View Full Version : Using bungee-shock cord to prevent sag
Wondering how many here are using shock cords between the guylines and stakes or in parallel to the guyline to prevent sag (if any) from silnylon tarp/tarptents?
Additional comfort vs Additional weight vs Potential projectile.
Your thoughts?
Hi
I tried that years ago but went back to just tensioning my tents via the line loc provided .
The reason was that I could get better tension when I wanted it and I only do it once after the fabric has relaxed. Regardless how much rain or how cold it gets after that it does not "relax" any longer.
My guess is that people that say they do it multiple times don't do it the same way I do...
I posted this photo before :
34820
hard to have a longer unsupported span than that but you can see that after an all night post monsoonal rainfall it is still nice and taut.
It started raining at around 6:30 / 7PM (did that every night for about 1 week) so I just tensioned it before going to bed , probably around 8PM. The photo was taken around 8-9 am the next day.
nsherry61
05-15-2016, 22:47
I frequently use either rubber bands or elastic cord in tensioning guy lines to manage high wind stress to keep from pulling stakes, or tearing cheap tarps (or even good tents/tarps in really high winds), or quieting down the flapping of loose fabric on my tent or tarp and even sometimes use it to manage the relaxing of silnylon when it gets wet and I don't want to wake up in the middle of the night to retention or restake my guys.
parkinson1963
05-15-2016, 23:35
I use 4 inch elastic cord loops between the tarp and the stakes keeps the tarp tight in windy and rainy conditions.
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ChrisJackson
05-16-2016, 08:10
I'd like to make my own one of these days but using these currently and they're very nice: http://www.jacksrbetter.com/shop/self-tensioning-lines/
magic_game03
05-16-2016, 08:58
Really, really, really bad idea!
I've met a few hikers over the last two decades who have put their own eye out with a bungee cords. If I remember correctly bungee cords are the number 1 reason for people accidentally loosing their eyes (I'm not stating a fact just what I recall from memory but you can look it up). This is not so much a hiker issue as a general issue with bungee cords that have hook ends but it extends into the hiker world.
Anyway, I've met hikers who have put out their own eyes when the bungee end snaps back into their eye, but I've also met a hiker who put out his own eye, with his own thumb, when he lost his grip on the hook end.
Simple solution to fix this issue is to buy bungee cord (by the footage, like at REI) and make bands or loops. Then either tie the ends off (I would only tie off if you have knot skills) or secure with a cord lock, toggle, or tension cinch. I don't usually use bungee but if I'm carrying a full winter load, like ice axe, snow shoes, crampons, climbing rope, protection, and so on I will pull out a piece of 4 ft. bungee for the trip.
nsherry61
05-16-2016, 09:27
. . . Additional comfort vs Additional weight vs Potential projectile.
For me it's not comfort except in the sense of a better night's sleep and less flappy noise.
Weight is almost nothing. A bit of complication is definitely a small drawback.
I have frequently used elastic of some kind on guy lines for 30+ years. Never had a projectile issue, although I have heard rumor of flying tent stakes for some. Seems people get scared by all kinds of things. :eek:
I have on several occasions tripped on guy lines, that being elasticized didn't damage my tent/tarp, didn't pull the stake out of the ground and didn't end up actually tripping me.
magic_game03
05-16-2016, 10:24
sorry, ignore my first response. when I read your post I think I somehow read "bungee" from the title into the post, but now I think you are just talking about shock cord.
HooKooDooKu
05-16-2016, 21:47
I got the idea to use something like shock cord from a hiking book circa 1970's when I first started hiking over 20 years ago.
The idea is that the shock cord provides a little give for things like the wind blowing, yet keeping your guyline taught.
But that means the real trick to using this trick is to find the right combination (of length, thickness, line or loop) so that when you have your guyline at your desired taughness, the shock cord still has some give. If the shock cord is too weak, you stretch the shock cord to its full extent and you have no give. Too strong and
you still have no amount of significant give.
sorry, ignore my first response. when I read your post I think I somehow read "bungee" from the title into the post, but now I think you are just talking about shock cord.
Hmm, What is the difference between the two?
Also, would you explain a bit more the solution you provided in answer 1?
Thanks for your contribution
Cedric
I like this hardware: http://www.mcmaster.com/#3961T15.
I use it on the vestibule of my tent, and I can can tension/relax the cord from inside the tent as needed.
Cosmo
I'd like to make my own one of these days but using these currently and they're very nice: http://www.jacksrbetter.com/shop/self-tensioning-lines/
I use a DIY set of these on my tarp..
They are attached via a prusik knot and they have a fixed eye on the opposite end of the line so I can use the guy line either way..with or without the self tensioning component
I've since done away with the JRB style tensioners. I found them too bulky to carry considering alternatives. I have been using Dutchwaregear Tarp Worms on updated reflective shock cord. Love them. No reason to think I would change these anytime soon.
Sent from East of Montauk
Maui Rhino
08-07-2016, 20:09
I use size 64 rubber bands on my tarp. They work great without adding too much weight.
I use 4 inch elastic cord loops between the tarp and the stakes keeps the tarp tight in windy and rainy conditions.
Sent from my SM-T230NU using Tapatalk
This method works well on my SubLight Sil from TarpTent.
V8
Berserker
08-19-2016, 12:15
Hi
I tried that years ago but went back to just tensioning my tents via the line loc provided .
The reason was that I could get better tension when I wanted it and I only do it once after the fabric has relaxed. Regardless how much rain or how cold it gets after that it does not "relax" any longer.
This ^
Setup tent, leave alone until ready to go to sleep, check all lines and tension as needed. If you are setting up and then going to sleep immediately afterward you can still check the tension right before going in the tent. Worst case scenario is it sags a bit...no big deal unless it's super windy in which case you'll get some fabric flapping noise.