Video : A Brief Primer on Hammock Suspension, Part III : Constriction

a.k.a. "Whoopie Slings for Hammocking : The Movie". Intended for the mildly curious in what this Whoopie Sling and UCR business is all about.

Little did I know when I did the earlier "Brief Primer on Hammock Suspension" videos that a new way of using cord suspensions was about to show up on the HF scene.

When ZA206 popped in and talked about his Utility Constrictor Rope, it set off a wave of posts, asking questions, making observations, making the connection with Whoopie Slings, posts on splicing, and fids, and .... the kind of stuff that keeps me hanging 'round Hammock Forums.

It was only a matter of time until someone opined that it would be helpful if someone put up a video on these suspensions based on rope constriction. I figured I would once I had enough experience with them to be able to contribute something by way of explanation, if not actual technology.

So the video is made, I confess it is a bit more rushed and less polished than I like, but discretionary time is vanishing and if I didn't do it this last couple of days it wouldn't get done until late September.

So, the next in the "Primer" series : Part III : Constrictors



Grizz

Rushed?! That was nicely done, Grizz - focused, succinct and effective. Feynman couldn't have done it better. Thanks for making time to do this! :thumbup1:

This is great! Love the intro, LOL. Thanks, Grizz.

Great job Grizz. I love the Monty Python nod at the beginning.

Great video, Grizz! I've learned a lot from all of your tutorials. Keep it up.

Why don't these ever work for me???!!

What, a whoopie sling?

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Originally Posted by climberslacker

Why don't these ever work for me???!!

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you must be talking about the video. I cant imagine the whoopie sling not working. I used to have issues with Firefox browser not viewing some video type things but that has been a few versions ago. I am sure it is just a matter of installing missing plugins or something. Can you view ANY youtube videos?

Anyway, another Awesome video Grizz! Very informative. I also liked the intro...LOL. So I am sure you have said it in the other thread but which one suspension DO you actually use now, the UCR or the Whoopie sling?

SC

Great video, Grizz!

I'm curious: for those folks who have tried out the whoopee slings, how's the ease of use factor compared to the strap & ring suspension? I get the lighter weight, but since I'm not an ultra-light camper/hiker weight's not an issue for me.

I just can't imagine that the whoopee sling + tree hugger + toggle combination is easier to use than a single strap + carabiner. (Maybe it's because I know my organizational abilities, and I think I'd have sling, straps, and toggles permanently tangled up.)

Can people chime in with their thoughts on when a whoopee sling suspension is best or "most appropriate"?

Thanks!
-Greg
St. Paul, MN

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Originally Posted by stormcrow

....
So I am sure you have said it in the other thread but which one suspension DO you actually use now, the UCR or the Whoopie sling?

SC

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the whoopie sling is way more fool proof and I like that. I've made UCR's from both 1/8" Amsteel blue and Vectrus. The Amsteel ones I've made slip majorly, but the Vectrus ones grab quite nicely. I like the rope efficiency of the UCR, particularly on long stretches of cord (like I typically plan for).

My 1.7 oz blackbird has a UCR at one end and a whoopie sling at the other, both vectrus. I think I'll leave it that way for a while to continue to get some experience with both. My DIY bridge has vectrus whoopie slings because I was in a rush to turn the existing single line into a constriction suspension and the whoopie was fastest---just pop the working end of the cord through a constrictor stretch. Another hammock has Amsteel whoopie slings.

For someone just getting into this I'd suggest the whoopie sling first. Develop some confidence and experience, and then experiment a little with a UCR.

Grizz

Thanks, your videos alone are worth the cost of becoming a donating member.

OK! Now I get it! I didn't have enough focus to stay with the Whoopie Sling and constrictor threads since I'm more of a visual learner. Now I can get in the game. Finally! Thanks to Grizz and everyone who worked to make WS and constrictors work for hammocks.

Great as always, Grizz!
Only wish that you have made them before i did my UCR's :D

So much easier, when you can see what you are suppused to do!
But then again, i probebly needed the brain exersice.

Thanks!

I can't add on to what has already been said, but the video was so helpful I wanted to chime in with one more thumb up. Great job! I too enjoyed the ode to Monty beginning. Thanks for taking the time.

