New Tarp Ridge Line / Guy Line Q's

[pahanger]

Hey there fellow hangers. I just recently received my WB BMJ Tarp. Great tarp! So, I've been reading over threads to get an idea of the different methods people are using for their tarp guy lines / ridge lines. I am not sure if I want to do a ridge line for my tarp, I am experimenting with knots and some ideas right now. I would like to hear suggestions, one thing I am considering is using shock cord, can anyone suggest a good source of shock cord to order say 50-100 ft? I've searched but there's a lot of threads to go through.

Right now I have some 550 olive paracord and I bought some braided mason's line. I have some lengths of paracord with the mason's line attached to the paracord via Klemheist knots, which are pretty cool and seems to work fairly well. I figure at least to start this will give me a little bit of easy adjustment on my guy lines. What line have people had the best results with for their ridge lines? I also have a pair of stainless steel small S-biners that I could utilize. I'm tossing around various options for securing the tarp ridge line to trees, then prob using the Klemheist ( I guess it's a bit easier to deal with than a prusik? ) to attach the cord from the ridge line loops to the cord attached to the tree(s). So far I'm having fun experimenting with various knots, neat stuff. ^__^

I always try to abide by KISS ( keep it simple! ) and I was wondering if one adds some thicker ( maybe 1/4" ) shock cord to the ridge lines of the tarp, if this might reduce the need for shock cord on the guy lines? I am thinking more about the tarp self adjusting to remain taught rather than tripping over line. The yellow flourescent mason's line for the guy lines should keep them visible. Thanks for your input!

Justin

P.S. here's some shock cord ( I'm looking for black / grey; 3/16" would prob be ideal ) I found on amazon, but the shipping is pretty steep:

http://www.amazon.com/100-FT-Shock-C...dp/B001P6CO6Q/

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me, i wouldnt use paracord or shock cord. with these tarps (esp the bmj) you want it taught, and with the stretchy stuff you cant really get that.


Im using thin green stuff from the climbing store for tie outs on my Superfly, and i have a dutch 2 piece ridgeline. easy, and i can get it nice and tight.

theres a video some place of dutch's setup. but all i did to attach it is tie a loop at the end i wanted to attach to the tarp, and larksheaded it on. easy!

oh, and i followed brandon from WB's advice on the tie outs. i had a set from arrowhead to make it simple (just a continuous loop prussiked to the line) but theres a ton of tie outs on the SF.

so what brandon said was to get a tight pitch, run the guy lines to the tent stake and back up to the ring on the tarp, pulling it thru that as well. youre making a nice pull ratio and all youd have to do is put 2 slippery half-hitches in then. so it goes: from tarp to stake, from stake back to tarp, down from tarp and then 2x's SHH. one pull, and youre loose.

[pahanger]

Hey there REV,

that method for the tie outs sounds good, i'll play around with that, and I'll search for that vid. thanks for the tips!

Justin

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this should be the idea, with the dual RL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSVvIPFfpas


and i know that one of shugs videos covers the differences between the 2 and how to do it without dutch stuff if you didnt want to go that route.

[pahanger]

awesome, thanks. yeah I've been watching shug's videos, great stuff! I watched the whole hammock how-to series but i gotta go back over them to refresh on the details / differences. :]

EDIT:

Hmmm, something like zing-it appears to be what i'm looking for. Those dutch tarp flyz look ideal and are on my list, won't be able to order for a bit tho. Until then I will be experimenting with knots and what cordage i have. thanks!

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just an fyi, if you shoot dutch a pm he has everything you need to set that up, with the line too. its not expensive either, and hes good people to deal with!