Beg pardon if this has been discussed at length here already, but i didn't see it in a cursory search. I was just wondering about joining loops together, such as a continuous loop at the end of a hammock to a whoopie sling. I see a lot here about girth hitches and their usefulness, but as one who comes to hammock hanging from the world of fly fishing i thought i would offer an alternative for those who might not know about it.
Fly fisherman also often use loops when rigging our fly reels and lines, particularly saltwater anglers. The thin backing on a fly reel is quite often nowadays joined to the running end of the fly line with a loop to loop connection. Similarly, many leaders have loops at their butt end that attach to loops at the end of a fly line's front taper. A girth hitch in either of these locations is a big no-no because it is a cutting knot. If you hook a fast-running fish like a tuna or maybe a tarpon, one that is capable of getting you into your backing pronto, and you have a girth hitch between fly line and backing, the thin dacron (or gel spun poly) backing can quickly cut through either itself or the loop at the end of the line.
A better connection is sometimes called a "handshake knot," one that looks like a square knot. Forgive me, even after a lifetime of using it, i still don't know the actual name of the connection. It is much stronger and much safer, and it is a technique that applies to hammock suspension as well as fly fishing. Perhaps this picture will help more.
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The bottom picture is the girth hitch. The knot i'm talking about is on the top. Hope this is helpful.
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