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Originally Posted by ghandrick

I'm curious: for those folks who have tried out the whoopee slings, how's the ease of use factor compared to the strap & ring suspension? I get the lighter weight, but since I'm not an ultra-light camper/hiker weight's not an issue for me. ...

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The one advantage I see of the ring and strap suspension, if weight is not an issue, is that you can adjust position even with the strap under tension. Not so easy with a constriction based suspension -- or even with a tautline hitch, for that matter.

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Originally Posted by ghandrick

Great video, Grizz!

I'm curious: for those folks who have tried out the whoopee slings, how's the ease of use factor compared to the strap & ring suspension? I get the lighter weight, but since I'm not an ultra-light camper/hiker weight's not an issue for me.

I just can't imagine that the whoopee sling + tree hugger + toggle combination is easier to use than a single strap + carabiner. (Maybe it's because I know my organizational abilities, and I think I'd have sling, straps, and toggles permanently tangled up.)

Can people chime in with their thoughts on when a whoopee sling suspension is best or "most appropriate"?

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Just for the record, i use UCR and not the woopee sling!

And i think gram weenies love the woopee sling/treehugger system.
But i really think the Strap/Cinch buckle system is by far the easiest and fastest.

I actually think im about to switch back to Strap/Cinch buckle system
and take the weight penalty (100 gr).

Just my 2 Cents.

Sounds like a good reason to me, Moski! :)

FWIW, I tend to look for the absolute minimum that will work (e.g., lines and knots) and use that as a starting point. I'll then depart from that for specific reasons that I can keep track of. My reasons may be silly, but at least I can keep track of why I do what I do. That exercise is part of the fun to me. Something that matters to me one day may not matter so much later on.

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Originally Posted by Frawg

Sounds like a good reason to me, Moski! :)
My reasons may be silly, but at least I can keep track of why I do what I do.

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I don't think it's silly, if you haven't tried them all,
how would you know what suits you best?

I think i will use my gained UCR knowledge somewhere,
maybe not in the suspension.

So i don't regret making them one bit.
And i love to learn new things.

To say I was suffering from information overload would be the grossest of understatements.

That is, until I found this series of vids. Finally, out of the wilderness! Thank you so much!

Might I suggest these be cross posted on the Support Systems board, as well? A sticky with a link would be fine, too. Thanks again.

Now I can easily use the whoopie slings that Stormcrow and Thorwren made and gave me after that wonderful visual demo!!!!
A nap in the hammock is on the agenda today...... z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-
Tremendous info Grizz.
Mucho Obligato,
Shug

Thanks Grizz...this is exactly what I needed to make sense of everything whoopie.

Excellent video, Grizz, I wasn't aware that the UCR constrictor was loose at the unloaded end, although it makes sense, while I was watching the vid of you using your shoes as a weight, a thought came to me that; wouldn't a small loop of bungee set as a prussic on the main line, attached to the tail and tensioned, load the constrictor more uniformly and give better grip ?

It would be a small weight penalty, surely less than the additional rope a whoopie would add ?

Cheers

Stephen

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Originally Posted by Gailainne

Excellent video, Grizz, I wasn't aware that the UCR constrictor was loose at the unloaded end, although it makes sense, while I was watching the vid of you using your shoes as a weight, a thought came to me that; wouldn't a small loop of bungee set as a prussic on the main line, attached to the tail and tensioned, load the constrictor more uniformly and give better grip ?

It would be a small weight penalty, surely less than the additional rope a whoopie would add ?

Cheers

Stephen

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funny, I'd been thinking something similar this morning, to use really lightweight cord prusiked on with a clip or something. Pull the prusik to tigthen. bungy cord or shock cord is better though because it doesn't threaten to "short circuit" the suspension line that way.

I'm just gonna have to try it this weekend when I'm out on the trail!

thanks for the idea

Grizz

Grizz,

Kudos on the video! Thanks for sharing your insights and the clean presentations of "how-to" and "in-use" visuals. Truly a nice addition to our collective knowledge.

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Originally Posted by GrizzlyAdams

funny, I'd been thinking something similar this morning, to use really lightweight cord prusiked on with a clip or something. Pull the prusik to tigthen. bungy cord or shock cord is better though because it doesn't threaten to "short circuit" the suspension line that way.

