How Strong Should Guy Lines Be?

**4evrplan** · 04-16-2015, 11:57

I've seen tons of people asking how long guy lines should be, or what they should be made of, or what diameter they should be. I don't care about all of that (I do, but not for the sake of this discussion). What I want to know is how strong should they be? I have a feeling that most of them are way overkill.

And a somewhat related question, if you're using short lengths of shock cord between your tie-outs and guy lines, how much force should you pull on the shock cord before staking everything down? Obviously, it needs to be enough to keep the tarp tensioned, but not enough to break anything, but what does that translate to? Like a pound, or thirty?

**jabomba** · 04-16-2015, 12:14

I buy lash it from Dutch and it has a 400lb break strength. I have found (through blunders of my own fault) that there is no need for anything stronger. Other point will fail before then (usually stakes go flying.)

As far as my shock cord, I usually tension it about half way. I find it does good for mild to strong winds. If it's just rain I may pull it a bit more.

**SilvrSurfr** · 04-16-2015, 12:14

Not much need for strength in guy lines, if you ask me. One could argue that they should break before your tarps shreds. However, the stakes would probably pull out before that happened.

1.75 mm Zing-it is popular for guy lines and tarp ridgeline, and has a 500 lb. breaking strength. However, that's not the reason people use it. They use it because it's lightweight, non-stretch, doesn't soak up water, is spliceable, doesn't tangle easily, and works great with Dutch titanium bling.

As for shock cord, I've tried it and frankly didn't see much improvement.

**4evrplan** · 04-16-2015, 12:36

Jabomba, do you use 1/8" shock cord, and what length? 400lb sound extreme to me. I know people are typically using 1-3mm dyneema/spectra core lines, but for all the reasons SilvrSurfr mentioned rather than strength. I was thinking 50lbs would probably be plenty, even in wind (and shock cord should help a lot), but has anyone ever tried a line this light (in terms of strength)?

SS, I just got 150' of 1.8mm dynaglide for suspension. I could use it for guylines as well, but I just feel that would really be overkill. I could get a $10 roll of 50lb Spiderwire and have all the guyline material I could ever want (I know Spiderwire actually knots up and is hard to work with, but the point is that there are other options). If I already had the tarp rigged (actually haven't built it yet), I would never bother to change out the lines just to save a few grams, but as long as I'm planning it out from square one, I'll consider all options.

**WaffleBox** · 04-16-2015, 12:37

Guy lines should be pretty strong. They're not girl lines, after all.

**SilvrSurfr** · 04-16-2015, 12:55

Originally Posted by 4evrplan

SS, I just got 150' of 1.8mm dynaglide for suspension. I could use it for guylines as well, but I just feel that would really be overkill.

Dynaglide and Zing-it are definitely overkill, but that's not gonna send me looking for something with less breaking strength because I like all the other qualities of the line. I really don't like Dynaglide for guy lines because it tends to snag more debris than Zing-It. Braided mason's line is plenty strong for guy lines, but I don't like the stretchiness and it also tends to snag debris from the forest floor.

The main thing I like about Zing-it is that, other than hammock suspension, it does everything else well: strong enough for a hammock ridgeline, yet also works great for guylines, tarp ridgelines, bear bagging, soft shackle prusiks, etc. For hammock suspension, continuous loops, and soft shackles, I use Amsteel 7/64. For everything else, it's Zing-it 1.75 mm. Above all, both are spliceable because I really hate knots.

**4evrplan** · 04-16-2015, 13:34

Originally Posted by WaffleBox

Guy lines should be pretty strong. They're not girl lines, after all.

Ha! Sexist, but funny.

**MDSH** · 04-16-2015, 13:35

I use this http://www.ultralightdesigns.com/pro...yline-150.html.

Tarps will tear and stakes come up before it breaks. I don't know why.

**jabomba** · 04-16-2015, 19:46

Originally Posted by 4evrplan

Jabomba, do you use 1/8" shock cord, and what length? 400lb sound extreme to me. I know people are typically using 1-3mm dyneema/spectra core lines, but for all the reasons SilvrSurfr mentioned rather than strength. I was thinking 50lbs would probably be plenty, even in wind (and shock cord should help a lot), but has anyone ever tried a line this light (in terms of strength)?

SS, I just got 150' of 1.8mm dynaglide for suspension. I could use it for guylines as well, but I just feel that would really be overkill. I could get a $10 roll of 50lb Spiderwire and have all the guyline material I could ever want (I know Spiderwire actually knots up and is hard to work with, but the point is that there are other options). If I already had the tarp rigged (actually haven't built it yet), I would never bother to change out the lines just to save a few grams, but as long as I'm planning it out from square one, I'll consider all options.

I have used 1/8 shock cord and 3/32 shock cord. I have found the 1/8 is over kill and a lot heavier. I use about a 6 inch section tied into my line as a self tensioning system and it's worked well for me.

400 lbs is over kill. I think 50 lbs should be plenty. The lash it I use is really light weight so it hasn't bothered me. I use 50 ft for my bear bag with a rock bag and mini carabiner and the line is as light if not lighter than the bag and clip.