Raisng or lowering a Tarp inside your sleeping bag?

[RAPPLEBY2000]

Is it possible to raise and lower a tarp if you are laying down inside it?

I Campped over last Friday night (Feb 2017) slept under my Standard MoD DPM Basha, Here it is:

I kept it low and snug to keep out most of the wind and all the rain.
but...it's low, getting in and out of the tarp is a pain

A raised tarp would be better, but its more weatherproof lower.....so, I don't want a bigger tarp, is there a way of changing the overall tarp height whilst inside it?

With all the gadgets and posh knots and inventive Bushcrafters, out there There must be a way!


1) You could do it with 2 sets of pegs and move the tarp onto them.
2) You could use 2 sets of bungees or guys and remove one set somehow.
3) You don't want to loose any pegs or lines, and if the weather comes down you don't want loose pegs and lines whipping around!
3) You don't want a complex spidersweb of guy lines or bungees.
4) You only need the entrance to move up/down.
5) You need the rest of the tarp to remain tight enough to repell weather in both positions al the time, but HOW do you keep it tight in both positions?
6) is there a way of doing this with standard kit with no metalwork, sewing, or expensive gadgets (i.e. bog standard Tarp/Bungee/tent peg/paracord).
7) Is there a way that would work for any type of Basha/poncho even homemade and different shaped tarps like diamond and trianges??
8) it has to be a way that can be done in the dark by anyone and dosn't involve tensioned bungees as that could end in a painful disaster!

I have an idea how it coud be done ...but it involves too much kit, I need to experiment.

 

[C_Claycomb]

Interesting spatial problem. I generally prefer knots, but the easiest way to do something like what you want would be to use hardware on the tarp corners, at the ridgeline and at the tree. Dutchware parts come to mind. Tarpworms at the tarp corners, the guy line is fixed at the peg and adjusted for length at the tarp tie out points. A carabiner on a tree strap would give a smooth pulley for adjusting the ridge guy and something like a Stingerz to lock the ridge guy line.

Another way would be to use a fixed ridgeline (rather than a ridge tie out) and do the height adjustment with a prussic attached line off the main ridge. Still use something like the Stingerz to lock off the adjustment line.

I can see you needing two sets of pegs pre-driven into the ground, one for high and one for low pitch, depending on whether you minded the footprint of the tarp getting narrower when it was raised.

 

[bilmo-p5]

Pitch it a different way, eg. a diamond fly-ish arrangement.

 

[Tonyuk]

Basha poles, use bungee as the ties, just adjust the poles up or down from inside the bag.

Tonyuk

 

[Big G]

How about using adjustable trekking poles each end.. using bungees connected to the apex of the tarp and around the trees.

Edit... Tony's beat me to it

 

[bopdude]

In the set up shown you could tie one corner ( nearest in the picture ) off with bungee to the centre ridge tie out so that when you take the corner tie out off it exposes most of one side, a length of cord to pull it back once you're in and job done ?

 

[Janne]

In the set up shown you could tie one corner ( nearest in the picture ) off with bungee to the centre ridge tie out so that when you take the corner tie out off it exposes most of one side, a length of cord to pull it back once you're in and job done ?

Or make a loop, type window blinds, so when you pull in one direction the corner/flap goes toward the apex, pulling the other way it is pulled down?
interesting problem!

The spike in the ground close to the corner needs to have a metal O-ring, the eyelet on the apex too.
place the line through the O-rings, tie the ends together at the eyelet in the corner.
To make it stay in the Down position, a hook of some sort should be attached to the corner O-ring. You hook it to the O-ring at the spike, this way the tarp will stay in the Down position firmly.

 

[Jared]

Put adjustable loops on the tie out points? Using something like utility straps.

To lower would lengthen the loops on the ridge, to get some slack in the tap and tighten it back up by shortening the pegged out loops.

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

OK I'm going to try all of those, I don't actually have an answer as yet.

I was thinking a bit leftfield , how would you keep a cord tensioned at ground level without leaving the shelter?
I was thinking a cord from each side could cross over underneath the groundsheet through a pegged down hollow pole through some sort of pully(about twice the width of a roll mat)then a simple cordlock could be used either end on the loose cord, though then you have a pole to practically bury when in use and it's something else to carry.

It seems Without Bungees, there's not many ways it could be done without loads of extra pegs. pulling the bungee or tarp one way or the other.

Don't know if this helps anyone, but I have a small Vango hoop tent (storm 200) and it has a system of internal straps that form a triangle inside the tent to stop the tent hoop moving in high wind, it's adjustable and removeable in calm weather something like that could be used, which would involve several meters of 1" webbing strap and 2-4 QR clips, and yes... I've already left the remit of the question.

I wonder if something like the SA80 Rifle sling system might work, (if you've used one you'll know what I mean), an adjustable QR'd loop, undo the QR and you have full movement but the strap is still over your shoulder and importantly still on the rifle, do up the QR again and it's tight. The QR strap is never fully loose, it's still part of the shoulder strap, I can't really descibe it that well you have to see it to understand, it's complex to attach to the rifle but when done properly it's an ingenious idea.
A basha strap could work the same way. I may attempt to make one.

 

[Squidders]

The bungees and adjustable pole option would work without leaving the shelter.

Also, if you have a 6 bungees, one at each corner and one at each end of the ridge line, you could potentially have it bungeed out high and wide but pull the corners down to pre-placed pegs without leaving the shelter. If you don't like bungees you could perhaps just re-tie string if you put the knots and tensioners in the right place.

Bit of faff though for any option I think.

 

[Janne]

Another, more simple way to raise a corner is to attach a hook on the corner eylet.

You want it low - attach eyelet to the ground spike. You want it high and open? Attach the eyelet to the metal oring attached to the apex.

The negative with this system is that you only have two positions, Up or Down

Or make a loop, type window blinds, so when you pull in one direction the corner/flap goes toward the apex, pulling the other way it is pulled down?
interesting problem!

The spike in the ground close to the corner needs to have a metal O-ring, the eyelet on the apex too.
place the line through the O-rings, tie the ends together at the eyelet in the corner.
To make it stay in the Down position, a hook of some sort should be attached to the corner O-ring. You hook it to the O-ring at the spike, this way the tarp will stay in the Down position firmly.

 

[The Lord Poncho]

Bungees and adjustable pole always works for me too. Bungees also have the advantage of taking the shock out of heavy winds, thus reducing the likelihood of the basha tearing.

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

I have a plan for a sort of adjustable strap, each strap would require 2 pegs and still a bungees I've almost figured it out,

BTW this is the best pic I've found of the SA80 sling I was trying to explaine, The male part of the strap is NOT the adjustable part, it runs loose along the strap.
(don't go to the page my laptop flagged up a threat)

 

[Tonyuk]

Using a sling seems like a complicated set up, make sure to try it before trusting it for a night. The only thing other than for the weapon i use a sling for is holding webbing pouches together in a curve to keep them from rattling, its okay for that. New molle type stuff doesn't need it though.

Tonyuk

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

Hi, yeah I get you slings are pretty tough though an SA80 rifle is around 11lb, I wouldn't directly use the slings, just the mechanism that allows you to clip and unclip the rifle, without it being detatched from the body. It's difficult to explain the idea I have without a 3D model, but I'm getting towards a working device.