Seeking Knowledge on Flying Tarp in Wind and Angeles National Update on Open Areas

[terrain]

Hey HF,

I went out to test the new tarp on a hike lately.

[[I found that Ball Flat is open to hikers for us in the Angeles National. All other roads out to Inspiration Point, Miner's Gulch and Mt Baden-Powell are closed off right at the Mountain High junction.

Other areas around Jackson Lake are closed to parking, but there is roadside parking available. I chose Ball Flat Rd and went onto the dirt off-road route to the first parking spot. Got out and took to foot.

Lovely mild weather on this side of the range, being closer to the desert side. Explored the oaky side of things and followed some deer tracks onto the northeastern side of the road and main route. I recommend, although it is steep going and you need good boots to keep your footing on the loose leaves and layers of pine needles.]]

Shortly after, I moved back into the grassy opens and pitched my tarp for a break, walls facing east-west. An easterly wind was coming in with some force and collapsing the facing wall a bit. Not terrible, but if I was hammocking under, I could see how this might be an issue.

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What's your best angle of pitch against a wind?

Hope you've managed to get out a bit amidst all this.

Terrain

[cmoulder]

If you are rigging up the tarp to large trees that are not too far apart, you can pitch with the head or foot end into the wind, using the tree trunk itself as a wind break.

However, many large trees got that way because they had room to grow and therefore are not closely spaced.

My preference is to pitch broad side to the wind and use a side panel pullout with a long guy line and a trekking pole to hold it away from the hammock. This has worked well for me many times.

[terrain]

cmoulder,

Thanks for the response and the insight. I was hoping I wouldn't run into a need for tie-outs, but so it goes. Now to look into how to sew my own points into this fly... No complaints!

[cmoulder]

Well some people also use internal poles specifically made for the job but I'm not into carrying excess weight, although it is also possible to use a trekking pole (with side panel pullouts) as in this photo:

[cougarmeat]

By the time my battles with the wind resulted in a Wind 2, courgarmeat 0 score (talking more than a “breeze” here), I finally tried snakeskins - What a difference! But putting them up was only half of it. I also thought “broadside towards the wind” was best but found it mightily pushed the tarp into the hammock. I had panel pulls but I primarily use those with exterior poles to open up the interior space.

The next day I reoriented the tarp - so much easier to take it down and put it back up in skins - to be parallel with the wind. The trees added some wind break and a little additional door closure was enough. As a “side” benefit, the aerodynamics cause the sides to billow out from the hammock instead of being pushed in. Even if the trees are skinny, you have much less surface area towards the force that is pushing on the tarp. But I did have doors. Parallel to the wind without them could be pretty cold. And wet.

[terrain]

Interesting setup cmoulder. I'm hoping no need for poles, the side pull-outs may be a needed upgrade.

cougarmeat, I was idly thinking the same thing re. surface area facing the wind. I'll experiment with off-angle setups. It's nice to get out the wind sometimes.

[bonsaihiker]

In my experience, it's best to have multiple options to deal with wind. I can't tell you how many times I've set up in one way due to wind, which then shifts, so I have to adjust on the fly. This is where having a tarp with doors and multiple tie- out points really shines. Add to that guy- lines with a lot of adjustability along with enough good stakes to do the job.

Site selection is, as always, key. However, sometimes you can just pitch low and angle the upwind side at a very low angle all the way to the ground to shed some wind.

I use my panel pull- outs a lot to provide support against moderate wind, but pole mods (i use external trekking poles like above), which are designed primarily to increase space, just allow the whole tarp to rotate. I deal with that by guying the panel pulls to an upright trekking pole or stick (or tree or branch) which is then guyed to a stake, also like shown above.

If you don't have panel tie- outs, you can get plastic clips/ buttons which work almost as well and are removable. These also allow you to experiment with tie- out locations if you want to eventually install tie- outs permanently. I always carry a couple of these in case of failure of a tie- out point or for other uses (see below).

If I'm expecting strong wind i will sometimes orient the ridgeline parallel to the wind and pitch the walls very narrow on the upwind end. Then I roll the edges and use those clips to hold that edge together. That creates a very streamlined configuration. Grizzly Adams posted a video of that technique many years ago and it still works for me, though I rarely use it anymore because I'm better at site selection.

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[terrain]

In my experience, it's best to have multiple options to deal with wind. I can't tell you how many times I've set up in one way due to wind, which then shifts, so I have to adjust on the fly. This is where having a tarp with doors and multiple tie- out points really shines. Add to that guy- lines with a lot of adjustability along with enough good stakes to do the job.

Site selection is, as always, key. However, sometimes you can just pitch low and angle the upwind side at a very low angle all the way to the ground to shed some wind.

I use my panel pull- outs a lot to provide support against moderate wind, but pole mods (i use external trekking poles like above), which are designed primarily to increase space, just allow the whole tarp to rotate. I deal with that by guying the panel pulls to an upright trekking pole or stick (or tree or branch) which is then guyed to a stake, also like shown above.

If you don't have panel tie- outs, you can get plastic clips/ buttons which work almost as well and are removable. These also allow you to experiment with tie- out locations if you want to eventually install tie- outs permanently. I always carry a couple of these in case of failure of a tie- out point or for other uses (see below).

If I'm expecting strong wind i will sometimes orient the ridgeline parallel to the wind and pitch the walls very narrow on the upwind end. Then I roll the edges and use those clips to hold that edge together. That creates a very streamlined configuration. Grizzly Adams posted a video of that technique many years ago and it still works for me, though I rarely use it anymore because I'm better at site selection.

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Thanks a lot bonsaihiker! Got a lot here to consider. I'm definitely going to be taking more time with site consideration. I was certainly on the nose of a knoll when I strung up in image above, which I know is not advised. But at least I learned my lesson first-hand.

[bonsaihiker]

Well, sometimes you don't have a choice about where you pitch and that's where it helps to have options. BTW, here's a link to an example of the removable tie- outs i was speaking about: https://dutchwaregear.com/product/cl...arp-pull-outs/

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[cmoulder]

Interesting setup cmoulder. I'm hoping no need for poles, the side pull-outs may be a needed upgrade.

cougarmeat, I was idly thinking the same thing re. surface area facing the wind. I'll experiment with off-angle setups. It's nice to get out the wind sometimes.

Of course you can always use found sticks instead of poles. Sometimes even with trekking poles I'll add a stick into the mix.