Tricked Out Guy Lines

Very nice. I too use whoopies for my hammock, and zing-it for a lot of my tarp guylines (brummeled) and hammock ridgeline (whoopied). I was so pumped to learn how to splice hollow braided line, but after learning on amsteel it took some practice to get the same loops and buries in to teeny tiny zing-it.

Like you said, a whoopie on your guyline may not be practical, but how about for a panel tie out? You generally need a lot less adjustment range, just enough to tighten everything up after you get it staked out.

Yes James, I'm sure there are a few other nuts like us that are doing this.

And on the subject of panel guy lines, I wanted to keep my post relatively simple, but in fact I also do use whoppies for my panel guys:-)

Oh, and by the way, the best trick I found for splicing Zing-it or any other tiny line is to use a guitar string 15 to 20 gauge solid, not wound. It's just the right size and stiffness.

Sounds like a great winter evening project. Old moves and macrame go together well.

I would just bowline them to the pullout and have the whoopie on the other end, but a closed loop is classy and shows off your "marlinspike skills." Using the closed loop in a lark's head would make it removable— a good thing for poncho tarps; otherwise, I just leave them on and bundle them up.

Dynaglide is another brand of line that works well for light whoopie slings. It is very popular for adjustable ridge lines.

@Dale,

Yes, I do use a larks head on the tarp tie-out to Whoopie connection.

The Marlin Spike hitch would sometimes be used to attach to a line looped around the tree if needed.

@James

I just got back from an over-nighter. Low of 19 degrees f, wind gusts 41 mpg and a little snow.

Solid hard explosive wind gusts all night long.

I used a mix of the fixed loop lines and the whoppie lines.

The whoopie lines held solid all night, many of the knotted lines slipped and were hard to readjust with cold fingers.
The whoppies were a pleasure to setup, adjust and take down. The knotted lines not so easy.

I am going make all my guy-lines whoopie. If I do need to pitch a side close to the ground I can always tie a knot in the whoopie line, even though I loose the adjustability.

> I can always tie a knot in the whoopie line,
Some of my guy ropes have been spliced like this too. Looks cute, and you can always tie a knot around a stick as well.

Can I suggest that some sort of quick-release hitch is always good for this. You need to make sure whatever knot you use can be untied easily: nothing like a jammed knot in 1 mm Spectra at 0 C! Otherwise – KISS – keep it simple and flexible. :-)

I have gone to Clam-Cleats for my winter tent: a few extra grams of weight, but I can adjust them under storm conditions in the dark. Very KISS.

Cheers

Thats good to hear, especially under "cyclic" conditions as opposed to the more static condition of hammock suspension.

I don't know what kind of tarp setup you have, but could you flip the whoopie around and splice it onto your tie out? That way you still get the same amount of adjustability, but when a shorter guyline is required you just pull the whoopie all the way tight and you're basically left with a plain line that you can knot or trucker's hitch or whatnot.

Roger, the only cam cleats I'm familiar with are on boats, what kind do you use for your winter tent?

Hi James

Same company, Line-Lok cleats for tents, CL266
http://www.clamcleat.com/cleats/cleat_details.asp?theid2=95
A bit iffy at 1 mm, but good at 1.5 mm.

Cheers