Lots of questions on severe weather tarp pitching

[Aginor]

I've been hammock camping for the past few years now, but only recently moved to a place that gets tons of snow. Normally, I'll pitch my hammock in a spot that is protected from the wind during a storm, but most of the trees I was around this past weekend were buried deep in snow, so the pickings were slim. As you can see in my picture, I camped on top of a cliff that got buffeted by wind all night. So much so that it snapped my plastic tato connector right off (causing the sag on the right side).
IMG_6106.jpg
I realize my first mistake was pitching too high; in the future I'll drop it lower for intense wind. But this situation has me completely rethinking my suspension system. I spent quite a few hours today reading posts on here about different severe weather setups, but they are all several years old, so I was wondering if I can get some fresh insight.

1. Should I ditch the tarp ridgeline for winter weather? I enjoy the convenience it provides, but after my tato connector exploded I have much less faith in it. Also, it seems to loosen rather easily during the night and I find myself having to tighten everything up during my 2am bathroom call. I've been looking at the dutch flyz and considering moving to them, but in my past experience end loops are a hassle to setup, especially in comparison to a ridgeline. Thoughts?
2. I think another reason my tarp loosens up during the night is because of my tie-out system. Currently I use what you see in the second picture.
IMG_6187.jpg
This is extremely quick to setup for me, but I can see how it would lose tension after a time since it uses the plastic constrictor. What tie-out system could I use that will not need additional adjustments after I set it? Is there one that could endure a rather windy snowstorm? I'm currently looking the stingers and fleas and don't know which would be better.
3. Do you guys have any other tricks to weathering a storm other than to pitch the tarp lower, tightly, and generally parallel to the wind direction?

[SilvrSurfr]

I don't buy the "pitch the tarp lower" idea - I always pitch my tarp with about a foot distance from the ground. I'm not gonna pitch it lower and end up laying on the ground. I also don't believe in shock cord - that stuff doesn't perform well in cold temps. I'd rather just stick with 1.75 mm Zing-It.

A couple of weeks ago at the 7th Annual NJ Thanksgiving Hang, we had five inches of rain and 40 mph winds. Not much you can do about that weather - it was horrendous, and some people (people I never though would do so), ended up going to ground or sleeping in their cars. The wind was fierce and many tarp stakes were ripped out of the ground, soaking quilts and hammocks.

My setup was fine, although I did feel the need to get out of my hammock and re-stake one side of the tarp (the windward side) in the middle of the night. It seemed like the stakes were coming loose. As mentioned before, the wind was fierce, and my quilts and hammock got wet from the blowing winds and sideways rain. Luckily, the low was only 31* F, so I stayed warm and cozy, despite having rain spray coming in all night.

As for tarp suspension, I just use a continuous ridgeline - Dutch Hook on one end, and a Dutch Wasp on the other end, with soft shackle prusiks connecting the tarp to the ridgeline. I see no reason to change. On my guylines, I use a marlin spike hitch on the stakes, and the guylines are larksheaded onto the tarp. Some people get all creative with guylines (Fleaz, line-locs, etc.), but my setup works for me. I have tried shock cord, but didn't find it in the least effective at doing whatever it was supposed to do. Shug loves shock cord (even on a no-stretch cuben fiber tarp), so you'll have to decide if shock cord is for you. Personally, me no love shock cord anywhere in my setup.

What do you mean by "ditch the tarp ridgeline?" Do you mean "ditch the continuous ridgeline?" Six of one, half dozen of the other, from what I've seen. I would never use Tato tarp connectors, simply because I hate shock cord and don't think it's effective in the cold.

A non-continuous ridgeline seems like a pain in the butt to me, but some people like it. More power to them.

[SilvrSurfr]

Camping on top of a cliff is not something I would plan my setup around - in future, don't camp on top of a cliff!

I see a lot of trees in the distance that are not on top of a cliff.

[Aginor]

Dutch sells it under the name of Continuous Ridgeline, but the semantics I've read on Hammock Forums state that there is a difference between a continuous ridgeline and a full ridgeline. I'm going to buy the prusiks and replace the tatos at the very least, whatever I end up deciding. By ditch the tarp ridgeline, I mean should I switch to end loops instead.

