Ready-made, Speer-compatible suspension + ridgeline?

**oldgringo** · 04-24-2012, 07:10

Another, and possibly the prime, knock on webbing/buckles is bulk. There's no way around it...it's high volume stuff, and like fleece, only the user can make the call as to whether it's pros outweigh the cons. Whoopies, by comparison, are miniscule.

**krshome** · 08-22-2012, 17:37

Originally Posted by gaidal

Why do you need to cut the stock webbing before you can use whoopies? I have too little idea how these things work.

This is what I use now (trying to attach picture). I copied somebody else's design long ago, then forgot how I was planning to use it.

I think I'll have to add those loops and go try to find out why I would want to change to something else, although I haven't tried whoopies or any other way yet.

The RL seems like something I'll save for later, if it needs DIY and all.

Little late but here you go

**gaidal** · 08-23-2012, 05:16

Aha. So I should have a loop only on one side of the webbing, and replace the hammock webbing with string, in order to use that.

I found the design for that buckle on a Swedish hammock site, and your filenames are in Swedish too, coincidence?

**stevebo** · 08-23-2012, 05:47

Really simple----------cut the webbing off the speer---------then larkspur the whoopie over the speer knot---------works great, super easy to adjust, and light weight!

**gaidal** · 08-23-2012, 06:09

If I hang the hammock directly in the whoopies, then how do I adjust the length?

**stevebo** · 08-23-2012, 07:06

A whoopie has two ends---one end is a fixed loop (locked brummel) and the other end is the adjustable loop. What you do is take the fixed loop and tie it around the speer knot as a larkspur (really easy, takes about 2 seconds) then the adjustable loop is attatched to your tree strap using a toggle and marlin spike hitch. There are other ways to go about it, but in my opinion this way is super simple and really easy to adjust! (if you have a copy of the book "the ultimate hang" he gives great illustrations how all this stuff works----its a great book---I highly recommend it!)

**gaidal** · 08-23-2012, 07:35

Oh, what you're describing is the method my wife uses for her BIAS weight weenie - very convenient indeed, I always think I should be doing that too!

It seems like I was confused about what a whoopie sling actually is, I don't own any and am not sure where to get them here...

But, I could probably just take ordinary strong cord and larkspur + make an adjustable loop at the hammock end, and at the other and use an adjustable loop either with the marlinspike hitch, or the above mentioned buckle I already have. It's pretty much the same thing.

Thanks for the explanation!

**oldgringo** · 08-23-2012, 07:42

Guys...larkspur is a flower, larks head is a knot.

**gaidal** · 08-23-2012, 08:13

I had never heard this before but if you google "larkspur knot", it looks like this name is used...

**FLRider** · 08-23-2012, 08:14

Originally Posted by BillyBob58

Well, webbing long enough to go from a hammock and around a tree is no doubt heavier than a shorter piece of webbing used with a rope, such as with whoopie slings or even a stock HH rope/hugger set up. But it is not all that heavy.

Just the other day I was once again considering cutting my webbing off of my JRB Bridge in order to replace with whoopie slings. But then I weighed a long piece of webbing from a Harbor Freight ratchet strap. My scales won't do fractions of oz, so this is not all that accurate, but about 13 ft was ~2 oz. One of my WS won't even show 1 oz. But whatever it is ( maybe 0.7 oz?), you still have to use enough webbing to go around a tree, so I don't know, it would save me maybe 1.5 oz per end, not counting biners and cinch buckle or JRB tri-glides? ( Don't have to use a biner with cinch buckle, but sure is nice )

So that is some weight, but it is really not huge until you are really down in the UL category. So the main reason I would be cutting off webbing is because if I wanted to use WS for whatever reasons, I sure wouldn't want to have my old suspension also on the hammock.

If you already have webbing, and you don't want to cut it off, and want zero DIY, there is this:
http://www.jacksrbetter.com/Tri-Glides.htm
http://www.jacksrbetter.com/Tri-glid...eb%20Small.jpg

All you do is slip your 1" webbing through the Triglides, and wrap webbing around tree and back through Triglides. Then adjust as needed. Not as slick as a cinch buckle/biner combo, but probably a bit lighter and works pretty good. I am still using that set up on my JRB bridge after several years. And it is probably the simplest change you can make.

The weight isn't much, but as oldgringo pointed out, the bulk is much greater with straps. I get around this by using them as part of my cinch system for my pack, but up until recently when I had the brainstorm for that, they were a pain to pack.

I used the JRB Tri-Glides for over a year, right up 'till last month. They work well and are easy to set up under normal conditions. One caveat, though: I wouldn't want to try and set them up wearing gloves. Threading the Tri-Glide would be a pain if I couldn't feel what I was doing easily.

Other than that, I can't say enough good things about the system: it's robust, lightweight compared to a cinch buckle system, and intuitively simple to use.