Okay, so here is a brief run down on my adventure with Whoopie slings.
This past weekend I went backpacking with my Boy Scouts. Before I left I made a gear hammock / bushman chair. I made the chair the same way that I have made hammocks in the past. Single layer Wally World 1.9 ripstop. Gathered and whipped end with suspension line larks headed below the whipping. A ring buckle setup goes on the end of the hammock suspension line. The final pieces are two 14 foot 1 inch straps and Nano biners for attachment to the trees.
So, after lurking on the forums for a while and being really interested in the concept of whoopie slings, I bought some cheap poly braided line at Wally World to mess around with. I made a set of slings with this cheap poly and found that they held even though the advertised load limit was 26 lbs.I bounced around and really stressed the heck out of the line. It was really amazing the way that the bury held. I used this setup most of the weekend and it never showed any signs of failure. (I only let the Scouts use the hammock with the straps in place. I am not going to hurt one of my boys!) I also played around with some carbon arrow pieces for toggles. Worked great but I lost one.
I really needed something that stood out more.
I had ordered some 7/64 black Amsteel from Redden and it arrived today.I whipped up a set of 7 foot slings and some 6 foot straps as well as some old tent pole toggles.
The adjustability is easier than the straps since I don't have to untie anything to adjust things. It's also interesting to see a person suspended by a 7/64 line.
Here is a picture of the toggles that I ended up with. I used an old fiberglass tent pole that I had. I cut a bunch in case I need them. I like the pattern and I think it will be easy to see if I drop it. I also have pinkmasons line running through the drilled hole to attach to the biners and also aide in visibility.
So, on to the weights;
The original 14 foot straps were gone and 6 foot straps took their place. This saved about 4.5 ounces.The Nano biners are the same and the toggles added a whole .35 ounces to the setup.
The original ring buckle system weighed a lot. I used steel cargo d-rings. They work well since they are almost triangular and present a straight side to the webbing. A slip knot even loosely tied will hold without slipping. I have lightweight descent rings (round) on my hammock but the round rings have problems that the triangular rings do not. Loose knots will slip.
Anyhow, the original char weighed 8.3 ounces with the rings being 4.3 ounces of this weight. The chair now weighs 6 ounces with two 7 foot slings attached. This is a savings of 2.3 ounces.
All in all I'm very happy with the setup. I have the adjustability to go from chair to gear hammock quickly and easily without having to untie anything and the system makes it easy to move the chair from one place to another quickly. This is weight I don't mind carrying, functional and dual use.
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Originally Posted by gargoyle
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