That question is equivalent to: What is the cutest stuffed animal? What is the Best Beach? Or the Best Beer? Just as the last couple of questions can not be answered in any objective way, so will the first one remain without a clear answer.

Let us get one thing straight: any slinging method to any truss shall be applied in the node points, or panel points. A node point or panel point is the position where two diagonals meet with the chord, or where a vertical and diagonal brace are meeting in the chord, to form the (repeated) shape of a triangle.

Whose truss? What type? What cross section? What bracing set-up? Bracing in Vertical and in Horizontal plane(s)? And in what combination(s) of that V & H bracing set-up? They all have different requirements and restrictions on the method(s) of slinging. Subsequently the forces resulting from the slinging method, are to be absorbed in the cross-section of the aluminum framework.

 What types of truss do we know?
Truss types, based upon Truss Cross Sections :

  • Ladder
  • Triangle (Apex Up; Apex Down; Apex Sideways)
  • Square (in Horizontal; in Diamond; Square Folding Flat)
  • Rectangle High (Closed; SwingWing; Catwalk = Open in Upper side)
  • Rectangle Flat (Closed; Open in Under side =  ‘ballroom truss’)
  • Trapezoidal (Stacking; 4-chord Folding truss)

That is 14 different trusses to sling, just by the shape of the cross sections. Apart from that another variation might occur where the bracing of two sides could be symmetrical (‘classic’ bracing) or asymmetrical (‘odd’ bracing). In the last case the  \/ (‘V’) in one side is next to an /\ (‘A’) in the other side. This causes the node points to be in a shifted position, and not side-by-side.

Many slinging methods
Basically all these variations can easily bring us 30 different “nodes-in-truss” variations, that could lead to just as much ‘best slinging method options’. There is no such thing as he Best Beach, but “Soft Cool & Sandy in the Subtropics, with Mild Waves, without any Jelly Fish or Sharks, but with lots of cocktails available” could score quite high.  Similarly a Best Slinging Method might be close to a “Classic Basket on a square truss with classic bracing, supported at the Lower Nodes, and with an additional wrap at each top chord, where these top chords have a straight compression bracer in between”. But just as some prefer a Beach with lots of Sunshade roofs and Surfing Waves, in slinging some people say they prefer two lower chord chokes + two wraps on the upper chords. Any preference shall always meet the actual type of truss being used.

As a rule of thumb just a few warnings shall be issued:

  • Do not lift / support/sling a truss on the braces.
  • Do not lift / support/sling a truss between the nodes.
  • Do not lift / support / sling a truss on one chord only (except two chord truss).