Solution to Minimum Whoopie Sling Hang Length

[DannyBoy2k]

Posted this in response to another thread, but thought it would be good to make it its own thread.

I keep seeing the minimum distance issue listed for whoopies, the minimum distance issue being that whoopies can only be made so small due to their required bury lengths. I saw a post about a year ago showing a simple way to solve this problem, but I can't find it now for the life of me. I'll try to describe it.

If you have a continuous loop on your hammock and use a Dutch biner (or normal carabiner) to connect it to the whoopie sling, you can double the whoopie over and loop it through the Dutch biner and go back up to the toggle. Example: Say the minimum distance of your whoopies is 5 ft and you need one that is 4 ft. Make the whoopie 8 ft long and double it over. Voila - 4 ft whoopie.

You can even triple the whoopie over if you need to for some reason. Maybe you need a 2 ft whoopie. Make it 6 ft and then triple it over (from toggle to Dutch biner, to toggle, back to biner). In this case, it would probably be better to use a biner in place of the toggle in the MSH.

~Dan

[XSrcing]

That's so simple it makes me wonder why I never thought about doing it.

[MAD777]

Here's an even easier and shorter method.
Simply attach your continuous loop on the hammock's end to a Marlin spike on the strap. Make the continuous loop just big enough to go over the spike and you should be able to hang within 6" of the tree. Let the whoopie just dangle free; it's not even used in this configuration.

[skyclad]

could we get a photo?

sky

[DannyBoy2k]

Here's an even easier and shorter method.
Simply attach your continuous loop on the hammock's end to a Marlin spike on the strap. Make the continuous loop just big enough to go over the spike and you should be able to hang within 6" of the tree. Let the whoopie just dangle free; it's not even used in this configuration.

I agree that will work well for some range of distances from the tree, but I think there is probably a range the doubled over whoopie will cover that the continuous loop directly to tree strap can't do without making the hammock too tight. For distance from hammock to tree, from short to long, I think its:

- continuous loop directly to tree trap/MSH
- doubled over whoopie sling
- normal whoopie sling

Of course, with the right continuous loop/whoopie sling/tree strap combinations, it's probably easy enough to make sure your tree straps and continuous loop distances pick up right where the whoopie hits its minimum length, so this double/tripling trick may never be needed.

~Dan

[DannyBoy2k]

could we get a photo?

sky

Wish I had one. I've been trying to find the original thread, but no luck so far. I thought it would be easy to search out, but, alas, that is not the case. I'm hoping Dejoha will come along and make a pretty image of what I'm describing.

~Dan

[tight-wad]

Timely topic for me. Been there, done that. The doubled whoopie has one problem... you can't adjust it! I did connect one end of the hammock directly to the tree strap, but the other end was a problem. I made it work, but it wasn't graceful, and I definitely did not take any pictures!

What I'm using now has a weight penalty... 1) normal whoopie for normal times, plus 2) a very short whoopie that stays attached to the hammock and is only used when necessary. Like I say, there's a weight penalty, but, the tradeoff is fiddle factor and sleeping comfort.

[Resqsarge03]

Brilliant!

[chapinb]

I feel stupid for not figuring how to do this in the field...

[SweetLou]

I agree that will work well for some range of distances from the tree, but I think there is probably a range the doubled over whoopie will cover that the continuous loop directly to tree strap can't do without making the hammock too tight. For distance from hammock to tree, from short to long, I think its:

- continuous loop directly to tree trap/MSH
- doubled over whoopie sling
- normal whoopie sling

Of course, with the right continuous loop/whoopie sling/tree strap combinations, it's probably easy enough to make sure your tree straps and continuous loop distances pick up right where the whoopie hits its minimum length, so this double/tripling trick may never be needed.

~Dan

If your loop is 1/2 the minimum length of your whoopie, then you can cover all distances up to the maximum extension of the whoopies.

For example, say your minimum for a whoopie is 18". That means 3' is the minimum distance needed from the end of the hammock. If you have two 9" loops, than you can cover from 0 to 3' minimum. You can make multiple wraps of the loop to effectively shorten the loop to barely be able to make it over the MSH. This method will get you from the 0 to 18". Anything over that, just use one loop and one whoopie. This will get you from the 18" to maximum you can make your whoopie. Of course, once you hit the 3' mark, just use both whoopies.

The method you describe already is using a loop, so I don't see the advantage of adding a biner. Actually, it creates a little more minimum distance. The only time I can see an advantage is if the whoopies have a lot of line between the two buries. To get the maximum amount of adjustment, I always have the adjustable bury exit near the fixed bury. But if there is a couple of feet between the buries, then the continuous loop would need to be very large.