I'm just gonna have to try it this weekend when I'm out on the trail!

thanks for the idea

Grizz

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Nice idea! I've got some of those Scunci ponytail elastic thingies, mentioned in a tarp thread, that might serve the purpose. Need to see how well they grip the AmSteel.

Update: Just did a quick indoor test and it looks really promising:
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...877a_thumb.jpg

This is the loose end of the constrictor (grey). The blue stuff is the static section.

The Scunci held surprisingly well on the AmSteel, and the loose end of the constrictor felt quite secure.

Wow. I'd like to echo my thanks to Grizz for a clear treatment on a topic that I hadn't quite had a chance to wrap my brain around. Add this to my list of future projects!

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Originally Posted by Frawg

Nice idea! I've got some of those Scunci ponytail elastic thingies, mentioned in a tarp thread, that might serve the purpose. Need to see how well they grip the AmSteel.

Update: Just did a quick indoor test and it looks really promising:
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...877a_thumb.jpg

This is the loose end of the constrictor (grey). The blue stuff is the static section.

The Scunci held surprisingly well on the AmSteel, and the loose end of the constrictor felt quite secure.

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what an awesome idea. great work!

hey all,

I appreciate the compliments on the video!

But even more I appreciate that some of you can now make sense of UCR and whoopie slings. Enabling folks to see how intuitive and easy these techniques are is exactly why I did it.

that and to have an excuse to not mow the lawn...<grin>

Grizz

Fantastic!! So who is going to be the first to make whoopie slings out of braided masons line for ridge lines and guy outs???

Go back and read the whoopie suspension thread. That has already been done.

Thanks for helping it all make sense, Grizz. Lightbulb on now :D

The sharing of info is so great on this forum! It's like.....

Hammock Magic!:)

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Originally Posted by angrysparrow

Go back and read the whoopie suspension thread. That has already been done.

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...and wasn't worth the effort, IME. Friction hitches work well enough.
:mellow:

Thanks for another great video! I cracked up, and almost spit a malty beverage on my computer, when I saw the Python intro.

Grizz, I just watched the new video and I have to say thank you! Eventhough I've read over the tutorial in theWhoopie Sling suspension thread a couple times, I have to admit it continued to perplex me quite a bit. Your video puts explains it all and puts it in perspective. Many thanks to you for doing this! :thumbup:

SloBro, thanks for getting us started and getting my interest, it's much appreciated.

Another great video! My favorite suspension system .........till the next great idea:D

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Originally Posted by hangnout

Another great video! My favorite suspension system .........till the next great idea:D

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yep I must say that I too am hooked on the whoopie sling and just splicing in general. I made 4 slings last night and I think I spliced 8 loops in the various lines I ran in two hammocks! Somebody stop me!

SC

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GrizzlyAdams

My 1.7 oz blackbird has a UCR at one end and a whoopie sling at the other, both vectrus. I think I'll leave it that way for a while to continue to get some experience with both.

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Grizz, Another GREAT video. I like your idea of using both systems on one hammock to compare to each other.

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Originally Posted by ghandrick

I'm curious: for those folks who have tried out the whoopee slings, how's the ease of use factor compared to the strap & ring suspension?

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I'm using a UCR, and agree with others that the straps & rings are easier. I prefer UCR because it is more lightweight and I can separate the suspension from the hammock easier.

Once again, nice video Grizz. This would have answered all the questions I had a few days ago if I had found it then... :)

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Originally Posted by Merganser

Once again, nice video Grizz. This would have answered all the questions I had a few days ago if I had found it then... :)

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Thanks Merganser. But you know, the mistakes you make yourself are the ones you really learn from.

this at least is the rationale that has gotten me through the antics of 3 children who've passed (in one case, passing still) through the teens, with a 4th on deck. So long as they don't do serious damage to themselves or anyone else while they're learning those lessons.

Grizz

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Originally Posted by Gailainne

...I wasn't aware that the UCR constrictor was loose at the unloaded end, although it makes sense, while I was watching the vid of you using your shoes as a weight, a thought came to me that; wouldn't a small loop of bungee set as a prussic on the main line, attached to the tail and tensioned, load the constrictor more uniformly and give better grip ?...

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Frawg

Nice idea! I've got some of those Scunci ponytail elastic thingies, mentioned in a tarp thread, that might serve the purpose. Need to see how well they grip the AmSteel.

