Snake skins with a continuous ridgeline

Shug's You Tube video from 25 June 2014 ("Tarp Chat and Tutorial PART 3")

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKW4SqJWgto

shows snake skins used starting from the ends of the tarp, not from the ends of the ridgeline (that is, not at the trees).

But if you're wrapping the ridgeline closely around large trees and tying it with a knot or carabiner (not the loose V that Derek Hansen uses), it seems like the snake skins could extend from the trees, incorporating both the tarp and the ridgeline.

Am I missing something here, before I go out and find out the hard way?

Thanks in advance...

The snake skins just slide over the tarp and the CRL so both skins meet in the middle of the tarp.

It doesn't seem practical to wrap your lines in skins. The skins need only be as wide as your tarp (whether your ridge line is continuous or two-piece doesn't matter). Wrap each of your lines into a hank and tie off or shove the hanks in pockets sewn at the ends of the skins and you're on your way. :jj:

I think I get what you're asking. I use a continuous ridge line with the ridge line over the tarp (as shown in the video). My skins are positioned to slide over both the tarp and the ridge line. The skins are only long enough to extend a short ways past the tarp when slid into place and the uncovered part of the ridge line is stored in pockets at the ends of the skin. You could cover just the tarp with the skins but it seems to me that the skins help keep the ridgleline from tangling as well.

EDIT: I went back and looked at the video. I guess the way shown there you could disconnect the tarp from the ridge line if you wanted to and store it separately.

My skins go over both my tarp and ridge line. I've had it that way with the tarp over the ridge line, under the ridge line, or in V configuration.
The benefit to the way Shug is doing it is you can separate your ridge line from your tarp. I prefer to keep it all connected so I don't lose any parts.
As Shug mentioned... Lots of options out there.

OK, thanks guys.

There can be two kinds of Tarp continuous ridge lines (CLR). In one case, the line attaches to the tarp, goes around the tree, down to the other tree, around that tree and back to the tarp at that end. As such, it makes an oval with one side being mostly the tarp. I used that style for a few years carrying a 50 ft hank of REI (PMI Brand) utility cord. We run into large tree diameters in the PNW. I also kept the ridge line separate from the tarp. Problem was, there no way to connect to ridge line to the end of the tarp via a snake skin - especially one that tapers like HH. My solution was to attach an 8 inch dog bone to the ends of the tarp and that gave a “tail’ that would extend out the end of the shake skin and give it a “parking lot” to scrunch up on when the tarp was deployed.

The second type of CRL - what I’m trying this summer - is a line around the tree, down to the other tree and secured (with wasp, figure-9, etc). The hammock is hung on that one line using something like prusiks or Nama Claws. In other words, no V configuration. I also switched to Dyneema and cut the line down to 30 ft - but I carry a 6 ft extension. I saw several advantages. The tarp is no longer part of the circuit. It hangs independently like a hammock on a structural ridge line. If something were to hit that tarp ridge line, the force would be absorbed by the ridge line, not transferred to the tarp. Also, keeping the tarp and ridge line together, the skins can slide on that line.

As far as pitch/sap, that would be on the ridge line beyond the snake skins. So the tarp would be protected inside the skins if you wrap the excess line around the skins. But you might have mesh skins. So there is some small benefit to keeping the line separate.

If you are a “numbers” person, you could figure how high you want to reach to attach your hammock suspension. That, for the length of your hammock ridge line, will give you a maximum distance because the further apart the trees, the higher you have to reach to get your 30 degree angle. With that distance, you can decide the maximum diameter tree you want to deal with. That will let you know how long your hammock suspension has to be - to go around the tree and then to the hammock. With that maximum tree diameter and distance between trees, you’ll know the maximum length of tarp ridge line needed.

But it’s all estimates. The dog bones allow for both types of CRL’s but they also add to the required distance between trees. Sometimes I have to attach almost right at the bark. So I’ll stick with prusiks and Nama Claws this summer and see how it goes.