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Turn a Poncho into a Hammock - See our Cordage Options - Get set up tips

Description

A common alternative use of our PSS series ponchos is to convert them to Hammock use, this is done by using cordage inserted into sleeves in the Poncho. We have a number of cordage choices which are demonstrated in this video. 550 Cord, Dyneeama or Amsteel Blue, two different Whoopie Slings combined with a custom soft shackle made just for our gear.

Our ponchos all have four common uses, a poncho, a tarp, a hammock and a chair. One of the most popular uses is a hammock, so this video helps with deciding what to get as well as how to set up with each option.

Tags: Hammock,poncho,cordage,whoopie sling,soft shackle,MOLLE,Cordura,ATACS iX,camo,realtree Xtra,camping,outdoors,bushcraft,woodsman,survival,outdoor shelter

Video Transcription

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hey fairy peacock will rule it as innovation I'm up today going to show you some some of our cordage options that come that you can get with our Poncho's when you get them so I'm going to demonstrate a little bit to you show you show you the differences and you get a puncher from us it comes in a stuff bag this would be the standard one and it's just made out of basically the same material as your poncho is another option that you can get with the bags that shows up there is Molly mo l le that's a Molly attachment system and it's got webbing here that can be woven into a panel on a backpack or something like that the standard option right here that comes you don't select anything else is what you'll get parachute cord this is 550 parachute cord it's made in the US it's not a cheap import or anything like that that it does have a breaking point of between 550 and 600 25 pounds and you get two Hanks of all these I show you get two one for one for each in basically when you set up as a hammock the next option you get is Dyneema cord and you'll see that on there and this a Dyneema cord as i has an eye on one end and the other end is a plain end where you can tie it off to a tree so that's your Dyneema cord as a 2500 pound breaking strength our next option here is called a Whoopie sling and as you can see it's also made out of Dyneema cord and the Whoopie sling has two loops on it one is a stationary loop that you can put around a tree the other and that has this little wooden bead on it that's an adjustable loop and with this one you don't need to tie any knots and this our newest addition right here this the Whoopie sling - and this is actually has a has a slight adjustment on the fixed loop on one end and it has your fully adjustable loop on the other end which fully gives you more than seven feet of adjustment now with these Whoopie slings if you get a Whoopie sling kit you also get a soft shackle if you get the Whoopie sling kit okay so if I'm wearing this as a poncho this is how it goes on the snaps down the side of course snap up to close the poncho in we've got 12 tie out tabs around the outside of perimeter of the poncho to set it up as six or seven different kind of tarps there's a cordage sleeve which opens up which opens up like that right there that goes all the way through all the way cross comes out the other side front and back and that's what we put our cordage through to turn a poncho into a hammock the aluminum tube part right here is just to make it easy to put this thing in the in the middle there and I just start gathering the sleeve across that aluminum tube right here very simple as you can see keep going til I get out the other side here I pull the end of that out there I got to just get that knot out

okay now the knots out on the end here all I do is grab one side of this little loop here I just pull it open like that shove my tubing up through there and my knot once I get my knot to there I just pull on it and it self closes around there

now

of our parachute cord comes wounded a figure-eight a little tag on here that says pull that's because when you pull on that end of it it will pull it pull out of here without tangling so you have the two ends together then you just pull it back till you get to the center so the center you got a little loop then you just take a whatever you want I just take a pocketknife or something this Napa's have a little clip on it so I can just hook that loop on a clip pull it in now that gives me a little weight and I can just take and drop this knife into the sleeve and I just hold it up here like this just let gravity do the work things out the bottom all right so I just got clipped the knife and now I'm through now I'm through both sides of this so now I've got that big loop here I put the other two ends through that loop to pull this thing up tight and now you can see I've gathered the end together that's one end of my hammock now all this other court on here is used to tie off to a tree or a tree strap or whatever use them now if you're using the Dyneema cord with the one fixed end on it you do the same you don't have to fold this in half this is plenty strong just by itself all you do is hook that loop on your knife or whatever you're going to use and then basically you'll just drop that down through you just take that free end right there put it through the loop and you just gather it the same way that we just gathered the parachute cord now let me show you how we set up when you're using the regular Whoopie sling we'll see that there's a loop right here this is a fixed loop this is not adjust it's a permanent loop in the in the sling the cordage this is Dyneema cord by the way the other end has the little wood bead on there that's an adjustable loop so I can make it small by pulling on one end so now look I made the loop tiny like that or I can pull it out and I can make the loop big so that's I've got some adjustment when I use the Whoopie sling and I don't have to keep tying and untying knots or anything like that to adjust it okay so to use the Dyneema cord at the fixed end I'm going to put it around a tree trunk I bring it around so I've got the loop here then I pull the other end all that stuff through that and when I pull on it it cinches up on the tree and that will hold in place and so all I've got to do is attach the soft shackle to my Whoopie sling in so all I do there is I open up this loop right here pull that knot back out put the Whoopie sling over there shove everything back through here and when you look at this when I when I pull on it it tightens by itself I have to work at anything so now there we are this is a hollow braided Dyneema is hollow braided so we just shove a cord up we can shove it through the middle of it so where it comes out right here if I pull on that at the same time hold against this part I pull it through it's like a Chinese handcuff here when I very let go it stays there doesn't move now if we come down to the other end where this bead is right here if I want to let it back down I just hold against the outside the outside sheath part and I pull on the inside and I can let it weigh down so if I want to raise it up or tighten it I just pull it you just watch that thing see it's just going up enough

okay now this is the Whoopie sling - and the advantage to this one is it has an adjustable in adjustable length on both ends so this tag in here goes towards the tree so I can adjust it towards the tree and then this other tag in here when I pull on that that one goes back towards the hammock you see I can slide my whole assembly up towards the tree so now

I don't ever have to take this thing down up here at the tree or do anything to mess with it to adjust it all my adjustment can be taken up in the Whoopie sling without ever having to undo or take anything apart so now I can still take the hammock in debt so look how much adjustment I have in this thing I have to climb on the ladder to get up into this thing so look at that

and I still got more adjustment I can make I haven't even used it all yet and I still have I still have three about three more feet of adjustment I could take out of this thing so I went all the way from laying on the ground up to here without ever tying a knot without ever changing my setup on the tree or anything it's all this this has so much adjustment in it I can take it all out just by sliding the cord start sliding down second take it down real fast so our goal with the Whoopie sling too was to make it so you should be able to hang just about anywhere just about any time with that Whoopie sling - and not need to really do anything else so now I just pulled it up about almost a foot all I did is just that's it this is the easiest easiest type of setup the easiest deal this isn't even a dedicated hammock this is it's a poncho you can use as a hammock or a tarp or a chair super shelter or whatever you want and if we're still giving you the functionality of a nice hammock [Music]

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About the Author

Wilderness Innovation

Wilderness Innovation

"How to" for outdoor camping, hiking activities and survival. Some unique equipment and ideas. "Simplifying Survival" is our motto. Follow us on Twitter - WISurvival

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