how long whoopies do i need....or other recomendation on suspension???

**William36** · 04-07-2015, 16:07

newer to hammock idea....getting a grand trunk nano 7....not necessarily as a long term sleep system plan as i realize the smaller size has it's limitations...

Living in the NorthEast where trees generally aplenty....

I am a bit fanatic when it comes to weight carried...mostly out of the "challenge" or tinkering...not really about the "weight" per se....

I seem to be finding amsteel whoopies the lightest way to go.....please correct me if a better way...

How long should I purchase...6 or 12 foot seeming the 2 common sizes I see listed places....

Also, what "tree strap"?? of similar item, gotta have those, as I am insistent on NOT CUTTING INTO tree by going amsteel straight against, unless someone can CONVINCINGLY CONVINCE me that the trick i read about of putting sticks between amsteel and bark will ENSURE NO DAMAGE....

**pgibson** · 04-07-2015, 16:32

When you look at the math there is no real reason for longer than 6 foot long slings.

You want your suspension to hang at about a 30° down slope from the trees to the hammock. Now with that in mind, add in that you want you hammock to hang at about chair height.

So if you take the length of the hammock (nano 7 is pretty short) 9 foot, + 12 foot for the slings. Figure that in here: http://theultimatehang.com/hammock-hang-calculator/

With just those couple factors and to use all of the sling to maintain sit hight, and suspension angle and you are looking for trees that are 18 foot apart and your setting your suspension at 6.6 foot high. So go to longer slings...add 2 foot on each side for 8 foot slings to get use out of all of them your trees have to be 22 foot apart and you're attaching to them at 7.8 foot high....to get full use of those 12 foot slings your trees are going to need to be over 30 feet apart and you will need a ladder in your pack to get the straps set over 10 foot up the trees.

I have been making slings longer than any other shop, we only offer slings that are 6 foot finished because there is no legitimate reason to have slings any longer than that. If your only trees are 30 feet apart most people would not be able to get their suspension high enough on the trees to hang the hammock comfortably. And all that math is with one of the shortest hammocks on the market....most of us use hammocks 2-4 foot longer than the Nano7.

As far as straps go: YES use them, get good ones made from Polyester that will not end up stretching on you and will help to protect the trees from compressive damage to the cambium layer.

**William36** · 04-07-2015, 16:43

thank you so much for the reply....great to get advice from those experienced...makes perfect sense now that I think it out.... that could never get up tree high enough to hang anything longer....

would NEVER have thought of that until learning the hard way.....like after I bought like 25 footers "Just in Case", just to have to buy the correct length after finding out the hard way, having tripped over the 24 extra feet laying in my camp area, falling forward into the campfire, burning my hands and arms, also breaking my wrist, and loosing my job from extended time off rehabing

Seriously, thanks for the sound advice...always appreciate the timely responses and great info....

**Bubba** · 04-07-2015, 17:02

As pgibson said, 6 foot whoopies are all you need. Straps can be anywhere from 4 to 8 feet depending on the trees you will encounter. If you carry shorter straps you can also carry some amsteel dogbones to extend the straps in a pinch.

**SilvrSurfr** · 04-07-2015, 18:57

When I started out, I figured longer straps and longer whoopies were just smart. More is better, right? So I made 10 ft. whoopies and 8 ft. straps.

Just ludicrous is what they were. I've since changed to 6 ft. whoopies and 4 ft. straps. Most of the Northeast was clear cut a century ago and there's a pitiful amount of old-growth trees that would require longer straps. On the off-chance I hang from a large tree, I carry a few continuous loops to extend the tree straps.

**MAD777** · 04-07-2015, 19:04

Mine are about 5.5'. I start with 25' of line, cut it in half, then make my slings using 12.5' of line. This is pretty standard, I think. The line doesn't weigh much and bundles up pretty small, so better to have enough for that occasional long span where there's no other good choices.