Tarp tie-out minimums - bad weather.

[Pavel]

I'm curious as to what minimum tie out tarp guyline lengths you find useful. When the weather turns, cold, rainy and the wind changes direction, it seems that a wide tarp (such as my new Warbonnet Mountainfly would be optimally set up with the sides just a few inches off the ground, but still comfortably wide so there is space to move, and to keep the sides off your face and underquilt.

I have always had four foot and six foot lengths and used to keep the six foot on the tarp and use the four as extensions ( or to use extra six footers) but using a larkshead at the tarp end and a adjustable grip hitch on the stake end, gives me a bit more than half the zing-it rope length. And four feet is way to much line to snug a 120" tarp down, it seems.

I'm switching from Zing-it and lash-it to Lawson glowire and am going to make new guyouts for all my tarps. Does anyone use really short guyouts like one foot, or eighteen inches? I wonder what lenght would be just off the ground, but as wide as possible for interior space. Hope I explained that adequately. I don't have much Glowire extra, so much of his line is sold out, so I don't want to simply experiment if I don't have to.

Any advice? Is it time for hardware?

[Tpatter]

I like shorter as well - I don’t measure them, but probably 5-6 feet. I also keep a few lengths of small 6’ in the pack for various purposes and have sometimes larks-headed that onto the tie out when I need to go 10-12 feet to (usually) a branch.

[rweb82]

I use 8' lengths on all corners. Personally, I prefer the convenience of always having long enough guylines to pitch the tarp however I want- be it porch mode or storm mode.

I used to be more concerned with weight/bulk on my guylines, but in reality, I haven't noticed the difference in my pack between the 6' Zing-It guylines I used to use, as opposed to the 8' Lawson Glowire that I currently use.

[CVKealey]

I have 6' on each corner and 12' on the ridgelines. I use Atwood micro cord for the most part and carry an extra 30' length of it wrapped around a small rope dog (cut from a paint can stirrer). It weighs a whole ounce and takes up almost no space, so it's good to have for a variety of uses.

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[Phantom Grappler]

Good to have lines a bit longer than you think you need. Never know when you might want longer line to tie to tree
As you use it you will be able to see excess line that you never use. Then trim excess off, a bit at a time. The length you trim down to will be good—from a mix of lengths you have used in different situations

[cougarmeat]

I started out with pre-cut Nite-eze and Figure-9’s. So the guylines are 8 ft. Doesn’t hurt to have extra. If I’m going to porch mode, I’ll have 10 ft lines for that side. I carry collapsable poles that might extend to 6 ft so I need a little more length to make a good angle off the pole. If I just used hiking poles, those same 8 ft guys would probably be enough (unless I was going to other branches instead of to ground.

[packman9000]

I have 6' all around and never run anything close to short. Often enough I end up with quite a bit of line left to roll up. The continuous ridgeline I have run short on that once or twice, but I carry a 8 or 10' dogbone for that.

[nanok]

your new cordage is a great candidate for a "fully soft" setup (no hardware), if you were using knots before, with dyneema, give 'em a chance with this much more knot friendly line, before moving on

but use the right knots ;)

- you can have adjustability from nearly 0 length (about a palm width or so is easy to achieve, less is possible too, but typically pointless), to full length; you can also have an integrated soft connection so you can easily move guylines complete with tensioning system between tieouts when needed, or between tarps (quickly and again without tieing knots)

see here for an example tensioning system with no hardware, but also no knots to tie in the field

- i, too, used to be greedy and equip with extra long guylines. in the field, i find it's either pointless (too long), or for the odd corner where i need long, it's not long enough anyway, so i'll bring out the spare rope. my conclusion is it's much smarter to keep them reasonably short, design and make them so they are easy to extend, and carry a few pre-made extensions. this makes it a lot more versatile, as you can add length where you need it, instead of having a bit of it everywhere, but not really a lot of it anywhere, and not being able to "donate" any to the corner that needs it.

with the tensioning system above (or something similar, that works well and stays at the tarp, even hardware like lineloc 3's, if you want to commit heresy :P ), using extensions works very well, as you can extend towards the stake, and your tensioning system is "undisturbed"

so, my suggestion would be:

- play with some good tensioning systems, and settle on one you like (if you don't like any you play with based on knots, get a hardware one you like). ideally, it should stay at the tarp, work one handed, and require no knot tieing in the field (and yes, "just wrap the line 5 times clockwise and 3 times hubwards around the hardware device to lock it off" qualifies as knot tieing, sorry). note: i'm not against tieing knots, i am a fan actually, but i think it should be optional (not have to do it if you don't want to, when in a hurry etc)
- make the guylines in a length which makes sense for your typical setup, for your tarp (the geometry you aim for, if you can achieve it), plus some extra, say 50% extra maybe; i don't know how much to recommend as i'm not familiar with your tarp, but easiest is to set it up the way you like, and then estimate "as it flies"
- make different length, quick connectable, daisychainable extensions, that you can add in any combination you like (say: 3ft, 6ft, 9ft or something like that); they can also serve as extension for the ridgeline when needed. this way you can have up to 18ft extension on one corner if you should need it (hmm?), or various extensions on each corner, or other combinations (and yeah, maybe 3,6,9 is not ideal, maybe 2x3, 2x6 would be better)
- enjoy and profit ;)

[DrPhun]

I have 4’ for one side and 6’ for the other (to accommodate porch mode.). Usually that is too long but sometimes just right, such as when tying off to a bush or root instead of the stake, I.e. when windy with soft ground or frozen ground.

[Pop_Eye]

Everyone does it a little bit different and none of them are wrong.

My guy lines have been evolving as I hang more. Right now I’m at 7’ for the corners but that may change. As I’ve tried out different cordage, I’ve used different lengths and experimented as I go.

It can also be tarp dependent. One tarp I used 4’ on one side and 6’ foot on the other. But the last outing I changed them out to 7’ and the length came in handy to tie out to a tree. I also used a few zing it dog bone extensions I made by larks heading them on the Lawson guy lines.

I use some hardware, but I always practice knots for if it ever fails. The Lawson line really takes to knots better than the zing it or lash it.

Try different stuff and check back in with what works for you!