Ridgeline for tarp

[Psyop]

Well I hung my tarp for the first time last night it was windy and rainy about 38 for a low. I had 40 ft piece of shock cord that I used for my ridge line. I tied one end off and ran the other to the second tree tied a figure eight on a bight and atached it around the tree with a stick. After I staked the ends down my ridge line was sagging real bad. I switched to 550 cord for the ridge line. It seemed to work better. Is shock cord too stretchy for a tarp?

I also ended up with quite a bit of water getting on the foot of my hammock. None at all inside would this have been running down the ridge line? I did not use a drip line but had the tarp tied to the ridge with prussic knots.

Any ideas on how to improve my tarp pitching skills?

[Bubba]

I like a taut pitch and for the ridgeline I think you should use something that does not stretch, even paracord. Zing-It is popular. I use Dynaglide because it's what I had around.

How did you secure the tarp to your ridgeline? It sounds like you just draped it over the ridgeline. That would cause is to sag and shorten the length. If that was the case you need to secure the tarp ends to the ridgeline to keep it taut.

[SilvrSurfr]

Ixnay on the ock cord shay for a tarp ridgeline. Even the 550 paracord might not be the best choice. I'm using 2.2 mm Zing-it and that works well.

How is your hammock suspended? Most likely the water is dripping down the hammock suspension. I'm using whoopie slings and I find that the tarp needs to cover where the rope comes out of the adjustable loop bury to stay dry. That rope acts like a drip string, so I stay dry.

[Shug]

I have some tarp info on these videos that may help......
Shug

[Psyop]

I like a taut pitch and for the ridgeline I think you should use something that does not stretch, even paracord. Zing-It is popular. I use Dynaglide because it's what I had around.

How did you secure the tarp to your ridgeline? It sounds like you just draped it over the ridgeline. That would cause is to sag and shorten the length. If that was the case you need to secure the tarp ends to the ridgeline to keep it taut.

I draped it over then tied a prussic knot to the eyelet on each end so I could tighten the tarp over the line. I had thought that the prussic would act like a drip line but I really dont know.

[Psyop]

Ixnay on the ock cord shay for a tarp ridgeline. Even the 550 paracord might not be the best choice. I'm using 2.2 mm Zing-it and that works well.

How is your hammock suspended? Most likely the water is dripping down the hammock suspension. I'm using whoopie slings and I find that the tarp needs to cover where the rope comes out of the adjustable loop bury to stay dry. That rope acts like a drip string, so I stay dry.

The hammock is on the stock Clark rope, whoopie slings are on my list along with some other stuff but I have to pace myself.

[Psyop]

I have some tarp info on these videos that may help......
Shug

Thanks Shug I watched 9 of your videos the other day but I guess it didnt all sink in. I just watched the tarp one again, maybe I had the shock part confused because you used it on the tie outs.
Thanks again your videos have been a big help and lots of fun to watch.

[Owl]

I've used cheap mason line as a tarp ridgeline with a lot of success. I've also had good luck dropping a ridgeline per se and just using the end tie outs directly to the tree, tensioning those with Fig 9s so that I can easily adjust it to center over the hammock.

[Dave10]

I just made my RL for my tarp a few days ago. I used 1.75 zing it then looked at whoopieslings.com and followed what they did. I ended up paying around $13 for everything.