tarp door management with side pullout use

[Bribak]

Hello all. Made my Tent Pole Mods for my Winter Dream XL 13 today. Used Dutch's 13 inch .275 poles (5 male sections, 1 female per pole). 78 " total each pole. Used about a 5" length of shock cord (3/32) for the tarp/pole connection. Really nice effect. Opened up the inside nice. Not any better than using actual side pullout lines...but no guylines to trip over. Switched to CRL so the poles wouldn't rest on the tarp itself. Used Tato Tarp Connectors. Had to wrap the Tatos twice to keep it from slipping. No big deal as long as I leave some slack in the ridgeline until I get the Tatos hooked. Think I will like this setup.

One small complaint/surprise though. I'm using shock cords/mitten hooks on each door for pulling them back and attaching them to the opposite end/same side door. I would rather do this on the inside for easier deployment if rain/wind starts. Also, if I attach them on the outside my pullouts themselves get in the way of a smooth outside fold-back (I had my pullouts lowered to match those of the Cloudburst (33" down from ridge of tarp) so they would better correspond to the poles of my Ridgerunner. That new location creates an outside fold-back that necessitates having to slightly "wrap around" my pullouts. Unfortunately, when I attach the opposing end doors to each other on the inside they (of course) don't stay back the way the "pulled out" walls of the tarp do. They (of course) pull straight from end to end and therefore come in from tarp sides about 5 inches on each side...creating a catch point for the Ridgerunner poles to grab as I climb in. It shouldn't have surprised me if I'd thought about it - but I had watched so many YouTube videos of guys smoothly using this system of folding their doors back on the inside (but without pullouts) and having them lay flat against their side walls that I never thought of it being any different when using side panel pullouts. It's not the end of the world for sure, but it makes me be very careful as I get into my hammock and takes away some of that new room I gained from using my pullouts/pole mod. I really see no way to avoid this as long as I "fold back" the doors to the inside instead of outside. I would love to have a little attachment loop in the middle of the side tarp walls to which I could hook the "clipped together" mitten hooks. That would pull those doors nicely out to the tarp walls. Although I guess that could just as easily pull the side walls in as the doors out. Hmmm. Don't see any way to do it without sewing something there (of which I have no skill or equipment). The only other way I see (if I want the doors open and to yet retain all that new nice interior space from the side pullouts) is to just stake them open on each end. I could also pitch it at a shallower angle but then my side walls wouldn't come down as close to the ground. Anyone out there ever encountered this and figured a way around it? I hate to gain all that new pullout space and then give it right back when I fold my doors in.

I probably should have taken some pics to better explain exactly what I'm talking about. This is not a serious issue at all - but I thought I'd throw it out there and see if some of you clever people might have an obvious solution that I'm not seeing.

[johnspenn]

It will be interesting to see what people may come up with. You thought of the two obvious solutions that ran through my mind- 1. stake doors out 2. tie them back outside...

Why do you prefer to tie the doors back on the inside rather than the outside?

Some hardware from Dutch may help if you can't sew...
https://dutchwaregear.com/packtach.html

Good luck!

[skater]

Do you have a need to keep the doors "flat"? If not, you can just take 4 pieces of ribbon, about 6" long each. Fasten 2 pieces on each side of the tarp, one inside and one outside. Can be anywhere from about 6" off the ground to about halfway up the tarp, as long as the pics inside and the piece outside are the same height. Then just pull the door aside and tie it back with the two ribbons. Now, you can do this with no seeing skills at all, using a sewing emergency repair kit for about $1. But go all manly - fasten 'em with a pop rivet��. OK, pop rivet isn't really a great solution, and you might want to reinforce the material there. I'd do the $1 sewing kit. Thread the needle, run it back and forth several times, and tie a knot to finish. It doesn't need to win a contest, just good enough to stay attached.

[Bribak]

It will be interesting to see what people may come up with. You thought of the two obvious solutions that ran through my mind- 1. stake doors out 2. tie them back outside...

Why do you prefer to tie the doors back on the inside rather than the outside?

Some hardware from Dutch may help if you can't sew...
https://dutchwaregear.com/packtach.html

Good luck!

I would like to keep them on the inside for a couple reasons: 1) adjusting in the middle of the night without going outside if the weather changes 2) a nice spot to hang some clothes, etc. 3) on the outside my panel pulls interfere with a door pull back.

Here are some pics to illustrate:

[Bribak]

Do you have a need to keep the doors "flat"? If not, you can just take 4 pieces of ribbon, about 6" long each. Fasten 2 pieces on each side of the tarp, one inside and one outside. Can be anywhere from about 6" off the ground to about halfway up the tarp, as long as the pics inside and the piece outside are the same height. Then just pull the door aside and tie it back with the two ribbons. Now, you can do this with no seeing skills at all, using a sewing emergency repair kit for about $1. But go all manly - fasten 'em with a pop rivet��. OK, pop rivet isn't really a great solution, and you might want to reinforce the material there. I'd do the $1 sewing kit. Thread the needle, run it back and forth several times, and tie a knot to finish. It doesn't need to win a contest, just good enough to stay attached.

This is a good idea and a simple solution but I would prefer not having to sew on my new tarp. It did make me think of this possible solution...although it is a little floppy. Don't know how much it would blow around on a windy night. I just ran the shock cord through the edge pullout and back on itself.

I did find that if I fold it back on the OUTSIDE and stretch it back toward the MIDDLE of the bottom side edge of the tarp it doesn't interfere with my side pullouts location. I would like to have a pullout there anyway for windy situations with such a large tarp. I may add another pullout on the middle of the side edges (or send it back to UGQ to do - I thought it was going to come with a pullout there but it didn't).