Me, MamaJamba and the Continuous Ridgeline..

**Sassafras** · 09-05-2011, 17:34

Expecting some serious wind and weather on the last night of our Smokey Mountain trip this weekend, I had the bright idea to throw my tarp OVER my ridgeline as opposed to it hanging from the prussic knots and biners. Tied everything down nice and tight, close but not too close to my hammock. I figured that would protect me from blowing rain.
Around midnight, some serious rain started and plop....a nice big drop fell on my head in the hammock! Light on and I see that all along the ridgeline is water. So spring out of the hammock, pull up the stakes on one side and flip the tarp back to UNDER the ridgeline. Stayed dry the rest of the night.

So, here where I am curious. Was it the pressure of the line on the tarp that let it seep through? Or was it water moving down the ridgeline that dripped on me? Should I have seam sealed my Warbonnet BMMJ? I assumed it was sealed. (And it probably is!)

Any thoughts or ideas are appreciated.

**dejoha** · 09-05-2011, 17:36

My guess would be water running along the ridgeline. A very interesting phenomenon but if there is an angle from your tarp ridgeline down to the tarp, you could easily get water running down.

**dangerous** · 09-05-2011, 17:40

I would assume (and you know what they say about that) that it was water running down your ridge line. If its possible, set your tarp up in the yard and hit it with the hose for a while. Try your different set-ups and you'll know for sure where the leak came from. You can simulate some pretty serious rain and even "blowing" rain. I would focus on spraying the ridgeline and watching for water running along it. Hope this helps

**flatline** · 09-05-2011, 18:07

i always run my CRL under my superfly.
to prevent any CRL drip i keep a 8" piece of mason's twine tied on the CRL where the tarp ridge begins and ends.
it has worked well so far.

**slowhike** · 09-05-2011, 18:49

Yep, if you didn't have anything to divert it (like flatline talked about) I'd feel pretty confident that it was water moving down the ridgeline.
Water running down hammock supports has also been a commonly discussed issue as well. It will sometimes wet the hammock, even soak it.

**jkloeker** · 09-05-2011, 19:03

Originally Posted by Sassafras

Expecting some serious wind and weather on the last night of our Smokey Mountain trip this weekend, I had the bright idea to throw my tarp OVER my ridgeline as opposed to it hanging from the prussic knots and biners. Tied everything down nice and tight, close but not too close to my hammock. I figured that would protect me from blowing rain.
Around midnight, some serious rain started and plop....a nice big drop fell on my head in the hammock! Light on and I see that all along the ridgeline is water. So spring out of the hammock, pull up the stakes on one side and flip the tarp back to UNDER the ridgeline. Stayed dry the rest of the night.

So, here where I am curious. Was it the pressure of the line on the tarp that let it seep through? Or was it water moving down the ridgeline that dripped on me? Should I have seam sealed my Warbonnet BMMJ? I assumed it was sealed. (And it probably is!)

Any thoughts or ideas are appreciated.

My guess is it was the ridgeline wicking the water down on you. Having been in the Smokies myself this weekend I know that you were dealing with some serious rain! My buddies and I ended up tacking another 3 miles on Saturday night and hiked out right as the storm was coming in. Hope you had a good trip other than the occasional drip!!!

**Sassafras** · 09-06-2011, 06:59

Originally Posted by jkloeker

My guess is it was the ridgeline wicking the water down on you. Having been in the Smokies myself this weekend I know that you were dealing with some serious rain! My buddies and I ended up tacking another 3 miles on Saturday night and hiked out right as the storm was coming in. Hope you had a good trip other than the occasional drip!!!

We would have been wise to have done the same! We hiked further Sunday to be closer to the car and had a nice bridge to hide under in the event of a tornado. But it was an adventure and good testing ground for my hammock gear.

**jkloeker** · 09-07-2011, 12:26

Originally Posted by Sassafras

We would have been wise to have done the same! We hiked further Sunday to be closer to the car and had a nice bridge to hide under in the event of a tornado. But it was an adventure and good testing ground for my hammock gear.

I meant Sunday. Darn long weekends always throw my days off

**deerfu** · 09-08-2011, 17:44

Just out of curiosity- what type of line are you using for your ridgeline? I've just started experimenting and have been trying the paracord. I'm worried that the "sponginess" of it might do the same thing drip lines or not.