Since I have converted my SLS to Whoopie Sling ends following caboyer's lead in this post on another thread , I thought: "why not do the same with my tarp guy lines??"

Looked around and couldn't find anything small enough to splice the 1.75 mm Lash-It I use for guy lines, so I stopped at JoAnne Fabrics today and looked over their selection of needles. Picked up a pack of Doll Needles by Dritz (#157). The largest needle is just right. The hole is big enough to get the guy line through and the needle fits nicely down the center of the 1.75 mm Lash-It.

When I got home, I immediately used the bench top grinder and knocked the sharp point off the end and used a diamond stone to polish it.

Took out a scrap of 1.75 mm Lash-It and tried to bury a length to form the adjustable eye of the Whoopie Sling.

First lesson learned: Getting the doubled over guy line into the center of the guy line along with the needle is impossible. So approximately 1" from the end, I pulled 3 of the strands out and cut them off. This thinned the guy line down enough that the doubled over end and needle pushed into the guy line easily. So, taper the end if doing this. With the tapered end, it is easily doable. Note: the Lash-It is a 12 strand single braid.

So here is an image of the completed Whoopie Sling using the 1.75 mm Lash-It along with the needle I used. Actually this is the test line and has adjustable eyes on both ends. Note that I buried the ends which makes a much nicer end than simply tying an overhand knot.



I'm currently experimenting to learn the best length to bury so that I don't have to bury too much. In the test scrap above I wasn't really interested in the length buried, only in whether it is doable to splice the guy line and how hard or easy it is. Very easy

Using the Whoppie Sling as a tarp guy line makes adjusting the guy line trivially easy - no knots, no Figure 9s, nothing extra to get lost, nothing except the guy line itself - well probably some shock cord .

The only disadvantage I know about is the amount of guy line cord needed. Since the Whoopie Sling is essentially doubled, you will need double the length of guy line cord so that will double the weight of the tarp guy lines. I've never really weighed my tarp guy lines since the weight is so small anyway. The 1.75 mm Lash-It only weighs 0.019 oz/foot and the 2.2 mm Lash-It only weights 0.026 oz/foot, so another 100' of 1.75 mm Lash-it is only 1.9 oz and only 2.6 oz for the 2.2 mm. Other guy line cords probably weigh about the same. The small weight increase is more than offset by the Figure 9s if you use them. If you use friction knots, this is even easier to use, especially with mittens of gloves in the winter - you can use the Whoopie Sling with your mittens/gloves on.

If you arrange the Whoopie sling properly with the buried section near the tarp tie out, adjusting the guy line from under the tarp will be trivially easy.

The needle is small and light enough that I am making it a standard part of my gear along with the extra guy line cord I carry. That way I can splice any extra line lengths I need in the field. Using the needle and a sharp knife, I can splice together a Whoopie Sling in less than 10 minutes, probably about 5 minutes - not counting the time to dig stuff out of the pack .

I assume that any braided guy line cord could probably be used. I know that the Zing-It could be used since it is the same stuff as the Lash-It, just a different color.

If anybody cares to try this with braided mason line, please report back if it works.

If anybody tries any other braided guy line cord, please report back also so others may learn.

I hope that others find this useful.