Mason String as Guyline

[SCGobbler]

I'm know somebody uses it.

Thoughts? The kind I have is braided nylon I think and it's fluorescent yellow so it's easy to see.

[HammockBackpacker]

I use it on occasion. It works great as long as you don't tie any hard to remove knots. Truckers hitch works great. I tie my tarps out just like Andrew Skurka does. One thing you should be aware of is they don't work well if they get wet.

[oldgringo]

It holds knots really well.

[Canahang]

You have to use braised mason line. It's super light but it does hold some water and become a bit annoying when wet

[slugbait]

Braided mason line-cheap, light, non-bulky, bright color, will break before your tarp does, holds knots well, lasts several years with average use, readily available- what's not to like?

[dkurfiss]

I use it all the time for the reason slugbait gave. I just make sure I use a tag end tie with it so I can get it undone easily because tying a hard knot with it is a real pain to get undone.

[Shug]

I tried it. Never really liked it. Too flippy, floppy, knotty for me.
Shug

[alifeoutdoors]

Yea when I was a "tarper" same thing. Way too tangly, knotty, get bent in weird shapey. And aye pain in the *** when wet. I think I came learn (in my mind) it was the first lightweight guy out step before you found spectra, amsteel, dyna, lash it etc. I had so much still sitting around I tried using some for my bear bag line. The first night in the field I channeled Arrested Developement........ "I've made a huge mistake."

[Flash Grundelore]

If you use the braided type you can actually put a fixed loop and a whoopie in them with a little patience and some thin tools... that does away with the inconvenience of the wet line/knots problem

[Monkeyboy42]

I've used it. It's cheap and works. Downside is that even when carefully coiled and wrapped for stowage it still has a tendency to turn into a tangled disaster that can add 5-10 minutes to your tarp deployment.

I switched to zing-it/lash-it for my backpacking tarps. I usually bring 15-20 feet of the braided Mason's line though in case I need to extend a guy line for some reason, like tying around a big tree or something.