop turner to snag.

**JaxHiker** · 10-08-2012, 09:38

That's what I had. I had trouble with the little finger thingy that's supposed to keep it from snagging.

Then again that was probably before I realized that tapering meant actually removing strands and not just cutting at an angle.

Maybe I should try it again now that I know what I'm doing. Of course it's still too big for the 1.75 stuff.

**PD230SOI** · 10-09-2012, 06:23

I had trouble for the longest time, providing great humor to the wife.

I took one set of lines into the office so I could try in silence one morning and found I had everything, but forgotten the tape. I used some packing tape (clear, much stiffer) and found that was the problem.
I make the taper (about 2")
tape it tight"
and tear into it... no problems.

If I try and do one taping the taper with regular house tape - its a complete mess. No fid, no wire, just the right tape.

Go figure.

**FLScouthanger** · 10-09-2012, 13:31

I tried the cellophane/Scotch tape approach as well early on--even after removing a few strands. I never really got the hang of the tape method. I made the tape "tail" as small as possible but it just seemed to always catch a strand or 2 inside the sheath of the amsteel and I would ultimately end up having to pull it back out and try again.

That said, I did have success with the yarn needle method. Just taper the end, pass it thru the eye of the needle and, voila! Granted, it did take some patience and constant pressure on the needle to coax it thru the amsteel; the eye seemed to have about the same outer mold line as the inside diameter of the amsteel.

Although I have never personally tried the guitar string or floral wire methods I can plainly see that they would be viable.

**Weta** · 10-09-2012, 18:52

My first attempt making whoopies wasn't working for me either...until I realised a few things: tapering the ends by removing half the amount of threads down to about an inch & not taping; i use a wooden kabab stick & crunch up the amsteel so it all bunched up; then threading a thin wire doubled over so both ends of the wire is what you are holding in your hand or thereabouts & I put the end of where you tapered the tread just past the tapered & then pinch the wire so that it jams in loop. I then bend the amsteel so when making the bury it reduces the surface area when going inside the amsteel; pull through & it should be ok with out too much work.

I found if I tried & reworked the bury it made a mess of the threads & it was a mission to pull the end through the middle. What worked for me was to start again as the unworked threads ( try bunching up the amsteel lower down & you will see what I mean) were so much easier to thread the kabab stick, wire & thread down.

Good on you for persevering & you feel awesome when it clicks all together (& it will) & you've made something yourself, it works & is a lot cheaper. Scott

**Chug** · 10-10-2012, 17:40

What ever you do.. when you string up the hammock..as you do the other side..
Grabbing the Whoopie with your teeth.. Thinking you got the tail.. Only to find out you just buried your Loop inside.. talk about a confused look in the dark .. WHAT happened?? to my Loop. shesh..

I tried to milk it back out.. nadda.. drats.. Okay worst case, Can tie knot on beaner for the night. hmm idea Grabbed ball point pen.. placed it under one thread.. slowly working it up.. while kneading the other end.. Success.. Whew.. Lesson learned Do not bury the loop while your in the field. With Ground dwellers & Tow-House folks watching this Chaos Goof ball in a hammock.

got's to love the whoopies...Plus, the Park Rangers. did even bat a eye.. Or maybe did not see it?.