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  1. #11
    canoebie's Avatar
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    I'm kinda lazy when in the woods. After a long paddle, I want as little hassle as possible. I make a 2ft. loop with shock cord, larkshead it to my tarp and pull it out and stake it. I don't use lines unless I want to extend it and create a porch mode or some such thing. I do like the protection it provides from tripping. I can get a tarp up and protect from rain really quickly using this method. If I want to shorten, I use a marlin spike hitch and plug the stake in the ground. I spend my energy on the river.
    “Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”
    ― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

  2. #12
    cmc4free's Avatar
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    One thing that could happen with shock cord that probably wouldn't happen without is a stake pulling out of the ground and launching itself toward the tarp, potentially damaging the tarp.

  3. #13
    cougarmeat's Avatar
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    If you had a non-stretch material (Dyneema) and/or no wind situations, you'd question the use of shock cord. But if you had a SilNylon tarp - known to stretch a bit when wet - or spend windy nights with gusts coming from various directions, then the use of shock cord is more clearly indicated. As a project during one early season football game, I added a shock cord piece to all my guy lines. It attaches parallel with the guy line itself so the guy line limits the stretch to about 80% of the shock cord's range. It looks a little messy, but works great. Nice tight rigging; just a vibration, rather than a flapping, in the wind.
    Last edited by cougarmeat; 10-16-2019 at 18:33.
    In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.

  4. #14
    Senior Member Shrewd's Avatar
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    Shock cords, yes or no and why?

    I used zing it on my AT thru and switched to shock cords for (most) of the PCT this year

    I like them for trip hazards but mostly it was for curiosity.

    I’m going back to zing it, I think

    Edited to add:
    I used the same DCF tarp for both, the hammock gear hex

  5. #15
    Senior Member ibgary's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cmc4free View Post
    One thing that could happen with shock cord that probably wouldn't happen without is a stake pulling out of the ground and launching itself toward the tarp, potentially damaging the tarp.
    Like this? Sorry I deleated the torn tarp pic.

    Sent from my SM-T713 using Tapatalk

  6. #16
    SilvrSurfr's Avatar
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    I tried shock cord a few times and frankly couldn't see any discernible benefit on silnylon or cuben fiber. Went back to Zing-it 1.75.
    "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Ralph Waldo Emerson

  7. #17
    Senior Member OneClick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SilvrSurfr View Post
    I tried shock cord a few times and frankly couldn't see any discernible benefit on silnylon or cuben fiber. Went back to Zing-it 1.75.
    This really seems to be the way of many. Years ago there were so many fancy setups with shockcord; personally I think people just wanted to tinker and fix a problem that didn't exist. I'm not a tinker...er. Function and simplicity over everything else.

    You're never going to get a tarp cranked down as tight with shockcord as you would without. So when do go get it maxed out with shockcord, any tautness you gained is eventually lost anyway by the elasticity of that...AND the tarp. Zero gain, negative actually.

  8. #18
    cmc4free's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OneClick View Post
    This really seems to be the way of many. Years ago there were so many fancy setups with shockcord; personally I think people just wanted to tinker and fix a problem that didn't exist. I'm not a tinker...er. Function and simplicity over everything else.

    You're never going to get a tarp cranked down as tight with shockcord as you would without. So when do go get it maxed out with shockcord, any tautness you gained is eventually lost anyway by the elasticity of that...AND the tarp. Zero gain, negative actually.
    I agree wholeheartedly with your first paragraph. But as for the second - if you crank shock cord to it's full extension, it will act basically like a static line. Then if the tarp did stretch, the shock cord will relax to 80-90% of it's full extension which is still pretty taut without having to adjust anything. On the other hand, if you have a wide tarp and want to pitch it with the edges pulled close to the ground, shock cord isn't going to be your friend in that situation.

    I'm not going to suggest someone should use shock cord because I don't even have a strong opinion on it when it comes to my own gear. I do like using tarpworms and hookworms and those seem to function better with shock cord, but I don't have them on every tarp and I don't have shock cord on every tarp either. In threads like this, I try not to reply with what I think people should do. I just try to offer some objective information from both sides of the fence so a reader who's new to the game could make a better informed decision on their own. Like so many other examples, this is just one of those things people should try if they feel like it, and decide for themselves.

  9. #19
    Senior Member OneClick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cmc4free View Post
    I agree wholeheartedly with your first paragraph. But as for the second - if you crank shock cord to it's full extension, it will act basically like a static line.
    It's hard to describe in words, but that's sort of what I was getting at. Even with good quality shockcord, you really can't (want) to crank it as tight as you would something like zingit. With just zingit, even if the tarp sags after a while, it's not really any different than the shock cord beforehand since you couldn't match that tautness to begin with. Plus it does it's own thing in temperature variations. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the shockcord never really "eats up" enough slack to be worthwhile.

  10. #20
    Senior Member Shrewd's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OneClick View Post

    You're never going to get a tarp cranked down as tight with shockcord as you would without. So when do go get it maxed out with shockcord, any tautness you gained is eventually lost anyway by the elasticity of that...AND the tarp. Zero gain, negative actually.

    This is exactly my issue as well

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