Originally Posted by
GrizzlyAdams
don't laugh---so that I can easily get the height of the tarp and bridge right, easily, I've hung a length of cord that is Just The Right Height from the tarp's ridgeline tie-out. It hangs down, I pitch the tarp so that it just touches the ground. The rest of it follows directly. Hammock ridgeline goes immediately under the tarp ridgeline, tightened up on the trees before the real suspension lines are attached. When that's tight and level (use a $2 level from Home Depot) attach the main suspension lines to the ridgeline rings, and attach webbing at tree using as steep an angle as you can. Tighten the suspension lines until they are pulling up on the rings. Remove ridgeline cord to trees. Clip on hammock. All of the above takes a couple of minutes.
I cheated though. I left out the step of pitching the tarp after the height is right. Fussing with getting the stakes right takes a little while, but that's true for any tarp.
That all said, it is more complicated to pitch the bridge. I think with practice though it doesn't take overly long. That said, at the end of a 14 hour hike/ride/paddle, even simpler is better. No arguments.
with a 41" spread you have serious tarp issues!
Grizz
Bookmarks