Dumb question -- where do you put the line for your tarp: around the tree or the hammock strap?

[cougarmeat]

This is sort of a “More Taste, Less Filling” (an old beer commercial) discussion in the sense that some people prefer a split tarp suspension - separate lines on each side of the tarp - and some prefer a single suspension line that the tarp hangs under - like with Nama Claws or prusiks. If you use a single line, and you pull it tight, all the force of that pull - and any additional force, like tree movement in the wind, accidentally tripping, using part of the line as a clothes line, etc. will all be taken/handled buy the strength of the line. You’ve just strung a strong dynema cord between two trees and you can hang anything from it - like a tarp.

Now if you use a split line. the middle part of that arrangement is the tarp itself. So in the “circuit” you have the strength of the line, the strength of the tarp and the connectors from the tarp to the line - more parts. And they are all tasked with absorbing any additional force on the line. You can only pull it as tight as the weakest component - though that’s usually tight enough.

The distance between two points on the hammock straps is not constant. Mine change when I hang a pack/dry bag on those straps and when I get in the hammock. Even if the the distance gets shorter then back to “original”, that a little shock load to the tarp as it is relaxed then pulled taut again.

I’m not saying you’d shred your tarp. I just like to baby my gear. We have BIG Pondersosa Pines around here. I’m not at all concerned that they are going to move or any part of the trunk where I attach the tarp or hammock will move. I just don’t like the idea of pulling on the tarp itself to get a taut ridgeline and that ridgiine is handy for adding extra weight - like when drying things. The idea of attaching the tarp to the hammock suspension has a lot of merit. It will always be centered on the hammock. One less thing to put up. But the guylines will take just a little more stress - that’s why God invented bungee cord - if those lines move when you get in/out of the hammock.