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5 Do It Yourself Elastic Tarp Tensioners

February 8, 2017 by Mike Leave a Comment

Here are 5 DIY Elastic Tarp Tensioners anyone can make.

Rain, snow and high winds can put a lot of strain on your tarp or rainfly, especially on its tie out points. Some materials such as silnylon tends to sag when wet, and paracord is known to stretch under tension. Besides spending the cash on a Cuben Fiber tarp or tent, you can add tension your line using a variety of different friction knots and hardware. You can change the cordage on your guy and ridge lines to either Lash-it or Zing-it line, which are extremely strong, light weight, and they do not stretch like paracord. Or, consider adding a little spring to your setup with elastic tensioners.

The purpose of an elastic tensioner is to add tension to your guys if the material begins to sag or if your line begins to stretch, and they conform to the give and take of high winds, so you won’t tear your tie outs.

Bungee cord.

Bungee Cords are one of the easiest kind of tensioners to setup and many people use them as a substitute for their guy lines. When choosing a bungee cord, shop around and test them out. Some bungees have little elasticity and others will stretch, but they lack the strength to pull back to shape. Try finding something with both stretch and strength.

A simple bungee loop.

If the hooks on the ends of your Bungee Cord makes you nervous about attaching them to your tarp, a simple remedy would be to cut the hooks off and tie a Loop into the bungee cord. They can be hitched onto your tie outs and then your guy line can be hitched onto the loop. I have tried this with both bungee and shock cord with good results.

Shock cord guy line tensioner.

Shock Cord tensioners seem to be pretty common amongst tarp enthusiasts. Tie two figure of eight loops in your guy lines about eight inches apart, then take your shock cord and feed it through both loops, tighten the shock cord to the point just before its maximum stretching point, and finish it off with a simple knot.

A piece of bungee cord clove hitched onto a guy line.

As an alternative to using your bungee cord in a loop, try Clove Hitching a 6 to 8 inch piece of bungee cord onto your guy line. Form two loops the exact same way with the working part on the top of each loop. Then tuck the second loop under first loop and slide one end of the bungee cord into the loops and tighten. Then stretch out the cord along the guy line to a point just before its maximum stretching point, mark that spot, and clove hitch the other end of the bungee onto it. I like this one because it is simple, quick to tie, and you can add the elastic tensioner anywhere along the line that it is needed.

Thera-band tarp tensioner.

In a previous video I showed you how to make a Thera-Band Tarp Tensioner. This tensioner is definitely more difficult to make compared to the other methods, but it is one of my go to’s when setting up my tarp. Here is a quick summary of how you can make your own. Choose a strong, lightweight line that does not stretch under tension and tie a figure of eight on one end of the line. Feed the line through a section of Thera-Band and pull the band about an inch over the knot and lash it down on the loop side of the knot, then roll the excess band over the lashing to make it look nice and lock the lashing into place. Stretch the elastic tubing along the inner cordage until it the tube reaches it’s near maximum stretching point, tie another figure of eight loop at that point and repeat the same process on this side.

Keep your eyes and ears open and your powder dry!

Tying a Dutch Hook into a Brummel Eye Splice

October 30, 2015 by Mike Leave a Comment

A Dutch Hook is a small, titanium, hook designed to be attached to either; the end of your ridge-line or a Prusik knot, making for a quick setup of your tarp. They weigh only .4 grams and can be tied or spliced onto 1.75 mm Zing-it or Lash-it line. All you have to do is wrap the line around a tree and clip the hook into place. You can get these great quality Dutch Hooks from DutchWare Gear.

To set this up, first we are going to need some materials: I am using a single braid, 1.75 mm, Lash-it line, a Dutch Hook, some very thin jewelry wire stolen from my wife, and a multitool with pliers.

Let’s begin by feeding the working end of the line through the eye hole of the Dutch Hook, and decide how big of a loop you want, but leave 2-3” of line beyond the point where you want base of the loop to be, for a stronger splice.

Now push the Lash-it line together, like a Chinese finger trap, on the standing portion of the line where you want the loop to be, and feed the loop of the wire, created by folding it in half, through the hole and place the working end of the line into the metal loop, then pull it back through the hole, and readjust the loop to where you want it to be.

Next we are going to do the same thing to the working end. Push the line of the working end together, just below your first pass on the standing part, and feed the wire through to the opposite side, grab onto the standing end and pull the entire standing part through the line. These two passes through the standing part of the line is called a Marlin splice.

Now we are going to finish this off by tucking the excess working end into the standing part of the line for a stronger splice that looks clean. Stretch the lines out, parallel to each other, and find a point 1/4” to 1/2” beyond the end of the working end, on the standing part of the line. At this point, squeeze the line together like you have before but this time feed the wire through the inside part of the hollow braided line towards the loop, coming out just below the point of your second pass. Grab the excess working line and pull it back through. I found it to be easier if I keep the line of the standing part scrunched up while I pushed the wire through and pulled the working end back, tucking it into place.

Finally, starting at the base of the loop, I used my fingers to work the line and stretch it out, covering the working end and completing the splice.

Keep your eyes and ears open and your powder dry!

DIY: Thera-Band Tarp Tensioner

August 11, 2015 by Mike Leave a Comment

Today, we are going to learn how to make a very heavy duty tarp tensioner for high winds or for that droopy silnylon tarp.

You may be asking yourself, what is a tarp tensioner and why would you need one? Good question! A tarp tensioner is basically a piece of rubber or elastic attached to your tarp or tent’s guy lines that allows tension to be taken off of your grommets during high winds or tension to be added when silnylon tarps begin to sag due to water exposure.

So far comparing this tensioner to my old shock cord ones, I can safely say I see a lot of promise in this new up comer. The elasticity of the Thera-Bands can definitely take a beating and offer twice the workforce. The real test comes this fall and winter when we add freezing rain and wind into the mix. I’ve heard that it may freeze to its stretched out length but hey at least I’ll still have a guy line.

Here is the materials you are going to need:

Thera-Band (this is the same elastic band you can get for workouts)
Guy Line Cordage (something thin and strong, sorry paracord is too thick!)
Cordage for whipping the ends of the tensioner.
Scissors
Marker
Ruler
Hammer and nails
A strong clamp
Pliers or a multitool.
Tough fingers after doing ten of these I started to feel it.

Basically you decide how big of a tensioner you’ll need. If I would decide to do it again I might make it six inches. The length of the finished band is 7.5,” the tensioner completely stretched out is 19″ with 2″ loops on either side and 15″ from knot to knot. Now the purpose of this device is to stretch so I made the inner static line twice the length as the elastic outer tubing, that is from knot to knot. The inner line is still used as a guy line and needs to be pulled taut. From there you are basically lashing the elastic tubes to the outer sides of the knots with a simple rope whipping or zip ties, but I did’t like the look of the zip ties and worried it would eventually lead to failure of the device. Once that has been done the tubing needs to be rolled back over itself. I believe this makes the tensioner look nice but also reinforces the lashed ends.

Well the only other thing I could think of to help you is a step by step instructional video on how to make one of these doohickies. Get creative and let me know what you think of this newish tarp tensioner. Also send in some tips as to things you want to see pertaining to camping, preparedness or wilderness living. Together we can learn a lot!

Keep you eyes and ears open, and your powder dry!

The Frontiersmen

January 23, 2015 by Mike Leave a Comment

Here is the video for The Frontiersmen: