I love my tarps, rectangular shaped, square or otherwise. They are extremely versatile and can be adapted to almost all circumstances employing some combination of guylines, ridgelines, stakes, poles and knots. Check out Papa Hiker’s YouTube Channel for some excellent tutorials on pitching tarps. In order to fully exploit this flexibility of tarps, I think it makes more sense to secure guylines to tie out points when and where needed rather than keeping them permanently attached. This means, however, you will be challenged by a bunch of guylines which – without strict supervision – will quickly transform into a disorganized tangle of loops and knots.
Wrapping guylines
The figure-8 method for wrapping guyline usually works great. However, I found that with thin, slippery and/or relatively stiff cord the final hitch does not hold and eventually will come loose. Personally I use very strong but relatively thin 1.6mm cord, with a UHMWPE core (Dyneema) and a polyester sleeve, which somehow always manages to wiggle itself free from the embrace of the hitch. Untangling a bunch of them is the last thing you want to do in nasty weather. Additionally tying and untying the final hitch becomes more difficult with gloves on.
Ditch the hitch
After some failed attempts, I came up with a simple solution: I wrap each guyline using the figure-8 method, but without the final (slippery) hitch. Instead the bundle is kept together by means of a short loop of bungee cord with a cord lock.
Guylines can thus easily be inserted or taken out, as demonstrated in the video clip below.
I keep all bungee loops together with a small carabiner, which I can clip to my belt while pitching or taking down the tarp. In a pinch, the bungee loops can serve double duty as additional shock cord for the tie outs. This solution adds a little weight, but not much – 3g per bungeecord & cordlock combo and 5g for the carabiner – and could be reduced by using thinner bungee cord and smaller cord locks.
Guyline system
In case you are wondering about my guylines: I occasionally use a trucker’s hitch to tension a line, but for convenience, I prefer Linelok style tensioners. Particularly when it is raining and your tarp is sagging, retying a bunch of slippery hitches in the dark is no fun.
Where possible I tie my guylines to trees, branches, roots, rocks, etc. When resorting to stakes, I use a Marlinspike hitch. For this reason, the linelok is located at the tarp-side of the line rather than at the stake-side (which precludes tying off to something).
To attach the guyline to the tarp, one can use a small carabiner. This adds about 5g a piece, which is a small weight penalty, unless we are talking about 8 to 12 guylines to nail down a tarp in severe wind. There is also a (very) small chance of mechanical failure with carabiners. I therefore prefer to use a loop with a toggle that goes through the tarp’s webbing loop and onto itself. The guyline proper and its loop are connected to each other with a small chain link to avoid damage from rope friction.
Other uses
I use the same bungee & cord lock combo to keep the 10 guylines on my big silnylon lavvo tent organized. In this case, however, the lines are permanently attached to the tent, as are bungee & cord locks combos.
