Tarp Suspension

[DougTheElder]

I have been suspending my HH Hex tarps thusly: The stock ridge suspension lines have been removed. On one end of the ridge I have tied a 6" loop of 3/16" bungee cord. Then to that loop, and to the other end of the ridge, I have tied on a short loop made from 3mm accessory cord going to a Prussic knot. The Prussic knots slide on 3mm accessory cord that goes to the tree where it is held around the tree with a small 'biner-like the HF 'biners sold by MrPrez. The tie-outs to ground all have bungee tensioners.

The reasons I like this set-up are: 1) it's simple- no knots to tie 2) it's adjustable- the tarp can be centered or moved without untying anything 3) there's no hardware to poke a hole in the tarp 4) all the tree sap is confined to the ends of the lines 5) the tarp stays tighter with all points bungeed.

My concerns: I have used this system in hot, cold, high wind, and light snow and ice with no complaint. But I have not used it in soaking rain. The prussics, thus far, have had no tendancy to slip, but I am not sure how they will perform when very wet. What'cha think????

[Preacha Man]

I really do not have any experiences with this kind of set up, but I would say it would depend on how many "loops" there are in your prussics. I find that the more I have, the less they will slip. Try it out, and if they slip a little, add a few more "loops". I hope this makes any bit of sense.

Dwight

[DougTheElder]

Hey Preacha Man, Good to have you back!!! And congratulations on shedding the excess. I don't have much experience with Prussic's...So I don't know their limitations. Most of what I have read says that the line around which the Prussic is tied should be substrantially larger that the line that has the knot. Both lines involved in my system are essentially the same diameter. I've looped the knot through twice and for what I have done, it's worked just fine. There is surely a point at which a Prussic tied like this will fail. Anybody know from experience where that point is? I'd prefer not to find out from my own experience that it is in the middle of a huge early spring rain and wind storm in the middle of nowhere.

[TeeDee]

I've been using a tree-to-tree line and then hanging the tarp from the line. Been doing that for a long time. Two Prussics on the line, clip the tarp tie-outs to the Prussics, slide the Prussics to adjust the tarp. Fast easy way to hang and adjust the tarp. I use either a 3 mm line tree-to-tree or guy line cord. Regular 2 or 3 wrap Prussics using guy line cord work well on the 3 mm line. For the guy line run tree-to-tree, I use 5 wrap Prussics and haven't had any problems with them. In climbing applications they advise that the Prussic cord should be no more than half the diameter of the line tied to. But this isn't a climbing application and the forces on the Prussics are considerably less.

I don't think I would use bungee cords or tensioners on the tarp ridge line though.

[DougTheElder]

I don't think I would use bungee cords or tensioners on the tarp ridge line though.

Thanks, the answer about the prussics is what I was looking for. I realize that most folks don't use a bungee on the ridge line,but I don't know exactly why not. I use it so that if the tarp is pulled nice and tight and the wind blows and rocks the trees, the tarp will not be over-stretched. Maybe I'm a little over cautious, but the trees do move around sometimes.

[Javaman]

I have been thinking about modifying my large HH silnylon tarp thusly:

http://www.bushcraftnorthwest.com/ar...ark_export.jpg

Marries Tee-Dee's ridge line method with a way to get around not having a cat-cut tarp. System of side tie-outs really tightens sides up.

Video here:

http://www.bushcraftnorthwest.com/articles/articles.htm

Scroll down to tarp video.

[DougTheElder]

Javaman, Seeing the prussic knots in fairly common usage lays most of my concerns to rest. The Bushcraft guy's guying of five tieouts along the edge sure uses a lot of lines...in my case, it would be a little heroic to think they would not find a way to tangle. The little pockets on the corners of the HH tarps are a nice touch. DTE

[Javaman]

I thought/think the same think. All those little lines get to be a bit much. The end result is good, though. It's just a variation on a theme, and an inexpensive improvement for a non-cat tarp.