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  1. #1
    Member
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    Jan 2018
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    winter palace tarp management in high winds

    I'm working slowly towards an AT thru hike this year with a hammock. I've been a bit surprised in how the learning curve is steeper than my old tent setup, but making process (by making about every mistake possible and correcting for it, fortunately only in my back yard and on a few day trips). I recently completed a really windy night assessment associated with the NE storm, wind gusts to about 35 mph. I found that I'm going to need ear plugs for this, and that it is better to anchor down stakes, as opposed for trying to find them when they pull out and fling away.

    My question is: what is the best way to orient and tie down a big winter palace tarp to reduce problems in gusty winds? The wind was whipping from NW, which pushed the front of the tarp inwards, and made the back part fly out, tearing out 2 leeward stakes. I then shortened the guy lines so that the tarp edges were about a foot above ground, and closed the windward door. The rest of the night was OK, except for the noise (which included my tarp ridgeline rubbing against my dyneema suspension, creating an annoying intermittent bass note, which I eliminated by rotating the dyneema suspension away from the Ridgeline below).

  2. #2
    Senior Member TrailSlug's Avatar
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    Sep 2015
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    Which stakes are you using? I have a SimplyLightDesigns Winter Haven and use the MSR Ground Hog stakes and I've not had them pull out. This was on a night so windy that leaves blew into the double layer of my Warbonnet RidgeRunner hammock and the tarp laid on the hammock most of the night. Add the stakes and put rocks on top of them if possible and they should hold.

  3. #3
    SilvrSurfr's Avatar
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    Jul 2011
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    Jersey Shore, NJ
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    Thirty-five miles per hour gusts? My Winter Palace has been through 60 mph gusts, and I have yet to have a stake pull out. I always put my stakes in on the diagonal, so the chances of them coming out of the ground are pretty low.
    "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Ralph Waldo Emerson

  4. #4
    Member
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    I think my guy lines may have been set too long: on the leeward side I have 8-9 foot lines, so I could use hiking poles to set up a porch, and perhaps this put too much air under the free side of the tarp. I then pulled them in in the middle of the night using the stakes as a marlin spike. I used thin titanium shepherd hooks from my tent set up: I have some triangular msg-like stakes that I could have used, but of course trying to keep weight down, next time I'll switch to these.

    How much guy line do you want on a windy night? Should you really pull this in and have just a small ground gap, with a narrow pitch of the base of the tarp?

  5. #5
    ObdewlaX's Avatar
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    Nov 2016
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    I use 6"/8" Ti shepherd hooks & unless the ground is really solid, I always try & anchor my stakes with a suitable rock or some other weighty object just to help keep things put. Keeping the tie outs short in windy conditions, as you mentioned, helps too.

  6. #6
    Senior Member cmoulder's Avatar
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    Nov 2017
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    When it's windy and cold you definitely want to pitch the Palace as low and as narrow as possible. It helps to use linelocs on the guy lines or some sort of friction hitch (I use Blake's hitch) in order to snug the corners close to the ground.

    This pic is from a couple of nights ago... relatively mild 20mph wind, temp single digits. The snow cover was thin and I was using Ti shepherd hooks with no issues at all.

    Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
    “If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton

  7. #7
    TxAggie's Avatar
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    Jun 2016
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    Good luck on your thru hike. Yes, hammocks and tarps aren’t plug and go like a tent is, but that is countered by the vast options you have of pitching in different conditions.

    I don’t have the palace, but the Superfly is very close and was my first, and still favorite, tarp. Pitching them in winds is very similar.

    As cmoulder mentioned, staking as close to the ground (even touching if possible) is key. Overlap the windward doors and connect them to the opposite side of the tarp or to the stake. Button that thing down tight. These tarps take a lot more stress than what you would expect, as long as you don’t have anything loose.

    If you have panel tie-outs those can help as well. I’ve found that I actually prefer either an internal pole mod or the spreader Poe’s in high winds because they move more with the tarp, but I understand they aren’t ideal for a thru hike, so just line for the tie outs and a couple of extra stakes can help.

    Also, if you can help it try and find a spot where you aren’t completely broadside to the wind. The tree you’re tied to is a natural wind block. If you can be set up so you’re at more of an angle to the wind that will help as well.

    Good luck! Let us know if you’re blogging/vlogging.

  8. #8
    Senior Member MikekiM's Avatar
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    One easy way to determine how steep of a pitch is to connect your door corners before you set your stakes, either in beak mode or overlapped as above and then stake out the corners. Get the height as close to your hammock as you can, then with doors already connected, stake out and tension.

    I’ve been using the HD Lawson Ti shepherds rather than the UL version (I use the lighter hooks only for the doors when in beak mode) until the ground freezes, then I switch to cut down gutter nails. They are the same weight as the HD Ti hooks but I can pound the snot out of them if needed.


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  9. #9
    Senior Member OneClick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MikekiM View Post
    One easy way to determine how steep of a pitch is to connect your door corners before you set your stakes
    SOOO important for bigger tarps/doors. Especially if they have velcro or snaps. I found this out with my SLD Winter Haven. The doors were impossible to snap shut...then I realized I had to close them THEN set up so I wasn't pitching it too wide.

  10. #10
    Senior Member cmoulder's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MikekiM View Post
    One easy way to determine how steep of a pitch is to connect your door corners before you set your stakes, either in beak mode or overlapped as above and then stake out the corners. Get the height as close to your hammock as you can, then with doors already connected, stake out and tension.

    I’ve been using the HD Lawson Ti shepherds rather than the UL version (I use the lighter hooks only for the doors when in beak mode) until the ground freezes, then I switch to cut down gutter nails. They are the same weight as the HD Ti hooks but I can pound the snot out of them if needed.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Quote Originally Posted by OneClick View Post
    SOOO important for bigger tarps/doors. Especially if they have velcro or snaps. I found this out with my SLD Winter Haven. The doors were impossible to snap shut...then I realized I had to close them THEN set up so I wasn't pitching it too wide.
    This is a good point. My practice with the Palace is to just eyeball it and make sure the steepness is around 55° and it usually comes out right. I don't have any way of making a solid attachment at the bottom of the doors so I'm thinking of adding a Kam snap at the bottom of each door set solely for the pitching process, then unsnapping when done. But eyeballing alone can work okay if you practice it enough!
    Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
    “If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton

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