Whoopie Sling Suspension

**L.D. Cakes** · 07-09-2011, 09:50

Well, Maybe, depends on your knot. I feel safer with a Locked Brummel and it just looks neater with no worries.

**mwig50** · 07-09-2011, 15:24

Thanks ldcakes, I took your advice and made some locked brummels, thanks to opies video instructions, I think they have worked out nicely, though with 1/8 inch line and only having access to one end of the line, and never having done it before, it was a pain! lol

Thanks again!

**L.D. Cakes** · 07-09-2011, 19:52

Originally Posted by mwig50

Thanks ldcakes, I took your advice and made some locked brummels, thanks to opies video instructions, I think they have worked out nicely, though with 1/8 inch line and only having access to one end of the line, and never having done it before, it was a pain! lol

Thanks again!

My Pleasure! We're all here to help each other. Thanks to Running Feather he sent me those instructions the first time I made a pair and it made it all crystal clear.

**DemostiX** · 07-09-2011, 20:06

Originally Posted by mwig50

Yes, that is what I mean, I didn't use a locked brummel, I just doubled the rope ran it back through it self and tied the loose end on the working end, is that gonna drop me on my rear?

The locked brummel protects you from slack and no-load conditions under which the buried end can easily be removed and the eye dissolve.

If you don't wish to brummel, and you do HAVE a long enough bury, then you are surely OK if you take the trouble to stitch the whole section twice, 90 degrees out of phase, with long stitches passing through the constrictor and bury which anyone can manage. Thread? Polyester or dental floss. The purpose? To keep the bury in place so the constrictor has the chance to grab it.

The stitches will NOT be there to carry any load whatever. They are just positioners. So, yeah, I've just presented the full treatment. Will two stitches suffice? Probably. By why test it? You may be lending the gear to someone and that person won't know the eye-loop can dissolve.

**mwig50** · 07-09-2011, 22:03

Originally Posted by DemostiX

The locked brummel protects you from slack and no-load conditions under which the buried end can easily be removed and the eye dissolve.

If you don't wish to brummel, and you do HAVE a long enough bury, then you are surely OK if you take the trouble to stitch the whole section twice, 90 degrees out of phase, with long stitches passing through the constrictor and bury which anyone can manage. Thread? Polyester or dental floss. The purpose? To keep the bury in place so the constrictor has the chance to grab it.

The stitches will NOT be there to carry any load whatever. They are just positioners. So, yeah, I've just presented the full treatment. Will two stitches suffice? Probably. By why test it? You may be lending the gear to someone and that person won't know the eye-loop can dissolve.

Thank you sir! I went ahead and brummled, it seemed the easier thing to do with the resources I had on hand and I learned something to boot.

**Redfisher** · 08-19-2011, 15:12

Thanks so much for the excellent tutorial. My Hennessy conversion went super easy and I can't believe how well this works.
BTW...to any other noobs, don't make this harder than it needs to be. I tried all sorts of things for a needle and they all sucked, but once I went and bought a couple yarn needles the slings came together super quick. The metal yarn needles were awesome. $.99 for two.
Thanks again guys!!

**SilvrSurfr** · 08-29-2011, 22:17

My first few whoopie slings I used a locked brummel. However, after reading the forum and samsonrope.com literature, I decided that stitching the loop was less impact on the weight-bearing capacity of the whoopie and wasn't really hard to do, as others have mentioned. Making a locked brummel is pretty simple, but so are a few stitches.

**SilvrSurfr** · 08-29-2011, 22:42

I see all these nice splicing tools that people have come up with, but I've been doing fine just splicing 7/64" Amsteel Blue with coat hanger sections (sanded at the ends) and duct tape to attach fid/coat hanger to rope. It's a tight fit, and sometimes the tape comes off and I have to start the splice over. However, I can make a whoopie in less than five minutes now with this splicing kit.

A soft shackle still takes me a good 10-15 minutes, but I think that's because I enjoy making soft shackles a lot more. I still can't figure out how 30" of Amsteel Blue ends up as a 3.5" shackle. I love working the ends of the bury into the stopper knot to make it look neat, like a "factory-made" shackle.

I took six or seven soft shackles on a hang with my sons last week, and wish I had brought more. They have so many uses (just like the carabiners they replace).

Also, I've read a lot of comments that whoopie slings aren't good for tensioning a tarp. However, I think that's only partly true. I suspended a Tyvek 7x7' foot tarp with whoopie sling attached to one end of the tarp ridgeline, and an adjustable loop with prusik knot on the other. I was able to hang that tarp in no time. So an all whoopie sling tarp suspension might not work, but i think a whoopie on one side is perfectly acceptable. Let the prusik knot do the tensioning.

**SilvrSurfr** · 08-29-2011, 22:54

I also use the fiberglass ridgelines from kites as fids. They work great, though ends may need sanding.

**Sparrow** · 09-10-2011, 16:16

Thanks SlowBro for this easy to understand lesson.

Just whipped up my first whoopie sling in about 3 min using guitar string for a fid.

Gotta order more Amsteel!