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  1. #11
    New Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by grubbster View Post
    Disadvantage of using shock cord is that if your stake comes loose you now have a sharp metallic missile moving at a pretty good velocity.
    Ain't that the truth. My dog tried to kill me with my Blackbird side tie-out. He was trying to gnaw on the cord lock on the tie out - I reached out of the hammock to stop him and ended up startling him. Dog ran off with the cord lock in his mouth until he got to the limit of the stretch. At that point, I got a great view of the cord lock flying straight at my face at light speed. Luckily it caught my cheek before bouncing into my eye, or I would have probably had a lot more fallout than just a red mark under my eye for a day or so.

  2. #12
    cougarmeat's Avatar
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    When ask about tethering gear (like a knife) with shock cord, a kayak instructor suggested we take what ever is attached to the bungee, stretch it out at arms length, and let it go pointing to our face. It was a dramatic example of the missile effect. I'm guessing many were introduced to shock cord in the days of the old "A" shaped tents. The trap for those would flap, flap, flap in the wind. Bungee reduced that flap a lot. Then came tents with tensioned poles and fitted rainflys and that issue pretty much disappeared for the tent folk.

    But we hammock campers - at least those without internal pole mods on their tarps - still deal with the flap. The catenary cut can reduce that, but then you have stretch after the initial setup. And if things are picture perfect tight, they they will have to absorb all the wind that hits them. A LITTLE shock cord helps there. I figure the max cord stretch, then take about 80% of that length, and add a LashIt "keeper" to limit the stretch to the 80%.

    It's important to purposely create weaknesses so the first point of failure isn't your tarp. Split rings (cheap kind - they are there to fail) is one solution. But if you have bungee cord and things are set up right, having the right flex/give allows your tarp to spill the wind. That way, it never builds strong enough to tear anything or pull stakes out of the ground.

    Of course 30-40 mph wind is going to raise havoc with any setup. And those conditions require careful assessment of your location and trees. For a long time, I didn't use shock cord. But now, a little "give" on the four corners seems to keep thing happier of a wider range of conditions. My tarps are stretchy (silnylon), but the shock cord is more the "have a little give to spill the wind" - without the flap, flap, flap.
    Last edited by cougarmeat; 02-22-2020 at 15:50.
    In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.

  3. #13
    GilligansWorld's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by grubbster View Post
    Disadvantage of using shock cord is that if your stake comes loose you now have a sharp metallic missile moving at a pretty good velocity.
    This as always been my main concern using shock cord. If the stake stays attached to the line, the shock cord acts almost like a rubber band and will hurl your stake back at you and your tarp.
    Quote Originally Posted by TominMN View Post
    100% shock cord seems like too much of a good thing. I personally like to have a small loop of it at the tarp corners. It keeps things snug yet allows a bit of give. Can make a difference when you trip over it or in a gust of wind.
    doubtful the line will hold up long anyway and the slingshot effect you could get from this - not a recommended line shock cord certainly isn't - a loop maybe but not all of the line IMHO
    Quote Originally Posted by cougarmeat View Post
    When ask about tethering gear (like a knife) with shock cord, a kayak instructor suggested we take what ever is attached to the bungee, stretch it out at arms length, and let it go pointing to our face. It was a dramatic example of the missile effect. I'm guessing many were introduced to shock cord in the days of the old "A" shaped tents. The trap for those would flap, flap, flap in the wind. Bungee reduced that flap a lot. Then came tents with tensioned poles and fitted rainflys and that issue pretty much disappeared for the tent folk........It's important to purposely create weaknesses so the first point of failure isn't your tarp. Split rings (cheap kind - they are there to fail) is one solution. But if you have bungee cord and things are set up right, having the right flex/give allows your tarp to spill the wind. That way, it never builds strong enough to tear anything or pull stakes out of the ground.

    Of course 30-40 mph wind is going to raise havoc with any setup. And those conditions require careful assessment of your location and trees. For a long time, I didn't use shock cord. But now, a little "give" on the four corners seems to keep thing happier of a wider range of conditions. My tarps are stretchy (silnylon), but the shock cord is more the "have a little give to spill the wind" - without the flap, flap, flap.
    Solid advice - create a safe(r) failure point and recon your surroundings to maximize your landscape to it's fullest.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] Be The light in Someone's Darkness - Change the World one Act of Compassion, One Act of Kindness at a Time - We are All Living on Borrowed Time
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  4. #14
    SilvrSurfr's Avatar
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    I have no use for shock cord on my tie-outs. In fact, I have no use for shock cord anywhere in my hammock setup - it's a useless invention. Shock cord doesn't improve my life - it's a shoddily-constructed, unreliable piece of nothing that degrades quickly in any kind of weather, and then you replace it with more shock cord. Or maybe you go to a bigger diameter.