Update: Just did a quick indoor test and it looks really promising:
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...877a_thumb.jpg

This is the loose end of the constrictor (grey). The blue stuff is the static section.

The Scunci held surprisingly well on the AmSteel, and the loose end of the constrictor felt quite secure.

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I converted another hammock to UCR's tonight, using new vectrus. To my surprise, the UCR just Would Not Hold, too slippery when new perhaps. I put in the stopper slippery half-hitch at the top of the UCR, no difference.

Well dang.

I remembered the discussion above though, and got up some thin shock cord. Prussiked onto the suspension line, tied to the loops I (thankfully!) put in at the bottoms of the UCR, and presto, the UCRs hold. Now there's just not that much tension on those bits of shock cord, but it does the job. Ain't slipping now.

Grizz

Griz, on a 1:10 scale your videos are a 20! Superb doesn't approach the adjective needed to describe your work.
Sho-me and I just watched. She's been exposed so far to webbing/carabiner suspension and line/triangle/loosed buntline hitch ((or garda/rings).
She asks and I ask to confirm the advantages/disadvantages of UCR and Whoopie....
I tell her that UCR and Whoopie have no knots to weeken (or compress and weaken with garda/rings).....that the UCR and Whoopie are quick to adjust....these being the positives.
The negative is that you carry twice the length of cord needed which equals more weight....can you say double the weight of cord?
My position as stated in another thread in the past is that for me weight is the critical issue when backpacking; I can withstand another 5 minutes dialing in the hang...for paddle camping the weight becomes moot.
Thanks again for another incredible lesson/presentation.
One more request....please show the link to your video your hike in the Lake District. I rave about it and Sho-me wants to see it!

didnt someone do a weight comparison to rings and buckles and whoopie slings and the UCR? I thought I remember it being pretty small...even for me and I am tend to be a gram weenie. I mean, that amsteel 7/64 is so light...

Adam

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Originally Posted by MedicineMan

One more request....please show the link to your video your hike in the Lake District. I rave about it and Sho-me wants to see it!

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You mean this one?

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Originally Posted by stormcrow

didnt someone do a weight comparison to rings and buckles and whoopie slings and the UCR? I thought I remember it being pretty small...even for me and I am tend to be a gram weenie. I mean, that amsteel 7/64 is so light...

Adam

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I believe TeeDee and/or TiredFeet did a pretty comprehensive report in one of the myriad threads this discussion has hopscotched thru. :laugh:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MedicineMan

...
Sho-me and I just watched. She's been exposed so far to webbing/carabiner suspension and line/triangle/loosed buntline hitch ((or garda/rings).
She asks and I ask to confirm the advantages/disadvantages of UCR and Whoopie....
I tell her that UCR and Whoopie have no knots to weeken (or compress and weaken with garda/rings).....that the UCR and Whoopie are quick to adjust....these being the positives.
The negative is that you carry twice the length of cord needed which equals more weight....can you say double the weight of cord?

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Yes, you've got the + points right. The weight and bulk differences among the minimalist techniques are small (whoopie sling, UCR, slippery buntline on tri-ring, marlin spike hitch on rope to form loop).

My own thumbnail sketch :
length of cord that comes with a blackbird, 8' (if I remember correctly...). Of that let's say that 7' can be used to separate hammock from tree, that you need 1 ft to tie it off. For a whoopie sling that gives you 7' of extension you need 2x7 = 14', which is 6' more than the original 8' cord. Now my vectrus weighs 0.2 oz / yd, so the whoopie sling solution has 0.4 oz more cord (on one end) but no ring, for a net gain (on one end) of 0.2 oz.

Now the cordage for a UCR constrictor is about 2' if you put eye splices at both ends, which comes out to be 0.133 oz, round that up to 0.2 oz to account for the shock cord you want pulling on the bottom of the UCR and it's a wash weight-wise with the cord+tri-ring solution. Another comparative + for the UCR over the whoopie sling is that the eye splice over the toggle doesn't move---doesn't have it. With the whoopie sling I've sometimes needed to loosen the cord up around the toggle as it as settled in among foldings of the webbing. It's not a big deal, just a detail, but a detail that is not needed with the UCR. Also, the whoopie sling sometimes falls off the toggle when I'm setting the hammock up. Just another detail, one that the UCR doesn't share.

