Canoeing tarp

[al21]

Hi folks, thought I'd share this with you.

It's really nothing fancy, but a 5 metre square builders tarp from Bradshaws and the two halves of my canoe pole with spikes fitted to locate through eyelets. Some bungy cord made into peg loops to take the shock from wind buffeting and some cord for guy lines and a couple of folds in the tarp to give you this:

I don't recall seeing any other images here of other tarps with folds so thought folks might be interested. This shows the folds a little better:

The central eyelet has been reinforced a couple of times now as the pole did push through, but it's been as you see it for a long time now. We've used it all over the country and it's withstood some pretty rough weather.

I put it together for group use when we regularly paddled with the Canoe Camping Club and it has sheltered some quite large groups. It's obviously not for backpacking and I've no idea what it weighs and neither do I care. We've had our legs pulled frequently by the half a toothbrush brigade over our enormous tarp, but they always seemed keen to share a bit of dry space during cooking time or with a beer/glass of wine in the evening.

A last shot from the inside.

It became known as the stealth tent, not only for its shape, but because on a number of occasions a group of us would be under it for a lunch stop with it pitched in some trees and people would walk past without seeing us. Folks would be pointing at our canoes on the bank and saying "where are they, I wouldn't leave these unattended" etc. At which point we'd call out and surprise them.

It's been rigged up in numerous different styles over the years as situations have changed, but it's used as you see it here most regularly as its free standing.

Thanks for looking.

Al

 

[Tony]

That's cool, I presume that after you've put it up a few times you know where the folds go and how much slack you need to get the poles in place, it would be great to have a step by step guide if you feel inclined Then we would be able to save ourselves a load of mistakes

Have you tried it with different weights ans sizes of tarp?

 

[Shewie]

Looks good Al

Look forward to the tutorial

 

[al21]

That's cool, I presume that after you've put it up a few times you know where the folds go and how much slack you need to get the poles in place, it would be great to have a step by step guide if you feel inclined Then we would be able to save ourselves a load of mistakes

Wow! A tutorial, okay. I'll try to put something together this weekend when I've the chance for some more pics taken by someone over 18 months old. It's surprisingly easy to put up and one person can manage fine.

Have you tried it with different weights ans sizes of tarp?

To be honest I haven't. When I came up with it originally I was planning on using a cut and stitched piece of tarp to form the shape I wanted, but dismissed that as limiting my options too much, from the pencil and paper scratchings I'd made I knew the size of tarp I'd start with to fit the pole lengths I had and it seemed to work very well. I toyed with the idea of canvas or other natural material as a replacement when it wore out, but pricing them I had to sit down to recover from shock from the figures I was being quoted. I've bought cheaper cars!

There is quite a lot of strain on the central eyelet and that has a fair bit of reinforcement at that point. I know one person who made a similar setup but opted for a mushroom-like piece of wood instead of a spike. This went into a slotted pocket in the centre of the tarp which possible spreads the load more as well as saving punching a hole in your tarp.

As I said, I'll get a tutorial sorted but it goes together really easily.

Al

 

[Huon]

That looks like a really good setup. I'll give this one a try.

Have you tried using a ridge line and external poles to lift the centre of the tarp in this configuration? This would remove the need to place a pole underneath.

Cheers,

Huon

 

[al21]

Have you tried using a ridge line and external poles to lift the centre of the tarp in this configuration? This would remove the need to place a pole underneath.

I seem to remember trying something like that in a wood once. The ridge-line was attached to nearby trees rather than poles though. A problem with this set-up though is the tarp sags along the length of the ridge-line. Though this was sorted by tying a stopper knot at each end of the line and having a greater length of line between the knots than tarp to keep the tarp taught. It definitely works, but as the tarp tend to be used from the canoe I usually have the poles with me, so they get used instead.

I've also used a line passed through the central eyelet and secured around a stick. This line is then passed over a branch to hoist the tarp up in the manner you often see folks using parachutes.

Toodle pip,

Al

 

[al21]

Okay Tony, since you asked so nicely, here's a step by step guide to me putting up my tarp. Sorry it's taken so long but I generally move at the speed of continental drift.

As you can see, the tarp is square, well nearly, and when it has been packed away correctly the first pegs go in the corner that will face into the wind without unfolding all the tarp. In this picture that's the eyelet to the left. The second peg going in the corner nearest the camera and should be placed roughly 30 degrees off from the direction of the wind. I generally put just the one peg in and add the others on this side of the tarp at the end of pitching to allow for fine adjustments.

The spikes. One male, one female to match the poles. I'm sure someone will be desperate to know that they're carved from Elder, for no other reason than I had some. The metal spikes are wood screws with the heads cut off.

Spikes in place on the poles.

The centre pole goes in next. The fat baldy bloke is yours truly. I'm 5' 11" so this give an idea of the height of the completed tarp.

Third peg goes in the third corner and the tarp becomes free standing to a degree.

With the second pole in place the tarp starts to take shape.

The fold which makes it work. I use some small bungee loops which I wombled from an old advertising banner from work, but there's no reason why cord wouldn't work. Placement of the eyelets is important and I marked and added the eyelets after trying this out for the first time.

The left hand fold (looking into the tarp) showing the detail of the bungee cords. The tarp needs a guy at this point and the bridle arrangement you see was something of an experiment. I've always used a single guy at this point and think I'll stick with the simpler single guy in future. Who doesn't like to tinker, eh?

The completed tarp.

Once familiar, this goes up very easily with only one person. Even with a reasonably strong wind.

So there you have it, a cheap tarp, some poles I have in the canoe anyway, cord, a couple of screws and some whittling.

Enjoy.

Al