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  1. #1
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    What size shock cord for tensioners on tarp

    Hi all,

    I'm working on my 1st ever hammock set up. Still waiting on all the gear to get here but for right now I have my WB Silpoly Thunderfly in and I'm trying to get it prepped. I have made a continuous ridge line from Zing-it using some dutch hardware. Using prusiked soft shackles on the ridge line to attach the tarp. I am wanting to add some shock cord tensioners to the guy lines. I am trying to keep weight down as much as possible. What size shock cord seems to work best, both for single line or doubled/looped? Is 1/8 thick enough to provide adequate tension or should I step up to a 3/16 or larger.

    Thanks
    Maxx

  2. #2

    Join Date
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    With silpoly, you shouldn't see any stretch, so don't really need tensioners. They can be handy to keep stakes from pulling out in windy conditions, though. I use it on my winter tarp which has Dutch hookworms. They work best with 3/32 shock cord.

    Sent from my Moto Z3 Play using Tapatalk

  3. #3
    Senior Member
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    This is what I do and have liked it so far

    I create a loop of shock cord - probably 3/16 but not sure. Maybe 8 inches long. Then I loop a line lock onto that and then that onto the buckles on the tarp.

    I then run the lines through the line lock and now ready to go. Just attach to a stake or tie into anything and take up the tension with the line lock.

  4. #4
    Senior Member
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    Picture is worth a thousand words. 360A143B-F35E-4C3A-BFA1-D63214878314.jpg

  5. #5
    cougarmeat's Avatar
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    The question is - do you want to have just shock-cord or do you want to back the shock-cord up with fixed line to limit its stretch and still have a connection if it should ever break?
    In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.

  6. #6
    all secure in sector 7 Shug's Avatar
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    I've used 3/32 and thicker a time or two. They all work.
    Shug

    Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven

  7. #7
    New Member
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    IMG_0291.jpgThis is what I have come up with to start with, let me know the good, the bad, the ugly. Have lashed eye at the stake, shock cord on D-ring and a little continuous loop on shock cord prusiksed to the guy line. if the shock cord was to break I could just larks the loop the D-ring. So what am I overlooking?

  8. #8
    PopcornFool's Avatar
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    I use the same method Shug demos. Advantages: 1) the line is already attached so if the shock cord breaks, your tarp remains connected with no need to re-tie anything, 2) it prevents the shock cord from ever reaching maximum stretch and breaking due to the stress, 3) it minimizes cordage to save weight if you're a gram counter (no need to double up the shock cord or add prussiks or hardware to the line), 4) the strip of shock cord can be unattached and reattached easily and placed anywhere along the line. I place mine about 8-10" from the tarp to allow room to affix my trekking poles or long sticks when I go into porch mode.

    I have 1/8 shock cord on one tarp and 3/32 on another. 1/8 works fine with no mods, just as Shug demos. 3/32 has had a bad habit of slipping out of the clove hitch. I use a 1/8 reflective line so it has trouble biting on the thinner 3/32 shock cord. I solved the problem easily by putting a simple overhand knot at each end of the shock cord. The clove hitch likely would hold much better on the thinner shock cord when using a thinner line like Zing-it. But the overhand knot works, so I haven't bothered to switch.
    ~ All I want is affordable, simple, ultralight luxury. That’s not asking too much is it?

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