Conclusion of thumbnail sketch : compared with a 8' cord + 0.2oz tri-ring,

• whoopie sling weighs 0.4 oz more overall, essentially doubles the bulk of the suspension cord
• UCR weighs essentially the same, increases cord bulk by 25%
• marlin spike hitch on rope with 0.2oz toggle weighs the same, same bulk

Bulk increases need to be considered against the additional bulk of the webbing straps, i.e., the whoopie sling doesn't double the overall bulk of the suspension, more like 50%. In any case compared with the bulk of the hammock itself the extra cord in the whoopie sling and UCR is inconsequential.

The way I'm leaning at the moment...and why....before the constriction business I sometimes carried 12' of cord each end, at least if I didn't know what the hanging conditions were going to be. I like options for broader trees, far apart. A number of times I've been able to use that cord to place hangs I could not otherwise do. To get that kind of extension with a whoopie sling adds quite a lot of cord. I'm hoping that UCRs prove to be reliable enough, and with that solution I carry a pair of toggles along so I can switch to the marlinspike on rope approach any time. Viewed this way the added weight and bulk is just that of the UCR constrictor ropes: 4', just a quarter ounce.

Bottom line for me : constriction is a pretty cool idea and I'm having fun with it. For my desired suspension lengths the whoopie sling takes way more cord than I want to allocate to it. So I'm playing with UCRs, don't really like how finicky they've been but confidence may come with more experience. I'll always be prepared to switch immediately over to the marlinspike on rope technique because that's rock solid, and the weight and bulk cost of being prepared to do that is (a) small, and (b) well worth it to me to have the "insurance".

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One more request....please show the link to your video your hike in the Lake District. I rave about it and Sho-me wants to see it!

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Well let's not disappoint! They are in the video section of HF, and also you can always get to all my videos through www.youtube.com/ProfessorHammock

Grizz

Thanks Grizz for that comparison. I have not even tried the UCR yet but I am thihnking of giving it a go just to say I did. I am considered by some to be a gram weenie but even I am ok with an extra .4 oz...Although I think my woopie sling is shorter. I figure if I have a situation that I need to get to longer trees then I will just disassemble my sling and use the extra cordage.

~Stormcrow

Hooch thanks for the link!
Griz-thanks for the nutshell...should be a sticky for noobs deciding which was to suspend!
and thanks to everyone for just the best hammock site.

Hey thanks Grizzly I feel better about what I was doing.
I was just thinking What if you used the Amsteel for the tarp line and put UCR's on it to hang the hammock after the tarp went up. Amsteel's sag is minimal so the tarp and hammock sag should stay relative although the slight lowering when you get in the hammock will cause the tarp sides to go a little slack when the ground comes up ... somebody's bound to have tried it. it's raining here....

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Originally Posted by Mikensalem

...
I was just thinking What if you used the Amsteel for the tarp line and put UCR's on it to hang the hammock after the tarp went up. Amsteel's sag is minimal so the tarp and hammock sag should stay relative although the slight lowering when you get in the hammock will cause the tarp sides to go a little slack when the ground comes up ... somebody's bound to have tried it. it's raining here....

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Hanging the hammock from a single line that goes from tree to tree is called a Single Line Suspension (SLS) of which there are about as many variants as there are people that hang that way.

I don't recall anyone trying using UCRs as the attachment points for the hammock ends, but don't see why that shouldn't work. The shifts the emphasis of use from adjusting the length of the suspension (now set to some fixed length) to adjusting the position of the attachment points, i.e., setting the sag. Usually once someone has figured out what sag they like then he leaves that part alone. I can imagine someone making an SLS with the hammock connection points being a loop whose (single) end is buried in the SLS like the end of an eye-spice is buried...but there the sag is set w/o easy adjustment.

As for connecting the tarp to this line, I think you'll find there is more drop when you climb in than you imagine, at least more drop than I read into your description <grin>, and that this approach is what the HH line of tarps use. Can be made to work it seems.

Grizz

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Originally Posted by GrizzlyAdams

I don't recall anyone trying using UCRs as the attachment points for the hammock ends, but don't see why that shouldn't work. ...

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I did it with a hammock stand, as noted here; works fine. :cool: