So my son and I have used hammock setups the last two years in Quetico and we have really enjoyed them. What I am getting at is lately I have been considering what I think to be an upgrade to a Blackbird setup with the supershelter from my ENO he currently has a Hennesy with bottom entry. While looking I have read a ton of various posts about whoopie slings and ridge lines and have to admit to being a bit confused about them. I just don't understand the basic workings behind them or why they are better than say the adjustable webbing suspension you can get with the Blackbird. If I understand correctly the ridge line is just to keep the hammock at a consistant setup I am just not sure how it achieves that. I have never done anything different to the hammocks and am amazed at all the mods people have come up with.

Whoopie slings suspension can be used on each end attached to a marlin spike on one end and the hammock on the other. They also can be attached to the structural ridgeline. They work like the toy Chinese handcuffs. They lock one way as you put your finger in and release as you push the other way.

The main reason people like them is the rope that they are made from is called Amsteel and it is 10 times as strong as another rope of the same size. That means they are light in weight. The second reason is they are fast to adjust, pull one way to tighten, pull the other way to loosen, simple to use, and they adjust between the loops like in a slapstrap style.

You are right about what the ridgeline does, it keeps the same hang every time. Mine is set at 100 inches long. They are used on a hammock that is a gathered end style.

The truth is the Blackbird comes rigged with all the stuff you'll need. There is no need to change it up to whoopies unless you are super concerned about the weight penalty of the 28 feet of webbing (or hate those darn flat cinch buckles as much as I do, but I digress).

If you get a Blackbird it should do you fine stock. The Hennessy and ENO, however, could really benefit in the ease and time of set up by getting a set of whoopies. Check out hammockforums.net for a good idea of what you are getting into, lots of videos to show you what the whoopie slings are all about.

after a few years with the hh expedition setup i will be using whoopies this may for the first time.
there are different ways to hang with them. i have chosen the biner nylon strap method. really looking forward to the simple hang time.

My sons and I have a few HH and I've played around with different types of setups, currently I'm using the rappelling rings on mine, but this weekend I decided to make my own Whoopie Slings. I was amazed at how easy they were to make and even easier to use.

If I had the WBBB I would stay with the adjustable strap it comes with but for the ENO or the HH or similar that doesn't have an easily adjustable setup already then I would switch to something like the Whoopie Slings. -Quick, Cheap and Easy!

I use the adjustable straps with my Blackbirds. They work just fine for me.

The Blackbird comes with a ridge line. I've never had to adjust it.

I've decided to take some amsteel with me on trail and at some point make whoopies for my wbbb. I'll just take off my webbing to use as "tree huggers" and attach the adjustable end of the whoopie to the triangular rings on the wbbb and the fixed loop around aluminum arrow shaft toggles looped in the webbing. I'll be doing this for four reasons:
1) I think it will be easier to carry webbing in a separate bag and put them around trees as first step.
2) it will eliminate the need for carabiners, as the webbing can just be slipped through the loop end of the webbing after being passed around the tree once or twice.
3) I can envision having to use a couple larger trees, and using the webbing as tree huggers only will give me more flexibility than using them also to hook to hammock.
4) I, too, dislike the (non)adjustability of the aluminum triangles.

As a note, I'll be putting the adjustable end of the whoopie on the hammock end because I can then adjust under the tarp in the rain and without having to reach up into tree branches every time I want to tweak my hang.

quote OBX2Kayak: "I use the adjustable straps with my Blackbirds. They work just fine for me.


The Blackbird comes with a ridge line. I've never had to adjust it."

Yup.

For those looking for a dead simple and quick setup, I just stumbled across this yesterday and will be switching to it. It's brilliant.

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=32421