Tarp w trekking poles

[CarolinaJP]

I have recently switched over to the tarp setup and this weekend I will head out for my first 4 day hike with it. I just went to walmart and bought some cheap swiss gear trekking poles. (Its all I could find, and I dont want to drop all that cabbage on the expensive ones.) Is there anything I should know about how to secure the poles to the tarp and any general advice. I once saw a guy in pisgah that had what looked like his tarp actually tied straight to the top of the pole in some configuration. I was under the impression that I could just slip the grommet or loop over the top of the pole and tension it and it would be fine. There are some serious winds in pisgah too. Does the pole setup give more protection that just using the trees? I doubt it already but what kind of advice, anything, can you all shoot my way?

[Roland]

If your tarp has grommets, you can invert you pole, and insert the tip through the grommet.

[DAKS]

i tie a glove hitch around the handle of the trekking pole from the guy line that comes off of the ridgeline grommet. this has worked the best for me so far! just be sure to go back and tighten yer' guy lines again after the tarp has been set up for an hour or so? you need the pitch to be as taut as possible to keep the elements off of you! good luck!

[CarolinaJP]

Glove hitch, got it

[DAKS]

oops, i meant to say clove hitch! my bad!

[CarolinaJP]

Well I was wondering why google wasn't showing anything for the Glove. Thanks again.

[Alligator]

If your tarp has grommets, you can invert you pole, and insert the tip through the grommet.If your tip doesn't fit into the grommet, tie a small loop through the grommet and put the tip through that.

[Doughnut]

Use you imaginination and the surrounding vegatation. Sometimes you cn set a tarp as a drop from a low limb or a lean to from a tree. and not use poles.

Try different configurations, see what works for each setting,
good Luck, Have Fun!

Dough Nut

[theinfamousj]

The Swiss Gear hiking poles with handle on the ground will fit their un-rubber-capped tip in a standard grommet.

That said, in Pisgah I tend to pitch a flying diamond with my tarp due to the abundance of trees ... and wind driven rain.

If I use poles at all, I do what Daks said. I <3 the clove hitch. I use very few knots other than that one.

[NICKTHEGREEK]

I have recently switched over to the tarp setup and this weekend I will head out for my first 4 day hike with it. I just went to walmart and bought some cheap swiss gear trekking poles. (Its all I could find, and I dont want to drop all that cabbage on the expensive ones.) Is there anything I should know about how to secure the poles to the tarp and any general advice. I once saw a guy in pisgah that had what looked like his tarp actually tied straight to the top of the pole in some configuration. I was under the impression that I could just slip the grommet or loop over the top of the pole and tension it and it would be fine. There are some serious winds in pisgah too. Does the pole setup give more protection that just using the trees? I doubt it already but what kind of advice, anything, can you all shoot my way?
Tying up under trees in a high wind situation isn't wise. If it can't be avoided at least look up to see if there are any limbs that look dead or ready to fall

[gollwoods]

masons line is good line if you don't already have some.

[judybat]

I switched to the tarp/trekking pole solution several years ago after reading Jardine's book; with one exception it has served me extrememly well (the one exception being once at Shining Rock when I set up in a shallow depression without thinking about it and spent the night sleeping in a puddle...)

I use an 8'x10' campmor silnylon tarp and kelty triptease line. I've attached ~5' pieces of line to each corner of the tarp using bowlines. At each "end" of the tarp in the center (think along the ridgeline if pitched in an A frame configuration) I've attached 10' pieces of line using a bowline. About 2" away from the grommet I've inserted a figure 8 on a bight (I think that's the name of the knot - it's a figure 8 that you put in the middle of a line) - this gives me a small loop that I can use for the trekking pole tips. I can't put my finger on the reason why, but this seems to work better for me than inserting the tips directly into the grommets.

Good luck!