Hanging a hammock using a tautline hitch?

[scryan]

My hammock has biners so I tie a rope onto my webing with a sheet bend then around the biner with taught line hitch. Works great.

What you describe is pretty much exactly how I would do it. Double wrap the tree with your webbing and tie a square knot and your good.

[Captn]

I've switched from whoopies on my HLBA to a simpler system, IMO. I've got three foot pieces of amsteel larks headed to the hammock with fixed loops in both ends of the amsteel. I carry 8 ft, 1 inch straps with a loop one one end and a soft shackle through the loop. I wrap the strap around the tree using the soft shackle (a Dutch clip would work better) on one end then attach the hammock. Instead of the marlin spike hitch, I pass the strap through the fixed loop, then pull back on the loose end of the strap, tensioning the suspension similarly to a truckers hitch pull. I then tie a slippery half hitch with the strap where it passes through the amsteel fixed loop, but place a toggle in the loop before pulling the knot tight. I find that the toggle keeps the knot more releasable after hanging. To release, pull the toggle then tug on the bitter end of the strap.

It's much easier to get the hammock tensioned properly than using a marlin spike hitch without whoopies and minimizes fiddle factor with a little practice.

I have two more three foot pieces of amsteel with fixed loops in either end I carry (0.4 ounces) to extend the straps if very large trees are involved, and they come in handy for a lot of other uses if the hang doesnt require them.

Other knots may be preferable?