Boy do I have a lot to learn about winter camping!

[SilvrSurfr]

Well, winter is making a brief visit to NJ tonight. It's 24 degrees outside, with a low of 14 expected. Winds are at 20 mph, gusting to 40 mph.

So what do I do? I decide to practice hanging the hammock and tarp in the back yard. This will be a great test for the NJ Winter Hang next month, thinks I.

The hammock went up easy enough. I was able to tie a marlin spike hitch in the tree huggers, and adjust the whoopies with mitts on.

The tarp, however, got out of control, whipping around in the wind. All the guylines got tangled and I had to take my gloves off to untangle.

By that time I was at the point of no return. If I didn't get the tarp secured the wind was going to shred it. So I tied the guy lines onto the stakes with the only knot my frozen fingers could manage: a marlin spike hitch.

I'm just thawing my fingers out now. Later I'm going to take some measurements and make some Tyvek Grizz Beaks since the wind is so wicked. If the Grizz beaks keep most of the wind out, I'll try sleeping in the hammock.

This is just the weather I've been looking for, but I could have done without the wind.

[jesse]

Wind is a multiplier when it comes outdoor activities, it will find your weakest link.
I use tyvek under my pads and drape it over the hammock/under the tarp to keep the wind out.

[Shug]

Snakeskins on the tarp can really help to manage a tarp in those big winds)))))
Keep on learning....winter is fun.
Shug

[Syb]

+1 on snake skins. That and choosing in which direction you point your tarp. I do understand that you might be limited by the number of trees in your yard. Video man, we need video!

[sargevining]

Snakeskins on the tarp can really help to manage a tarp in those big winds)))))
Keep on learning....winter is more fun in Texas.
Shug

Fixdit for ya.

[Red Wing]

Snakeskins on the tarp can really help to manage a tarp in those big winds)))))
Keep on learning....winter is fun.
Shug

exactly why I've been wanting a set. Thinking about DIYing a set, seems easy enough. I like the idea of it keeping my ridgeline attatched and untangled and the ability to let each half out as you need so it doesn't get too unruly. One of those pieces of kit that once you have, you probably never go without.. guess I'll find out

[SilvrSurfr]

Snakeskins on the tarp can really help to manage a tarp in those big winds)))))
Keep on learning....winter is fun.
Shug

Shug:

I had snakeskins on the tarp, but frankly, couldn't figure out how to use them to ease my pain. I couldn't really get to the guylines without fully retracting the snakeskins. Maybe there's a way I can stuff the tarp into the snakeskins so I can deploy one side at a time.

Mind you, this is a 10' x 10' Funky Forest Tarp - a somewhat unconventional tarp design which I hear is like the Kelty. I'm gonna have to keep practicing. I would rather encounter this crap in the back yard than be in the wilderness feeling inadequate and overwhelmed.

[SilvrSurfr]

+1 on snake skins. That and choosing in which direction you point your tarp. I do understand that you might be limited by the number of trees in your yard. Video man, we need video!

I wish I had the option in my back yard to angle my tarp in the direction I wanted, but no. And there is no way I'm filming video of me getting pistol whipped by a tarp in 40 mph winds. I have rope burns on my face from the ordeal. I think I'll call my tarp The Pit Bull - it is prone to unprovoked attacks on its owner.

[jbphilly]

I'm kind of nervous about having to hang a tarp in high wind. First of all there's the question of making sure the openings are not facing into the wind, which means being able to find the right trees...then, the whole process of getting it up in the wind seems nightmarish. In the Negev, I set up a tarp as a windblock on the ground most nights (since strong winds blow all night long there, in March at any rate) and that was hard enough...

[SilvrSurfr]

I'm kind of nervous about having to hang a tarp in high wind. First of all there's the question of making sure the openings are not facing into the wind, which means being able to find the right trees...then, the whole process of getting it up in the wind seems nightmarish.

It was definitely nightmarish. Though I don't have the trees in my backyard to make sure the openings are not facing the wind, it doesn't really matter where I live because the winds don't come from one direction. My house is between a river on one side and the ocean on the other, and the winds come from all directions. One minute it's gusting from the north, and the next from the east. I think this is just the nature of coastal high winds.