Trouble hanging with whoopie slings and stretch

[dougalcorn]

I decided to create a new thread on this rather than hijack my other thread. In my OP on WB vs Dutch's Cinch buckles I said,

I'm using a whoopie sling and some stupid webbing on my DIY hammock. This weekend I fought quite a few times trying to get the hang right. The webbing would stretch badly. All in all, too much fiddle.

I was out backpacking this weekend and each time I setup it took me about 30 minutes.

Are you using nylon which is known to stretch or polyester webbing which does not ? Also some brands of polyester webbing while do not stretch, are very slick and required a slippery half hitch or some other type back up knot to keep the webbing from slipping thru the buckles when a load is placed on it.

I have found that a "hard" to the feel webbing like the type used on BlackBirds holds up much better the very "soft" to the feel webbing I have gotten from some other places. The softer webbing still works, just have to replace it more frequently as it tends to wear and tear much easier.

I got the whoopie slings and straps off a member here on HF. I don't know where they came from or what they are made of. The straps look like the same straps from WB. I sleep almost nightly in the DIY hammock in my room with the whoopie slings. I merely hook the whoopie slings into a carabiner and then to my anchor. I know there's zero stretch in the amsteel whoopie slings. But when I hung it up outside this weekend I had a terrible time.

My DIY hammock is 12' gathered end made of Dutch's 1.6 Argon. I don't have any hardware on the straps, I just wrap the strap around the tree and feed the end through the sewn eye. I'd then put a marlinspike hitch using a little wooden dowel about a couple feet from the tree. If I hung the hammock unloaded with a 30* angle, when I'd get in the hammock it'd sink all the way to the ground. So I'd move the straps up the tree as far as I could reach (I'm 6', so maybe 7 - 8') and tighten the whoopie slings so that the straps, slings, and SRL were all straight across and tight as a guitar string. Then I'd get in and it'd sink down to about a foot off the ground. When I'd get out of the hammock, I could see slack in the suspension. I don't know where it came from, but I'd tighten up the whoopie slings to remove the slack and then get back in the hammock to load it.

Keep in mind, these are the same whoopie slings I use indoors for nearly every night's sleeping with no issues. I think my strategy is to just ditch the whoopie slings all together and replace with cinch buckles. But I'd still like to know what I was doing wrong. Maybe the MSH was slipping down the straps in addition to a little stretch?

[nothermark]

I expect a bit of slack developing in any suspension the first time it is loaded so hang a bit tight to start. I do not expect what you describe. If the slack stayed the same after it was adjusted and loaded I do not think you are dealing with stretch. If you woke up lower than you went to sleep then I would be looking at stretch as part of the problem.

I wonder how often you adjust your whoopees at home. My guess would be not too often as you are set so no reason to change. You might try loosening and changing their length then adjusting them back. If they slip then you are dealing with slippage as the compressor sleeve tightens up. You will also get some stretch in amsteel as the braid is pulled tight and the slack in the fiber bundle is taken up. The fibers do not stretch but the bundle does a bit. I'd also look up the instructions for whoopee's. If the compression area is short that would increase the chance of slippage.

On the straps the knot should not slip but there will be some stretch from slack as it tightens up. Ditto the loop around the tree. It's hard to see if you are dealing with cumulative stretch of all the components or one target part. I would take a tape and measure a few places then load and check the measurements. YMMV.

[BrianWillan]

If your whoopie slings work properly for your hammock on your indoor setup, then your issue is that you tree straps must be a really stretchy nylon webbing.

The easiest thing to do would be to purchase from polyester webbing tree straps from one of the vendors on this site that sells them. That way you are assured of getting the proper tree straps that won't stretch.

Also just so you know, that hanging your hammock guitar string tight where the suspension angle is approaching 0° from horizontal, exponentially increased the force on the suspension. So a nylon webbing tree strap will have even more weight applied to it and stretch even more.

In retrospect, you should have maintained your 30 degree suspension angle and just moved your tree straps higher up the trees. That still would have close to the ground come morning.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Brian

[gmcttr]

I would be easy to mark the whoopie slings, MSH location, etc. and take a few before and after measurements to see it anything is slipping.

Also, as you tie the MSH, make sure you are turning the loop up and not down.

[Boston]

Buy tree straps you know are made of polyester. Sounds like the straps are stretching. They're pretty cheap from arrowhead equipment ($0.50/ft). I buy 7ft "Webbing Suspension Lines" as I don't see the need for 2 loops when using a msh suspension.


Also, how far apart are the tree's you're hanging from?

[Ratdog]

When I hang at less than 30, I get more "stretch" when the suspension settles.
Especially on a long hang.

Eventually I get what I want but only takes a few minutes. 30 minutes?? Nah, just need to hang more often in trees of varying distance.
Practice.

[SilvrSurfr]

Dump the straps - no use looking anywhere else for a solution.

[WV]

I put my MSH quite close to the tree and pull on it to set the knot, then use whoopie slings to adjust. In other words, trust the amsteel whoopies not to stretch, but not the straps. Everything stretches, but amsteel least.

[greenguitar9]

i just picked 2 20 foot towing straps from my local Academy for $10 a piece. They have nice hefty metal hooks on the end but im sure you could hack saw them off if you are going to back pack with them, the extra weight is nice to help swing them around larger trees for me.

[PDA]

Towing straps are almost always nylon which stretches. . You need Polyester (or polypropylene) straps which do not stretch.

One other factor- when you adjust your whoopie slings, you compress (bunch up) the outside sleeve. This MUST be "milked" back to tight or they will slip until they become tight.

I used Task Force tie downs from Lowes. 1" wide polyester, 1300 lb breaking strain. Whatever you get, look at the label and make sure they are polyester, and have a breaking strain greater than 1000 lb.