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Whoopie Sling Too Short

U

Us326544

Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2018
Messages
43
Hey guys,
Sooooo... I was made a whoopie sling for an adjustable bridge out of 1/4" amsteel blue. I know the proper length of bury recommended by amsteel is 3 1/2 fid lengths or just over 18 inches. I made one that was 13 inches. Is there any testing out there that allows me to estimate how much that might reduce the strength of the sling? This is a primary bridge but plan to use a backup (stock mantis with two locked brummels) for safety.
 
I'd be a little Leary about it. 5" is quite a bit to not have buried. But on the other hand your not putting full rated weight on it. At the very least I would lock stitch it good.
 
This is strictly what I did, not exactly by any official specs.
I only buried about 4" of the whoopie section of my Amsteel...BUT, I did a double wrap around the bridge loop. Actually did a clove hitch or overhand knot around the bridge and then did the whoopie bury. I've never seen even the slightest bit of slippage of the 4" whoopie bury.
In my (non-expert) analysis, the wrap does 2 things. It relieves a large percentage of the "pull" on the whoopie bury so the odds that it would slip are minimal. The bury itself is in the section of the rope that is still under stress so the Chinese finger cuff thing still applies.
The other thing that the double wrap does is that it locks the bridge in an exact spot on the loops, which allows slight adjustments that effect comfort.
I used this method for 1 season and I liked it. In no way am I saying this is an approved way of forming an adjustable whoopie bridge. It worked great for me, but once again...everyone needs to do their own research on safety and assess their own tolerance for risk. Just because someone on this forum tells you they did something in a certain way doesn't mean it's safe to do it that way.

That being said, I've ditched the Amsteel whoopie bridge and I am swapping over to an adjustable tubular webbing bridge. I like it even better than the Amsteel.
 
Well....I cut it off and spliced new one measuring exactly 18.5 inches for the bury. After milking I measured the FINISHED bury and it was 14.5". I was quite frustrated until I learned through some research that it will lose a good amount of length and that it is only measured BEFORE splicing the bury. (Although this isnt made clear to me on amsteels splicing pdf, at least what I could find)
Anyway, I'm feeling better about its safety, especially since its backed up. Its actually probably overkill, but I'd rather error on the safe side. Thanks guys
 
Us326544 said:
Well....I cut it off and spliced new one measuring exactly 18.5 inches for the bury. After milking I measured the FINISHED bury and it was 14.5". I was quite frustrated until I learned through some research that it will lose a good amount of length and that it is only measured BEFORE splicing the bury. (Although this isnt made clear to me on amsteels splicing pdf, at least what I could find)
Anyway, I'm feeling better about its safety, especially since its backed up. Its actually probably overkill, but I'd rather error on the safe side. Thanks guys
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity -- What length of Amsteel did you start off with to end up with a bridge-length whoopie?
 
Us326544 said:
Well....I cut it off and spliced new one measuring exactly 18.5 inches for the bury. After milking I measured the FINISHED bury and it was 14.5". I was quite frustrated until I learned through some research that it will lose a good amount of length and that it is only measured BEFORE splicing the bury. (Although this isnt made clear to me on amsteels splicing pdf, at least what I could find)
Anyway, I'm feeling better about its safety, especially since its backed up. Its actually probably overkill, but I'd rather error on the safe side. Thanks guys
Click to expand...
Where, along the bridge, did you form the bury? Can you cheat it back toward the saddle loop to gain length? Doing so will limit the amount of adjustability...you'll be able to lengthen it but you'll only be able to shorten it slightly when the bury is located right next to the saddle loop. Kinda hard to explain.
 
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