Mexican style hammocks

[Mahalo]

I inherited a mexican style hammock and wanted to know if anybody has any experience or recommendations using a whoopie sling connected to the looped ends of this style of hammock. Do you just larkshead onto the loop directly, or is there a better alternative, considering that the loop on these seems to be made of a softer rope material (cotton?).

I already have the whoopie setup, which is why I'm trying to simply adapt it to the mexican hammock for use at the park every once in awhile. My concern is that the larkshead using 7/64th amsteel on a cotton loop might cause abrasion of the cotton or concentrate the load on the loop too much.

This photo is an example of the loop I'm talking about.

[nothermark]

I think I would stick with a bigger rope. The loops look like they were intended to be put over hooks or tied in with a large diameter rope. Weight would not be much of an issue so I would go with something in the 3/8-1/2 in range to spread the load on the cotton. An alternative would be something like 1 in straps. As I think of it there are also nice oval biners that are reasonably large...use a couple of them to make the transition. Lots of options.

[Cannibal]

I'm not sure I would even consider the problem. In fact, I've never thought about it until reading this post.

Whether or not you're right, I don't know. I do know that every single one of our 'home' hammocks has loops at the end very similar to the one pictured. Camping hammocks and American style hammocks are the only ones I've ever seen that don't have loops like these. Regardless, I connect them to my anchor points using a heavy-duty biner (since I'm not carrying them any farther than across the yard). The biners are no more than 1/4" across where they make contact with the loops. My favorite Brazilian (with loops like those in the picture) has hung from biners like I described for easily 700 nights, probably a much higher number. There is nothing out of ordinary about the loops after all those nights.

As an added bonus, I ain't no skinny kid! On top of that, Genuine Draft (my lady) sleeps in the hammock with me on a fairly regular basis. So figure about half of the total nights that hammock has hung, there has been more than 300lbs in the hammock (I'm 240ish and Genuine Draft weighs more than 100lbs). And we don't always just sleep, so there are some significant forces at play.

In short, don't think I'd worry about it much, if at all. Maybe do some post-use inspections for a while, but I'd be surprised if you noticed any wear.

[Mountain Gout]

Don't always sleep?.........Oh........Backgammon?.........

[nothermark]

What I am looking at is 7/64 or 2 mm super line will cut between the wraps. Any biner I have seen is too big to do that. In addition if you look at those lines under a magnifier the threads look like flat shavings with edges rather than a big smooth metal bar. Maybe it won't be a problem but that is what I would be looking for.

[Cannibal]

I just meant to attach the WS to a biner, then attach the biner to the loops.

[nothermark]

And I just expanded why I agree with you. ;-))

[Mahalo]

Thanks for the responses, guys.

Nothermark, you hit the nail on the head regarding my concern about using a 7/64th material that might be somewhat abrasive, and what it would do in that cotton loop.

I think I'm going to go ahead with a nice large diameter rope to spread the load out. I think a metal carabiner will wear on the cotton loop over time, since the loop doesn't have any reinforcing metal ring like you sometimes see on these cotton hammocks.

I did an eye splice on the one end of the rope where I can use a biner to hook up to my tree straps so I'm not tying a knot there.