So I've been using the whoopie slings for awhile now after swapping out the previous Ring Buckle and Webbing suspension. The other day I was breaking out the hammock for alittle relaxing in the yard and after slipping my sling over the marlin spike and hopping in the hammock, i decided to hop out and go get a drink, upon sitting back down in my hammock, to my shock and horror my hammock collapsed to the ground leaving me confused and sore along with a spilled drink.
"What the heck happened?," I said to myself. I then looked up and saw that the whoopie slipped off the marlin spike somehow. No biggie, right? Well it kind-of is; if this was in a different scenario, (say the mountains), and I were to hang the hammock in a somewhat tricky spot, (which I sometimes do), then I could have been in alot of trouble.
Now I understand that the collapse of my hammock was purely human error and that it is up to "me" to ensure that my suspension is properly seated before seating myself. However, In my defense, I am human and I "will" make mistakes and "forget" things and sometimes hang my hammock in somewhat tricky spots. Therefore, to eliminate some of the dangers of being human and making mistakes, I think I will switch back to my Ring buckle and strap suspension.
To be honest this is not the whole reason for switching back; the whoopie slings are very cool and fun to make, as well as alittle lighter compared to straps, but they just aren't as functional and convenient as straps & buckles are for "me." When I used to use the straps, I was able to setup my hammock so much more quickly and it was much simpler as well. Honestly, I am not even really sure why I moved to whoopie slings to begin with; I was quite content with the straps in the first place. Maybe it was because of all the hype, the idea of trying out something new, or the lure of a simple DIY project, that led me to switch suspensions. Whatever the reason, I am back to my webbing and ring buckles. The slight increase in weight and size is acceptable for me.
I'm not really sure why I wrote all this and please forgive me if you feel that you have wasted your time reading this. I guess I am just curious to hear peoples thoughts on this subject and if anybody else has similar experiences with flip flopping suspension systems.
Anybody else ditch the whoopies and migrate back to their original suspension system?
I don't mean to discredit the whoopie sling's effectiveness in anyway in this tread. It is a great suspension system.
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