Quote Originally Posted by cooldays View Post
One other thing i wanted to ask everyone .. is setting up the tarp ropes in freezing temps..... any suggestions for speed to keep your fingers warm? Its too hard to tie with gloves on for me.

What about taking gear down in the am if the ropes are frozen with ice. Any good ideas on how to take down a rig especially tarp knots in cold freezing rain? Any ideas how to do it and not take home all the water from the woods. I took a bag of ice from the ropes and tarp home with me to melt in my pack, trunk and garage. I hate the idea of not taking care of my gear better than that. Also ... with that cold I didn't spend the time preparing the lines and got home with wet frozen and tangled tarp lines and muddy stakes.

thanks!

cooldays
I use Kelty Triptese rope for all my tarp guylines. It's lightweight, highly visable at night, and holds knots well. I use the traditional taught-line hitch, with 3 wraps for the first throw, for all guylines and leave them in place. My personal standard length is about 10.5 feet (2 arm spans) which allow enough line to tie off to trees, logs, or heavy rocks. For my current back yard set up I had to re-tie all the lines to shorten then for a closer to ground pitch than usual for me. Practice this knot until you can tie it blindfolded with only one hand exposed biefly.

I just started using the Nite-Ize fig 9's for the ridge line only, and so far they are working out well. You still have to know some other traditional tie-off method in case you loose them.

As far as guyline management, I'd like to see small pockets where you can tuck each line away where it attaches to the tarp. I've dreamed of this every time the lines get tangled unwrapping it, the was pleasantly surprised when I found my HH Hex tarp has excellent line pockets. THIS SHOULD BE STANDARD ON ALL TARPS.



This was after a wet 16 inch snowload and all the lines held well. I've now slept out more than 12 days this month. Last night it only got to 0°F, and lowest so far -4°. It's going to be fun trying to get these stakes out!