best way to rig a square tarp in high wind and heavy rain???

[jonnie drake]

any suggestions? using two trekking poles, 6 pegs and as much 2mm cord as you want.

I was thinking pegging a corner down windward, and the opposite corner with a pole on the leeward side with a ridgeline inbetween, peg the other conrners down and have two guys pegged off the front pole?

cheers

J

 

[beenn]

A frame at low pitch or one corner tied to pole/tree and other corners pegged out- if you have two poles use one in the center of tarp for support

 

[Hetzen]

If you've got a 3x3m DD tarp, a good set up is to peg out one side's corners, then use one of your poles to create an 'A' frame by tying it to the centre of the opposite end, then peg down that' end's corners. Then use your other pole at about 60cm in from the back on the the centre line on one loop in and peg the end centre loop into the ground. Finally go around adjusting the tautness of the structure by pulling the tarp out then re-pegging. This will give you a closed A frame configuration, with 3 sides on the ground. Make sure the back end is facing the wind.

I'll see if I can find an online image.

**EDIT**

http://www.ddhammocks.com/product/tarp

Image 3rd down on the left

This is prone to condensation, but you will be out of the wind if pitched right.

 

[jonnie drake]

cheers lads I like both ideas- hetzen I have just read it for the third time and I now understand what you are describing! I like it! How would you go about tying a pole on the inside of the tarp?

 

[beenn]

When recently out on open fields i i pegged the back two corners to the ground, raised the center tie out on the front using a straight tree/branch and pegged the other two corners slightly closer together that the back two and it worked perfectly but i did not use it over night.

Also wanted to try pegging all 4 corners down and raise the center of the tarp but haven't tried due to stability and condensation.

 

[Hetzen]

cheers lads I like both ideas- hetzen I have just read it for the third time and I now understand what you are describing! I like it! How would you go about tying a pole on the inside of the tarp?

You can put the handle into the 2nd ridge line loop (ie your ridge line loops need to be on the inside) and use tension on the last loop pegged into the ground. It's quite sturdy. 6 pegs would be a minimum. The more you can make/use, the stronger the construction, and you can stop flapping sides by pegging in as many of the outside edge tarp loops as you can.

 

[Hetzen]

There is another one which is quite good although a little more exposed and a bit flappy, but condensation is less of a problem. This time you lay your tarp out in a diamond shape, ie square where one corner will be the front, and the other will be the back. Peg out the mid points on the two sides that will be the back, then use your poles at equal height on the mid point tie outs on the opposite sides to the pegged back. So what you have made is a new square at 45 degrees inside your tarp, with a tringle left at the back (tuck this inside), two triangles at the side (peg these down) and one tringle at the front (use a guy on this to peg out infront a few meters).

This will create a lean too with sides, and a sort of admin area at the front. If you keep your ridge line loops on the outside, you can tie out another guy to pull the fabric from the middle out to the back to keep this more taut and less flappy.

Best way to imagine this one, is to get a square piece of paper, fold the corners into the center, pull two opposite corners out so they stick straight up and rest that on the table along one edge of these upright corners, and the corner on the top of this lean-to shape will be guyed out infront of the structure.

Again I'll try and find a pic.

http://www.ddhammocks.com/tips/tarp-tutorial

Look for the "Adirondack Wind Shed" and instead of using line, you can use your poles to keep the front upright.

 

[jonnie drake]

cheers for the help guys, that tutorial was very helpful!

 

[yomperalex]

Nice tutorials, thanks - just got my DD tarp, so looking forward to putting these to the test.

Alex

 

[Hetzen]

You're very welcome, it's about time I can give something back to the forum, from all the excellent advice I've taken.

Recently, I have been looking at lightening my pack load, so I've been looking at other tarps of different materials and set up configurations, and to be quite honest, I think I bought well with the DD 3x3m. It's no where near as light as cuban or any other cling film type materials, but it's way less than dedicated solo tents with far more options in it's use. I'd even say that the extra 200g or so over the light weight rectangular version from DD gives me a lot more flexibility and shelter space that I realy don't mind thinking about carrying it.

Cheers

Jon

 

[Jinsin456]

There is another one which is quite good although a little more exposed and a bit flappy, but condensation is less of a problem. This time you lay your tarp out in a diamond shape, ie square where one corner will be the front, and the other will be the back. Peg out the mid points on the two sides that will be the back, then use your poles at equal height on the mid point tie outs on the opposite sides to the pegged back. So what you have made is a new square at 45 degrees inside your tarp, with a tringle left at the back (tuck this inside), two triangles at the side (peg these down) and one tringle at the front (use a guy on this to peg out infront a few meters).

This will create a lean too with sides, and a sort of admin area at the front. If you keep your ridge line loops on the outside, you can tie out another guy to pull the fabric from the middle out to the back to keep this more taut and less flappy.

Best way to imagine this one, is to get a square piece of paper, fold the corners into the center, pull two opposite corners out so they stick straight up and rest that on the table along one edge of these upright corners, and the corner on the top of this lean-to shape will be guyed out infront of the structure.

Again I'll try and find a pic.

http://www.ddhammocks.com/tips/tarp-tutorial

Look for the "Adirondack Wind Shed" and instead of using line, you can use your poles to keep the front upright.

I've used this with trees and poles and it works really well. Using a 3 x 3 tarp it gives quite a bit of room and is nice and cosy in a strange way.

If you google tarpology you will find loads of setups from easy to oragami basically lol. As said the best way to visualise most of them is with a piece of paper. Also YouTube can be good for ideas.