All those trees in the distance are most definitely on a cliff haha

Thanks for your input

[ofuros]

Tree's flex to & fro with every gust and if they flex in opposite directions at the same time, there's a lot of stress running through your tight ridgeline, so something has to give.

Not sure how cold it got, but maybe the plastic tieout was brittle from the cold temps ? I use Titanium rings on my diy cuben tarp.

Give, in my case, is my continious tarp ridgeline(2mm cord)
There's some stretch over its long length & during the the night I can retighten it from above my head from my sleeping position.

Same cord for the tie outs...have to get up if i need to adjust those or knock a peg back in.


Food for thought anyway...
I actually like cliff top hangs...usually set back just far enough, so I don't catch
the full brunt of those freight train gusts....i still get buffeted though.
I enjoy being thrown around in the hammock during those wild gusts, reminds me of being at sea...or maybe I'm just a little twisted.

[SilvrSurfr]

By ditch the tarp ridgeline, I mean should I switch to end loops instead.

I wish I knew what "end loops" meant. I don't.

[GilligansWorld]

Dutch sells it under the name of Continuous Ridgeline, but the semantics I've read on Hammock Forums state that there is a difference between a continuous ridgeline and a full ridgeline. I'm going to buy the prusiks and replace the tatos at the very least, whatever I end up deciding. By ditch the tarp ridgeline, I mean should I switch to end loops instead.

All those trees in the distance are most definitely on a cliff haha

Thanks for your input

Look into Nama Claws

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[OneClick]

I enjoy being thrown around in the hammock during those wild gusts, reminds me of being at sea...or maybe I'm just a little twisted.

It is fun! But my last experience kept me up, thinking "what's going to break first?" Luckily everything was fine.

In nasty weather, I think the bare minimum to be comfortable and worry-free is having a tarp with doors. Even if there's still a 2' gap from the ground, you're still eliminating (or greatly reducing) that wind tunnel effect.

[morgan1840]

I second the nama claws

[Shug]

I've been hammock camping for the past few years now, but only recently moved to a place that gets tons of snow. Normally, I'll pitch my hammock in a spot that is protected from the wind during a storm, but most of the trees I was around this past weekend were buried deep in snow, so the pickings were slim. As you can see in my picture, I camped on top of a cliff that got buffeted by wind all night. So much so that it snapped my plastic tato connector right off (causing the sag on the right side).

I realize my first mistake was pitching too high; in the future I'll drop it lower for intense wind. But this situation has me completely rethinking my suspension system. I spent quite a few hours today reading posts on here about different severe weather setups, but they are all several years old, so I was wondering if I can get some fresh insight.

1. Should I ditch the tarp ridgeline for winter weather? I enjoy the convenience it provides, but after my tato connector exploded I have much less faith in it. Also, it seems to loosen rather easily during the night and I find myself having to tighten everything up during my 2am bathroom call. I've been looking at the dutch flyz and considering moving to them, but in my past experience end loops are a hassle to setup, especially in comparison to a ridgeline. Thoughts?
2. I think another reason my tarp loosens up during the night is because of my tie-out system. Currently I use what you see in the second picture.

This is extremely quick to setup for me, but I can see how it would lose tension after a time since it uses the plastic constrictor. What tie-out system could I use that will not need additional adjustments after I set it? Is there one that could endure a rather windy snowstorm? I'm currently looking the stingers and fleas and don't know which would be better.
3. Do you guys have any other tricks to weathering a storm other than to pitch the tarp lower, tightly, and generally parallel to the wind direction?

Piling some snow around the tarp on windward side really helps.
Site selection too. On high ridges you get great views but pay a price at times. Such is the tarp life.

Not a bad idea sometimes in Winter to just run a separate ridgeline from tree to tree and throw tarp over it and secure the ends. Just make prusiks to secure tarp ridge ends to separate ridgeline. Many ways to do this. Nama Claws look good for this or prusik knots.

I have had no problems with Dutch flyz and fleas with my Winter tarps.

Added a video below of what I use for a tie-out system and has never failed me either.

Shug