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  1. #1
    Senior Member lesspayne's Avatar
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    Shock Cord Tensioners are they necessary?

    What's the purpose of shock cord tensioners? I have seen Shug talk about them on his video and I get that they keep the tension on my tarp, but wouldn't I get the same affect with some shock cord or bungee cords? Why go through the trouble of making a tensioner when you can just run shock cord to the guylines?

  2. #2
    Senior Member Hawk-eye's Avatar
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    Sure if you're talking about Sil Nylon ... it gets wet it stretches. A tensioner helps to keep the tarp taught. You can get up in the middle of the night and manually re-tighten your tarp or use a tensioner ... they do make a difference in my experience. Here's the type I've been using for a while now.


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  3. #3
    Member Mort's Avatar
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    My two cents: I think that unless you used really thick/strong shock cord (which would add unwated weight) , your tarp could get blow around and out of desired shape during strong winds.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Klaussinator's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mort View Post
    My two cents: I think that unless you used really thick/strong shock cord (which would add unwated weight) , your tarp could get blow around and out of desired shape during strong winds.
    TRUE - to a point...
    My thought on using tensioners is that I'd rather have the tarp "deform" for a second rather than rip in the event of high winds or gusts, and having tensioners is the only way this can happen. Also, if you trip over a guy line, you're less likely to tear the already-taut tarp because there's some "give" in the system.

    Two key issues here:
    1- Way back when tarps and tents were made of canvas and weighed pounds not ounces, you could really crank down on the guy lines and force everything to stay in place. Now, with tarps made of ultralight materials, less tension is required to make the tarp tight, and over-tensioning can result in failure of the material.
    2- I've found that if I use tensioners that can pull at least as hard as I would normally set my guy lines, then there's no difference in the look of the tarp, whether with or without tensioners, but the protection is there when I use them. If your tensioners are always pulled out to the max, then they're too wimpy and there's no benefit. Find or build a tensioning system that is about at mid-stretch when you set your tarp.

    The shock cord I've tried has been too wimpy, so I made a set of tensioners using blue silicone tubing (similar to slingshot bands) and they have great stretch and just the right resistance for my rig. They don't add a weight penalty IMO.

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  5. #5
    Senior Member
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    Shock Cord Tensioners are they necessary?

    I just attached a loop of shock cord to my tie outs then attached my guy lines to that. I have had zero tension problems do to the sil stretching.

  6. #6
    Senior Member Bubba's Avatar
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    I don't use them but I don't don't mind tightening up my lines occasionally. I do like a nice taut pitch as well.
    Don't let life get in the way of living.

  7. #7
    Senior Member Mountnman's Avatar
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    When I use my sil tarp I do use the tarp tensioners, I do not like fooling around with stuff once its set and this helps to resolve that. I may still need to do minor adjustments but not much
    "I love not man the less, but Nature more."
    Byron

  8. #8
    Senior Member Wander'nFool's Avatar
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    Now, if you did a 2QZQ pole mod to your sil tarp, you would not have to worry about your tarp sagging when wet. No tensioners needed
    "It's a wanderful life."

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