Prusik's or mini line lock's on tarp tie out's.

[TiredFeet]

For us the biggest difference between using a Prussic (classic or Penberthy) and the Clamcleat Line-Loc is the old argument about which you want to fail, the tarp or the guy line.

With the Clamcleat Line-Locs on 1.75 mm Zing-It, the tarp is probably going to fail before the Zing-It breaks (at 400 lbs rating) or the Line-Loc slips.

Using a Prussic (classic or Penberthy) on the Zing-It, the prussic can be tied with just enough wraps to hold under normal conditions, but slip under heavier than normal tension due to wind loads. I think it was Opie that found that using 1.75 mm Zing-It on the 2 mm Zing-It, the Prussic would slip at about 30 lbs. That gives the easy adjust-ability of the Prussic and the safety of a lower rated guy line.

[hammockNQ]

I have the clamcleats on a 4 season tent that sustained 60mph + winds over 2 days in a blizzard.

They slipped a little over time (on slightly sub 2mm spectra line) - but kept the tent up (though i had my doubts at the time ). They are also rigged with the line loc on the tent end rather than the stake end (much better way to do it).

But the argument about which is your failure point (i.e. where do you want you first point of weakness) is very true.

[wake.joe]

I agree on the point of weakness.

But, wouldn't using shock cord alleviate some of the risk? It won't slip and stay slipped like a prussic (Which I think would allow the tarp to snap around and maybe cause more damage), but will still "give" against the wind. As a disclaimer, I don't have any first hand experience on this.

[TiredFeet]

I agree on the point of weakness.

But, wouldn't using shock cord alleviate some of the risk? It won't slip and stay slipped like a prussic (Which I think would allow the tarp to snap around and maybe cause more damage), but will still "give" against the wind. As a disclaimer, I don't have any first hand experience on this.

Yes and no -

yes it will alleviate the minor shocks.

But if the wind (steady or gusting) is strong enough it will max out the shock cord in which case only the tarp and the cord are left to withstand the forces.

Shock cord in tarp guy lines is really designed to keep a silnyl tarp tight as it loosens when the nylon absorbs water and stretches. As it stretches, the shock cord takes up the slack.

[Dylan]

My tarp setup uses prusik knots and 1.75mm Zing-it. The guy lines run through the D-rings on the tarp and then prusik back on to themselves with a fixed eye splice. I use a simple marlinspike hitch to attach the guy line to a stake which acts as the gross adjustment, leaving the prusik for fine tuning if I need it.

[MAD777]

As to the point of failure argument, A stake in soil will pull out somewhere between 24 & 64 pounds of pull. These results came from a test performed by BPL using nearly a dozen types of stakes from ultralight ti nails to MSR Groundhogs, all in different types of soils.

So, the stake will probably fail before a well made tarp will, assuming the guy line isn't tied to a tree or 300 lb rock!

[koaloha05]

I've been using the clamcleat mini-line locks for the tarp tie outs and ridgeline. Have yet to slip or fail. Worse conditions used was a colder situation where the precip was a mix of rain and sleet. Even frozen they are easy to release with your gloves on. Wet, cold, windy and dark. I rather not have to deal with any knots.

Did try to use some AirCore Nano(?), the white real light line. Really had to jam the line hard. Wasn't too confident they would hold and release well in the real world under less than ideal conditions. For a few grams more I rigged the tarps with 1.5-1.75mm line.