Perhaps you could have pulled the two poles (either end of the ridge) further apart by tightening those guys? Of course, tighten too much, and you could damage the tarp/attachment points! It's a fine balancing act!
A ridge line is more to hang the tarp from (and make it easier to put the tarp up/take down in storms etc), although with the above scenario, if you did over-tighten those aforementioned guylines, it would "only" be the ridgeline that snapped, not the tarp.
It doesn't look too shabby at all, in all honesty.
As long as the rain can run off, and not collect on the tarp (which will result in a collapse/damage) and it doesn't flap about too much, then it's a job well done.
My ghast is flabbered. I come back to mooch around having had probably my only camp of this year (and it was so exciting, I was all of a quiver and only for 2 days) and find this blast from the past. I'm amazed it's still going!!! I feel quite proud.
I've only used our Quechua tarp in the garden but learned loads from all these posts. So glad I asked
------------- Camping - emotional resilience in action, a triumph of hope over adversity and antidote to virtual reality.
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I have bought a DD tarp, but not sure how to connect to my king poles as it doesn't have any eyelets, just loops that are too big for the pole spikes - i tried putting it up yesterday but the poles kept slipping through the loops. Much hilarity for those watching me....
Otherwise you could press a brass eyelet into the webbing where it is sewn onto the tarp material. If you do this ensure the eyelet is solid brass, not brass plated.
Obviously once everything is up, and guys are tight, those loops won't slide down off the pole spike, due to the shoulder of the actual pole.
However, to make things easier to handle, particularly if pitching alone, those loops are usually long enough to keep doubling them over, like a figure of eight, but more than once, so they tighten up and "grip" on the pole spike, as effectively the loops gets smaller.
I'm not saying that's the right way, but it's what I used to do. It worked well, and didn't cause a problem nor damage the tarp/loops.
Hope that makes sense... much easier to do, than to explain!
Thanks Mucker. I'll try twisting the loops and see if that helps. I'm also going to try and reattach the guy ropes, seeing if I can leave a small loop to put the spike through.
Quote: Originally posted by CreakyDoor on 23/8/2019
Thanks Mucker. I'll try twisting the loops and see if that helps. I'm also going to try and reattach the guy ropes, seeing if I can leave a small loop to put the spike through.
Now you mention it... yes, I did the same!
As small a loop as possible, and "stretch" it over the spike. They soon settle to a nice snug fit every time, and help to keep things in place.
Just be aware, it can be awkward on your own, even after a bit of practice, so don't expect a 5* performance. But certainly do-able... and it's the result that counts, not the performance!
Let them be entertained... just remember the old adage "He who laughs last..."
Thanks Mucker, i put the tarp up this afternoon by twisting the loops. Will have a go at reattaching the guy lines this evening.
One more question - when i put up the tarp, using poles on each corner to create a sunshade i needed to put a reasonable bit of tension on each guy. But, the ground was soft and kept ripping up the pegs.
What pegs are best for soft grassy ground? I have been using the yellow plastic tent pegs from Halfords that do a decent job on my pretty heavy canvas tent, but were no good on the tarp...
EDIT
One fo the issues i had with the pegs was due to the guy lines being deliberately short as we had a load of kids running round, the guy lines were quite steep, so trying to keep the tent pegs as close to 90 degrees to the guy lines as possible meant that they were quite shallow, even when pushed in all the way.
I have had the yellow nylon Delta's nudge a little in very soft earth. Certainly not coming out as such, but maybe a good half inch gap/hole behind it, where it had pulled forward.
I found the stainless version held better in these conditions, as they can be hammered well down into the soft surface, whereas the yellow ones sit more on top of the surface.
Thanks both. I have just ordered some delta pegs.
PS, after hunting for the best price the official page (https://deltagroundanchors.co.uk) had the best price that i could find and the code GOWTK10 added 10% off. Ended up with 10 for £18.36 - there were £23.99 on ebay.
This year’s tarp set up. Didn’t really have a plan but made it up as I went along with four poles. Withstood quite heavy rain and allowed a large gaggle of tweens to sit under and play cards in a thunderstorm while I had a cuppa in the relative safety of my car! Sadly it didn’t manage very blustery winds another day due to a peg working loose. I should have ventured out to drop the whole thing before it fell over but I was too busy in my friend’s giant air tent playing our ukuleles to notice. It suffered a little rip but I have Tenacious Tape and my sewing machine to sort that out.
I also this year had a DIY ridge line thingy made from a length of wide webbing into which the local shoe repair shop put brass eyelets at the right distance apart. Made it a doddle to set up on my own!
I can't believe this thread is still going and giving!!!
Really glad I posted initially
I like the webbing/eyelet idea, ingenious. One can make eyelets with a kit and a bit of hammering (I did them on the canvas canopy I made for Esther the Estoril).
------------- Camping - emotional resilience in action, a triumph of hope over adversity and antidote to virtual reality.
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Topic: Tarp Origami - your photos please
via mobile 31/7/2019 at 9:42am
