tarp ridgelines

[adestu]

evening all
its been a while since ive posted alot has happend
i'm looking at purchase the dd 5x5 so im looking for a ridgeline cordage to suspend it.i'll be using a ratchet strap for tension as its a woodland campsite
any suggestions for a low stretch rope to be honest,i have a dymea ridgeline but its too fine.
cheers for now

 

[Mark Baigent]

Cant help with that but if you are using a rachet you might want yo use something to protect the trees

 

[adestu]

i shouldve pointed out.the ratchet is going from the ridgleine to a ground stake so no trees involved

 

[TLM]

Steel piano wire is the stiffest and strongest, Dyneema is the lightest weight. Others are somewhere in between. The one basic rule in outdoor materials is that no PA (Nylon) in sun light. Polyester rope is the practical material if one does not like to pay for Dyneema.

 

[Mesquite]

6mm Polyhemp rope is great stuff for this application.

Low stretch, doesn't intrude on they eye like blue poly rope does. I use it for a 4.2 x 4.2 Tatonka tarp without any problem so it'll easily handle a 5x5 DD tarp.

 

[TLM]

Polyhemp seems to be PP (polypropylene). It has two good points for it, it is cheap and does not take in water. And it is cheap. Degrades in sun light and becomes rough. Even the cheapest polyester is better. Of course it can be used if nothing else is around.

 

[Nice65]

Polyester rope is the practical material if one does not like to pay for Dyneema.

That is sensible advice, piano wire..not so much.

 

[Mesquite]

Polyhemp seems to be PP (polypropylene). It has two good points for it, it is cheap and does not take in water. And it is cheap. Degrades in sun light and becomes rough. Even the cheapest polyester is better. Of course it can be used if nothing else is around.

I've been using it for a couple years now and not had any problems yet.

I don't tend to pitch up in full sunlight so degradation due to that shouldn't be an issue either, especially if I get 3 or 4 years use out of it.

 

[TLM]

That is sensible advice, piano wire..not so much.

Eeerrrr, quite. But the question was for low stretch and piano wire is actually one of the cheapest material for such. But not very practical.

There is a reason people on boats use polyester ropes. Dacron, Terylen, Diolen. Strong, stiff, easy on hands, takes UV well, not expensive.

 

[Broch]

There are plenty of low-cost cords out there that will do a fine job. A good low-stretch option is starter/pull cord. You can get 30m of 4mm Oregon for less than a tenner - it's Polyamide (or 100m for £20!)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oregon-522...3?keywords=starter+cord&qid=1582965776&sr=8-3

 

[TLM]

While there is no problem with strength of PA ropes, they are stretchy. Not always bad as in dynamic ropes of rock climbers, I think static ones are mostly PE. Most PA grades also absorb a lot of water making the ropes heavier.

 

[TLM]

Maybe a few words of explanation. Almost anything that just is strong enough can be used for hammock ridge line, no question about that. It just happens that some materials are better than others while there often is no "best" material for any one purpose.

People tend to clump all plastics as equal, they are not, not even nearly. The number of different thermoplastic plastics is in the hundreds, some years ago somebody did a lot of counting and at that time about 50000 different "grades" were available. That includes mixtures and fillered ones.

If only stiffness matters tightly wound linen string would fare well with the ordinary plastics. The high strength/stiffness crowd like Dyneema or Kevlar is still in a class of its own but there even more care is needed to choose the "right" material for the purpose if the high properties are really needed.

 

[Broch]

They are designed to absorb some shock without stretching a lot (desirable) and, to be honest, a 10m length of 4mm is going to weigh next to nothing wet or dry. It works just fine.

 

[adestu]

I knew I joined this forum for a reason.thanks everyone. A few great suggestions

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