Single Tarp Ridgeline: Above or Below?

[kobold]

this w/e i set up my tarp under the rl (w/ prusiks/bic pen toggles) and it was great for a few days in perfect weather, but sunday afternoon there was a sudden heavy rain and quite a lot of water accumulated in a top fold in a matter of minutes. i think the snow would do the same, just not as quickly. maybe the prusiks were not taut enough.. so i tightened them and swapped the tarp over the line which kept the water rolling off (and i don't want to have to do that during the night for example). otoh when the storm was over and i wanted to enjoy the view i set it all up as it was and folded the front part of the tarp over the rl bakers hut style.

[warbonnetguy]

Brandon, do you run the seam on your tarps on top or underneath?

the binding on the ridge goes on the outside/up

[warbonnetguy]

this w/e i set up my tarp under the rl (w/ prusiks/bic pen toggles) and it was great for a few days in perfect weather, but sunday afternoon there was a sudden heavy rain and quite a lot of water accumulated in a top fold in a matter of minutes. i think the snow would do the same, just not as quickly. maybe the prusiks were not taut enough.. so i tightened them and swapped the tarp over the line which kept the water rolling off (and i don't want to have to do that during the night for example). otoh when the storm was over and i wanted to enjoy the view i set it all up as it was and folded the front part of the tarp over the rl bakers hut style.

a tarp without a ridgeline seam (like the stock hh, my asym diamond etc) does benefit from a seperate cord underneath to give support and keep it from being so loose

[kobold]

a tarp without a ridgeline seam (like the stock hh, my asym diamond etc) does benefit from a seperate cord underneath to give support and keep it from being so loose

thanx wg !

[Mat]

On my WB SF I use two lengths of cord at each end but I also run a ridgline underneath this isn't designed to add strength to the tarp but as a utility line to hang my pack from etc... Like Brandon said if you have a reinforced ridge you have no need for the extra support, on my other tarps I have always used a top ridgline with prussics and a bottom line for utility purposes, plus I would like to think should a tree limb fall in the night the two taught dyneema lines would slow it down before it gets to me!!!

[Distortedaxis]

If you have a cat-cut tarp your only option is really to run the ridgeline over the top. For my MLD Cuben hex, I run the RL over the top otherwise it sits funny.

As for my older OES tarp, I can run the RL either way. In high winds, I run it under as I find the silnylon is quieter this way. YMMV

But in my experience, neither way is incorrect.