Tarp Ridgeline over or under the tarp?

[cougarmeat]

There is ONE important distinction. If you have a tarp with a catenary cut on the tarps ridgeline, it will want the ridge line above the tarp. With those kinds of tarps, the ends curve up a bit. A continuous ridge line below such a tarp would not allow the catenary cut to function.

Other than that, I go over unless there's an expectation of snow (and that means falling from tree branches, not just the sky); in that case I go under.

The hammock structure ridge line - if you put one on - is great for glasses, night light, etc. You can use a formal "organizer" of just put loops in your ridge line and mini-S hook to them. I use a butterfly knot and it seems to take up about 5 inches of line so I factor that in when I'm cutting my ridge line length.

[johnspenn]

If there is freezing precipitation, you will definitely need it under. If not, it's really a preference thing, but I usually run it over personally.

[Korse]

In the winter I put it under to give me a little more headroom and give it more support for possible snow. For the other 3 seasons I usually put it above.

+1

[hawghangar]

I've gotten away from the continuous ridge line on my tarp, but when I used one I always liked it under the tarp for the sole reason that it provided a great "clothes line" to hang the day's socks, shirt, etc. to air out underneath the dryness of the tarp. Personally, I didn't want to hang a bunch of clothes from my hammock ridge line since it is inside my bugnet and so close to my face.

Contrary to many others, I never had a problem with drips getting past my drip lines in this configuration.

As said earlier, there is no right or wrong answer. Good to have options. HYOH

[deuce656]

I've also gone away from CRL and use Dutch Stingerz on each end(super easy to set up, easy to adjust and easy to swap out)......but when I used CRL I went over especially with external pole mod as it helped keep poles off tarp seam

[dakotaross]

There is ONE important distinction. If you have a tarp with a catenary cut on the tarps ridgeline, it will want the ridge line above the tarp. With those kinds of tarps, the ends curve up a bit. A continuous ridge line below such a tarp would not allow the catenary cut to function...

I don't believe ridgeline seams are ever cat cut. I know it looks like it sometimes as I remember before buying my first tarp, I noticed that in pics. Its just a tendency for the ends of the tarp to rise up with the tree tie outs whereas the middle of the hammock is pulled down by force of the guyouts. Cat cut tarps are cut that way on the edges of the hex and are meant to be ratcheted down in this manner to get taut as a drum.

[Tyler883]

Do you not use a structural ridgeline on the hammock itself? I hang everything I need right from mine right there way below the tarp. They're are a great idea.

Im still very new at this with more testing experience than field experience. In the field, I have a paracord line that i've run from biner to biner. And I've been draping a poly tarp over it.

I haven't been making my best choices.

Thanks for asking. It has caused me to pause and reflect that the weather hasn't tested me. I've been lucky so far.

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[adam.b]

Thanks for asking. It has caused me to pause and reflect that the weather hasn't tested me. I've been lucky so far.

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As others have said. There really isn't a bad way.
I like over as a clothes line. I like under as it helps keep the center ridge a bit higher.
I'll keep testing and seeing which works best for me.
Hang on.

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[WalksIn2Trees]

Im still very new at this with more testing experience than field experience. In the field, I have a paracord line that i've run from biner to biner. And I've been draping a poly tarp over it.

I haven't been making my best choices.

Thanks for asking. It has caused me to pause and reflect that the weather hasn't tested me. I've been lucky so far.

Sent from my SM-A500W using Tapatalk

Yeah, the only time it really matters is in the snow, and 2- & 3-seasoners should be ok without any support from below, but paracord is too stretchy anyway to provide any sort of support for significant snow fall... Even the coveted 7/64 Amsteel will sag under a few inches of heavy, wet, snow. So if your planning to overnight it through a Nor'Easter, with 2 feet of snow fall, better upgrade. I'm not sure what the minimum requirements are to counter snow loading, but I use ratchet straps I bought from Harbor Freight. Definitely NOT an Ultalight option, but I'll take the extra weight versus waking up to find my tarp has sagged to within inches of my nose from snow fall while I slept.

Also, as has been discussed in multiple other threads on HF, unless you buy your paracord from a trusted supplier, the paracord you have is likely poor quality cord. I used it for low-cost guylines for years, and the outer casing developes separations in random places in just one season.

There's many different reasons for and against using Amsteel for guylines, but from strictly a cost perspective, the way I look at it is, I can spend $8 once or twice a year for 100ft of paracord from Walmart (so far I average about once a year) and this doesn't include the agrovation​ of returning to camp to find a line had broken, and maybe my gear is wet, maybe I had to tie the line-break in the rain, OR spend $20 on Dutch's​ site for 100 foot of 7/64 Amsteel that will last for years.

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