Hanging a Tarp

Hey guys an girls , I dont mean to beat a dead horse here with a question, I am sure has been answerd a mill or so times....but Im just a wonderin!

I have been hanging for 4 yrs now and I have always placed my tarp guylines over my hammock guylines one on top of the other .

I saw a diagram on HF the other day for proper hanging and it said to hang the tarp guylines below the hammock ridgeline .

I feel like this may be personal preference but would like some feedback on this from the ones with way more experience than myself , and I do appreciate it , you guys and girls are pretty awesome if I may say so myself.:)

I'm definitely not an expert. I think that is for the people using a small tarp. Where you need it to be up close and personal with your tarp for weather protection. Using a larger tarp you can leave more space. Also you may be a little warmer with it closer

Roger that Carl , I appreciate it brother...I have always just run the lines parallel to each other one on top of the other...but you never know right ?lol.
The guys on here that have been hanging for a while or basically started hammock camping ( thank God for them) do some things that defy the rotation of the earth and gravity..LOL!

I am more concerned with getting my tarp as tight and pretty as possible...I have seen thousands of pics of these guys set ups and the tarps are always flawless...its almost an art form and I want to obtain that level of perfection with my own set up.

Carl I (seriously) appreciate the (Im no expert) comment....people have called me a survival expert and I am quick to tell them I am not....as human beings in all levels of any kind of wood craft we need to always remain students of our trade..calling yourself an expert at anything removes any possibility of learning something new...and I do everytime I go out....you have my deepest of respect.

My tarp lines are always well above hammock suspension. I don't like it close. As far as taught pitch, I am experimenting with two lines instead of a CRL. I'm liking it much much better. I am injecting line locks onto all my ridge lines. With a half hitch back up, works great.

SSG Duke - I go by the 2nd example in this thread. I do as the side view pic shows - where my tarp lines are below my hammock suspension. Hooah!

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=16650

Roger that Shadow , That looks to be pretty good to go...I will try that on my next hang.

Semper Fi brother! Ooh RAH!! I appreciate the linkage.

@ Millarky , I appreciate the imput bro...I am going to try a few of these...I have the WB Superfly so I dont think you can do but so much with it in the way of creativity.

This method was developed primarily to deal with the HH stock fly. Because its coverage is very minimal, keeping the tarp as close to the hammock as possible becomes important; particularly in foul weather. With the hex tarps, there isn't as much to gain since there is generally adequate coverage on the sides.

It really does work well with the small tarps. I haven't had a chance to use it in a storm yet, but I imagine I'll hang my MacCat Micro using this method when the need arises.

I have always hung my tarp line below my suspension line-I am a holdover from HH, and, as Cannibal points out, thats the recommended way for it, to get the max amount of weather proofness from the stock tarp. It just stuck with me, and I dont even think about it anymore. Granted, I have a far larger tarp now, so it doesnt really matter, but I am just used to doing it that way.

I have tried the tarp suspension under the straps before and while it kept my tarp close to the hammock and remained taught the hammock suspension would get in the way.

Then tendertoe and rip waverly taught me to hang the tarp above your tree straps, around 8" higher or so. Leave some slack in your tarp ridge line and tighten down with your edge pull outs. It will give the tarp a slight natural catenary dip in the ridge. So far its perfect and very easy to adjust using prussiks on ridge line and pull out lines. I've never had trouble getting my tarp as low as my hammock ridge line and if I want it high I just loosen my edge tie outs and tighten the ridge line.

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Originally Posted by thexuprising

I have tried the tarp suspension under the straps before and while it kept my tarp close to the hammock and remained taught the hammock suspension would get in the way.

Then tendertoe and rip waverly taught me to hang the tarp above your tree straps, around 8" higher or so. Leave some slack in your tarp ridge line and tighten down with your edge pull outs. It will give the tarp a slight natural catenary dip in the ridge. So far its perfect and very easy to adjust using prussiks on ridge line and pull out lines. I've never had trouble getting my tarp as low as my hammock ridge line and if I want it high I just loosen my edge tie outs and tighten the ridge line.

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Now that is what I wanted to know..good stuff....I never thought about sagging the tarp and using the corner tie outs to apply tension...makes perfect sense!! thank you guys!! Semper FI!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thexuprising

I have tried the tarp suspension under the straps before and while it kept my tarp close to the hammock and remained taught the hammock suspension would get in the way.

Then tendertoe and rip waverly taught me to hang the tarp above your tree straps, around 8" higher or so. Leave some slack in your tarp ridge line and tighten down with your edge pull outs. It will give the tarp a slight natural catenary dip in the ridge. So far its perfect and very easy to adjust using prussiks on ridge line and pull out lines. I've never had trouble getting my tarp as low as my hammock ridge line and if I want it high I just loosen my edge tie outs and tighten the ridge line.

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What a good idea. It does tend to be easier to tighten the side tie-outs than the main tarp suspension.