So this summer I upgraded from my starter tarp (a Yukon Walkabout) to Mountain Wilderness Monster Tarp in silpoly. Now I know a lot of folks had issues with Charlie, but aside from his longer lead time I didn't have any of those issues, and I have what appears to be a great piece of gear. I've used it several times now, but I've had a few issues with it that I'm not sure are issues with the tarp, issues with my other gear, or just plan old user error with a new tarp.
So I went with silpoly to avoid the sag issues that I read a lot of folks were having with silnylon, but I still have issues with the tarp flapping through the night. I'm using a Zing-It CRL, with guy lines made from braided masons line. The guy lines are prussik based with the prussik loop attached to the d-rings with a larks head, and then a bowline on the other end to hold onto my Y-stakes. There are three tie outs on each side. The door panels have shock cord to a single stake for entry/exit. I have tightened the lines down to the stakes so much that it's pulling the ridge line down, but I wake up with a saggy and flapping tarp in the middle of the night. This is not an issue I ever had with my old Yukon using the lines that came with it. This issue was made worse on my last night out when fog rolled in and I had a ton of condensation inside my tarp before I was even in my hammock. Every time the wind shifted I got rained on. It made for a cold and rather miserable night. All my gear was soaked by morning. Is that kind of condensation common in silpoly? What about other materials?
I have another trip coming up in a week, and I was hoping to find some resolution or at least some things to watch for on that trip.
- My first thought was did I get the right tarp? Could there have been a shipping issue and I have silnylon not silpoly. Is there a good/easy way to tell the difference? I don't have any samples of each other than this one tarp
- My second thought was could the CRL be slipping? I don't think it is, but if I just tied a small knot onto the CRL would it stay in place all night to verify if the prussik is slipping?
- Could the Masons line be too slippery to hold the prussicks? I was thinking about marking the lines with a knot or electrical tape like the ridge line to see if I can find any slippage there over the night.
- Everything I've read about this particular masons line state that it has very little stretch, but how can I test for that? I have a whole spool of it here to mess with.
- Any suggestions on how to reduce or vent that condensation out?
- I know I can put some shock cord on the lines to add tensioners, but I was hoping to avoid adding any more line, weight or complexity to my setup, but if this tarp or line material stretches then I may have to do that.
Does anyone have any other suggestions to try? This is a great trip to test at as my group will have some Adirondack shelters that I can bail out into if things go too far sideways.
Thanks.
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