How Strong Should Guy Lines Be?

[daneaustin3]

They should be strong enough not to break when I trip over them. That's why I use stuff with a 500lb rating.

[Martyn]

...do you use 1/8" shock cord, and what length? 400lb sound extreme to me...

I made some self tensioners recently and the pull is a lot lower than you might think.



That's a single strand of theraband green tube, stretched to 200% and it's pulling 6.2lbs. A loop (2x effective strands) of heavy shockcord I tested, pulled about 9lbs at 200%. So think something in the range of 3lbs to 10lbs pull for any elastic tensioning system, and you wont be far off. Is 400lb line strong enough? Yeah, about 10x more than enough. I would say anything around 40lbs is plenty for guy lines. I wouldn't be concerned about strength. Pick your line based on other factors, because pretty much anything and everything is strong enough. Ridgeline is different. I'd be looking at 150lbs test for a ridge, basically because the trig forces typically applied to ridge lines are a force multiplier, so the line needs to be quite a bit beefier.

Oh, length of elastic doesn't translate to more pull. It's the % stretch you put into it that determines the 'power'. So a 10 foot bungee loop stretched to 20 foot will pull 9lbs, and a 3 inch loop of the same cord stretched to six inches will also pull 9lbs.

HTH

[MAD777]

I use this http://www.ultralightdesigns.com/pro...yline-150.html.

Tarps will tear and stakes come up before it breaks. I don't know why.

This is what I use for guy lines and love it. I get the red color as it doesn't stand out so much.

[Vibes.]

A lot of great info on this, I learned a bunch. I imagine the big (180'?) spool of zing it really wouldn't be a waste.

[olddog]

This is what I'm using and have no complaints with it.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/T-W-Evans..._sku=205326779.
Super light, doesn't tangle much if at all, visible and more on a spool than I'll ever use.

[irondog]

Guy lines should be pretty strong. They're not girl lines, after all.

Haaaahaaaahaahaahahahaaaahawhawhawhawheeheehee...! Yeah, AND hairy!

[jabomba]

A lot of great info on this, I learned a bunch. I imagine the big (180'?) spool of zing it really wouldn't be a waste.

That's what I plan on ordering. I keep buying it by the 25 to 50 ft and I never seem to have enough.

[Strung out]

When I was working on some tarp tie-out designs, I tested Lineloc 3 to failure at just over 100#.

This is a very high load for a single tie out. Seeing it in person was a real eye opener.

I use lineloc 3 on my 4 corners and have been in some serious storms over 50mph. I've never had a failure.

I'm using the reflective cord from Lawson that is rated at 225#. I use bowline knots at the stakes and have not had a line failure.

If a tarp tie out could handle 400# rating of zing it, I would be very surprised.

[zukiguy]

One of the kids in the campground tripped over one of my guy lines a few weeks back. Fortunately the s-biner I was using to secure one end of my ridgeline snapped rather than tearing the tarp. I just started using Atwood micro-cord and so far I love it. It's small diameter (1.1mm), pretty strong (rated just over 100lbs break strength), braided but pretty stiff so it doesn't tangle so bad but holds knots well. It comes is bright colors (I went with orange and yellow), and it was pretty cheap (around $9.50 for a 500' spool).