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Got roasted for my 'ultralight' tarp setup in a Colorado storm
A guy at a trailhead near Boulder saw my 8x10 silnylon tarp and said, 'That's a wind sail, not a shelter.' He was right. During a sudden hailstorm, my pitch collapsed because I used only four stakes on uneven ground. I switched to a hexagonal tarp with six tie-out points and carry two extra stakes now. What's your go-to method for securing a tarp in bad weather?
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terrymitchell2mo agoMost Upvoted
Wind sail, not a shelter" is a pretty good burn, I'll give him that. My go-to is just using way more stakes than seems reasonable, because it never is. Turns out the ground doesn't care about your minimalist ideals.
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elizabeth_williams5d ago
Have you tried using snow stakes or those big plastic ones? They hold way better in loose dirt than the skinny metal ones most people use, and I learned that the hard way after watching my tent fly off like @terrymitchell's wind sail comment.
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jadeg812mo ago
What's your guy line setup like? I saw a video where this guy uses a trucker's hitch on the main ridgeline points, says it lets you really crank it tight without slipping. He also uses those Y-stakes on the corners for way better hold in soft ground.
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