tarps Archives - The Cargo Cult Café

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!

3 Tarp Ridgelines: Tied, Toggled & Hardware

A ridgeline is a line connected between two points used to suspend a tarp. Ridgelines can be built into the tarp, and all you have to do is attach a line to either side of the tarps peak, via grommets or rings. Where as other tarps require a continuous ridgeline, where a single line is attached between two points or trees and then the tarp is connected, typically using two prusik knots. There are several methods to set this up so lets start with the most basic, tying it up.

Tied Ridgeline

We begin by tying a bowline hitch, feed the working end around an object then form a loop on the standing part of the line with the working part on top, and then feed the working end underneath and through the loop, then wrap it under and around the standing part and then back through the loop again. I tuck a bight instead of feeding the line completely through making it easy to untie later.

On the opposing point we are going to tie a Truckers Hitch. First I wrap the working end around a tree and then form a loop in the standing part of the line by feeding in a bight from the working part, now then feed the rest of your working line through the loop, creating a 3 to 1 pulley and then finish it off with a slippery half hitch.

To finish this off we are going to add two Prusik Knots. Cut two pieces of line about 8″ long and create a loop, then wrap the two strands 2 or 3 times inside of itself and pull down on the inner strands, while making sure everything stays neat. Then attach the strands to your tarp using a simple overhand knot. To adjust this knot alone the ridgeline, grab it by the knot and slide.

As a bonus tip, if your tarp has torn out or is missing a grommet or tie-out, you can quickly remedy it with a non-jagged creek or river stone. Simply tuck the stone into the part of the tarp where you want to attach a line, and wrap a loop or prusik knot around the stone and attach it to your ridgeline.

Toggled Ridgeline

Now we are going to cover toggles. I start this one out with a figure of eight loop, but any non-slip loop knot will work fine. Feed the line around the tree and then feed a bight from the standing part of the line into the loop and add a toggle or a strong twig between the two, pull tight and lock it into place. On the opposite side you can get creative with a toggle setup but a truckers hitch works just as well.

Again we are going to add two prusik knots but this time we are going to add toggles to each prusik using a girth hitch, which is like a prusik but you’re only making one loop and then attaching the toggle. For this to work you’ll need loops at either end of your tarp, I use soft shackles which are basically rope carabiners. Feed the toggles through your tarp’s loops and slide the prusik to add tension to your tarps ridgeline. The nice thing about this setup is taking it down is as simple as pulling the toggles out of the knots.

Hardware Ridgeline

Finally, let’s finish this off with hardware. The point of using hardware is to provide quick attachment or detachment, improve adjustability and to reduce the friction caused by knots. Hardware such as carabiners or Dutch Hooks can replace anchoring knots like the bowline hitch or they can be used on prusik knots to quickly attach or detach your tarp. Products like the Nite Ize Figure 9 or DutchGear like his Tarp Fllz or Wasp can be placed anywhere on the ridgeline and used to replace a trucker’s hitch. There’s a few different products on the market to choose from, but you may want to avoid products that are overly complicated, heavy or have sharp edges. You can get Dutchware from his website www.dutchwaregear.com.

Hammock Consideration

For those of you who are hammock campers, you may want to consider leaving a gap at either end of your tarps ridgeline. This is because your hammock is usually set up higher then the ridgeline and this will allow your hammock straps to hang in-between the ends of your ridgeline, reducing any stress added to either line. But it is not completely necessary.

One way of doing this comes from, Derek Hansen from theultimatehang.com. On one end, attach a carabiner to a fixed loop knot and then clip it to both the line and the peak of your tarp. On the opposite side attach a prussic knot to the working part of the line and a carabiner to the prusik, then clip it in the same way as before, adjust the line to where you want it, and then add tension to the line by pulling the excess slack through the prusik.