    When I see shock cord on a winter jacket, or on any product, I think, "design flaw."

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bungee_cord

    I like the part where they say that "Bungee cords are a major source of eye injury, and some doctors suggest not using them."

    Yep, that sums it up for me.
    Last edited by SilvrSurfr; 02-22-2020 at 00:44.
    "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Ralph Waldo Emerson

  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by SilvrSurfr View Post
    ... In fact, I have no use for shock cord anywhere in my hammock setup...
    No shock cord on your UQ suspension?

  6. #16
    SilvrSurfr's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TominMN View Post
    No shock cord on your UQ suspension?
    Correction: Yes, I have shock cord on UQ suspension. Shock cord works well on UQ suspension.
    "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Ralph Waldo Emerson

  7. #17
    Senior Member MikekiM's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dvankirk View Post
    I tried shock cord loops on a couple of my tarps, but ended up taking them off...
    I used a small loop of 3/32 shock cord on the ground corners of one of my DCF tarps.. I don't use it any more.. more on that in a second..
    Quote Originally Posted by SilvrSurfr View Post
    .... Shock cord doesn't improve my life - it's a shoddily-constructed, unreliable piece of nothing that degrades quickly in any kind of weather, and then you replace it with more shock cord. Or maybe you go to a bigger diameter.
    That's a bold statement. I believe there is a grey area here worth exploring. I am not a big fan, but there are a few instances where shock cord is really useful. I like using the hammock side pull-out to wrangle some of the extra fabric out of my face. The pull-out cordage usually about three feet of Z-Line with a foot of 1/16 shock cord tied in-line with an eye and a Tato Tarp Door Hook. The pullout usually gets hooked to the head end tarp guy line. The shock cord allows for just a wee bit of give in the side pull-out. Without it, the fabric with slide in and out and/or the tarp would be pulled in and out any time the hammock swayed or I get in or out. So, a big help there. Also have for the external pole mod on one of the tarps, which admittedly, I don't use often.

    How about a Knotty mod? Useful there. Or for a peak bag or pillow tether? All reasonable uses.

    Currently have it on my tarp doors with a Lineloc Hook.. that seems to work okay and makes it easier to get in and out over the door lines.. you can simply step on it to stretch it out of the way.

    For the ground corners... I was using a dingle six inch piece of of 3/32 shock cord doubled into a loop between the Beastie D and, in my case at that time, a Tarp worm. The finished loop was only about an inch and a quarter long and it took a lot of force to stretch the doubled up shock cord. Pretty sure it saved the day when I tripped over a guy line pretty hard. Me and my hiking partner both expected the tarp to be torn, but it wasn't. I have to think the loop helped. That said, I never stretched it to the point that it would slingshot a stake since it wasn't there for tensioning. Rather, it was there as a circuit breaker, which seems to have worked.

    Stopped using it because I have switched to Lineloc V's sewn to the tarp grosgrain.
    Yes, my pack weighs 70lbs, but it's all light weight gear....
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  8. #18
    Senior Member cmoulder's Avatar
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    I don't use shock cord on ridge and guy lines, (for sure on the UQ, tho) but it's handy on tarp doors and to make custom-sized "rubber bands" to secure stuff like my larger, rolled EVA sit pad, head lamp cord etc. And there are some others that I've probably overlooked.

    Oh, and I use it on the tarp side panel pull-outs to attach to my trekking pole(s) that are suspended over the RL.
    Last edited by cmoulder; 02-22-2020 at 10:42.

  9. #19
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    I use shock cord on my guy lines but not on my ridge lines, not too concerned about the sling shot effect.

  10. #20
    HandyRandy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SilvrSurfr View Post
    …it's a useless invention. Shock cord doesn't improve my life - it's a shoddily-constructed, unreliable piece of nothing that degrades quickly in any kind of weather, and then you replace it with more shock cord. Or maybe you go to a bigger diameter.

    When I see shock cord on a winter jacket, or on any product, I think, "design flaw."
    Sounds like you hate shock cord as much as I hate velcro, lol.

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