Guy line mod.

[frogatthefarriers]

I've just modded my tarp guy lines. They're 1.5mm dyneema and I had used a taut line hitch as a moveable adjuster, but I got to thinking, " Why does the adjuster have to be there?". So here's what I did.





The adjustment is at the tarp tie-outs and a loop is spliced on the other end of the guy. This can be larks-headed on to a tent peg, meaning that should the peg pull out, it won't get flung out and lost in the grass/leaf litter/heather (although it could ping out under tension and take your eye out). Also, the guy can be adjusted through its' full length, unlike a normal guy where the adjuster only allows it to shorten to half length (because the adjuster comes up against the tie-out). In theory, if I were a weight weenie, this means that the guy length could be halved.

Adjustment is by a variation of the Chinese finger trap, where one line passes through the middle of the other and is free to slide until tension is applied

[Cheeky Monkey]

If you want a guy line that can be easily adjusted from the tarp end (and is probably simpler than that):

- 1 to 2m line of as skinny as you can get cord (1.2mm dyneema / arboriculturist's throw line - massively over-strength for a guy line but good in 2-for-1 situations and still silly light)

- tie or splice a fixed loop in the end to peg through.

- small continuous loop, c.10cm long at most.

- munter hitch (or other similar sliding-hitch knot) the fixed loop onto the longer line.

- larks foot the "other end" of the fixed loop to the tarp eye or tie-out.

To adjust just pull the loose end of the longer chord from under the tarp through the hitch. Slightly less easy to loosen but hardly difficult. Avoids all the "double strand" bits of yours (the whoopee sling style bits) and elaborate monkey's fist knots. Splicing dyneema is much strong than tying knots in it (or tying not in anything, really). Dyneema also, due to its slippery physical characteristics, also doesn't tend to hold knots well.

Saying all that, dicking around with rope and cord is always good fun and I have to admire a man with the patience, skill and abilities to tie a monkey's fist

[frogatthefarriers]

Whooee, I thought this thread was dead.

Thanks for the reply. I tried this out for the first time on last months' BAM. It worked very well for hammocking, but the length of the adjustment slide could be too long to anchor the tarp close to the ground. Your solution would be better for this and I had thought of a continuous loop with a prussik over the long line, but I succumbed to one of my many faults and tried to be too clever

The little knots are Celtic buttons and are there to stop the main line from sliding right out of the adjuster

[Cheeky Monkey]

Celtic buttons eh, I'll have to look that one up.

You're right as well that the method I've described gives you almost full range adjustment and avoids the dead space of the "constrictor". Then again, for a guy line you could probably make the constrictor much shorter than might be used in a whooping sling.

I must also admit the idea of the guys I use was someone else's setup. Think I got it off the Hammock forums site. Given I've a few tarps for various hammocks and bivi's the quick and easy attachment of the fixed loop is handy for swapping between tarps or if one point needs a longer guy.

[frogatthefarriers]

I don't have the skills to do it, but if the tarp loops held a couple of small rings, then the guys could be threaded around and between them in such a way that adjustment would allow the tarp to be pegged right to the ground.