+1Originally Posted by MAD777
+1
Bill
I always keep my lines on my tarps. Just seems to make sense to me.
Shug
Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven
There are a lot of votes for "leave them attached". That makes sense if you have one tarp. And I used to coil up my guy lines when putting them away back home. I had figure-9's on the tarp guy out points so I could adjust the lines while at the tarp, not at the stake. That's another reason my lines were separate. Now I'm thinking of making a set of bungee connections - like attaching a bungee cord to a longer length of LashIt (so the LashIt limits/protects the bungee stretch). I might keep those separate.
As long as they are part of my "list", and stored in the tarp box, I won't forget them. But I often have at least three tarps - one for me, one for a camping partner, one for the cooking/eating table. I might have a forth, smaller, one to shelter the clothes line or gear pile. It's a lot of lines and hardware to "outfit" each tarp with lines and stakes. Easier for me to grab the bag of shepard hooks and bag of guylines. Then choose which tarps I want to bring.
In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.
I see your point. Using Lash-it or Zing-it, that could get costly. Figuring 24' of line per tarp (4x guy lines 6' long each), outfitting 4 tarps would be roughly $16 (assuming you bought a 180' spool of cord @ $29 or 16 cents/foot.) However, as popular as those are for tie-outs, I think line that strong is overkill. I've been using Atwood micro-cord (1.18 mm diameter, 100 pound breaking strength). This is available a bunch of places, but Dutch sells it for $4.99 (125' spool); that'll do all 4 tarps with 25' left over for backup/spares/other projects. It's also half the weight of Lash/Zing-it.
The longer I camp, the lazier I get. So yes for leaving the all the lines attached to the tarp. For that matter, I also leave the suspension attached to the hammock. Pretty much a "yes" to anything that reduces the fiddle factor on the trail and gets me into my hang faster!
Kite lines are also good for guylines: they don't tangle, most of them are spliceable, they weight nothing, they're reasonably cheap, and you can get them at whatever strength you feel like getting them at.
I attach my guy lines to the tarp with a bowline. Then I have a taughtline on the free end to go around the stake and keep every thing tight. I fold the tarp and then roll it from the ridgeline and the guy lines are rolled up in the tarp for storage. Stakes and ridgeline are stored in the stake bag which is placed in the tarp bag with the tarp.
I use my tarp primarily when paddling or car camping. Some backpacking. I make a simple continuous loop about 24 inches long out of shock cord, larkshead it to to the tie out points, stretch it out and stake it. Quick and easy, no tangles. Stays with the tarp. I carry extra lines if I want to go to porch mode or longer tie outs if required. I can set my tarp up quick with little fiddle factor..
“Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”
― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
I previously always had guy lines attached to the tarp. Right now I'm experimenting with Line Lock Hooks and 1.75 line. The Line Locks snap onto the Beastie D rings. This allows me to remove the lines and use with another tarp and use line locks that aren't sewn onto the tarp.
I have been adverse to most of the schemes incorporating shock cord into tarp guylines but, shockcord loops alone seems cleaner than most. I might have to give this a try.
Questioning authority, Rocking the boat & Stirring the pot - Since 1965
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