Thought I would post some comments on a few gadgets that I used on my last trip:

DeLorme PN-60w GPS w/ SPOT: this is the DeLorme GPS receiver that comes paired with a SPOT. The benefit of this is that you can send various messages via the SPOT using the GPSr, including type & send text.

The downside of this combo is that the DeLorme user interface is difficult to learn and use, IMO. I did load up the 1:50k Quetico maps from their map library, and they were nice as they matched the 1:50k maps that I use in the Park. I don't use a GPS for navigation, but it's nice to see the same maps on the display. I did send an "OK" type & send message every night, which worked well with 100% success rate. This feature could make a sat phone obsolete, IMO.

Black Diamond Lantern: kind of heavy as it uses AA batteries, but nice to have in the tent or for after-dark dishwashing, and easier than headlamps. I made my trip notes every night under it.

Night Ize Figure 9: I know the knots, but these caught my eye in REI. Slick little gadget for stringing up tarps and such, very easy to adjust tension as needed. I used these to rig up the Lean 3 one night. Kind of like BDBs in that they're cheap, lightweight and useful.

Golf club tubes: thought I would try to protect my rod tips while the rods were bungeed into the canoe. They may have worked, but I thought they were fairly worthless. Seemed like they should be more rigid to really add value.

CCS Lean 3+: finally spent a night in the Lean 3 and thought it was far better than the tent - more space and better air flow. The only downside that I see is that unless you carry poles, you have to be willing to pass up sites if the tree/ground combo is not favorable. And it if were cold, the tent would be much warmer.

Thanks Ranger for pointing out those Figure 9 rope tightners, they look like a quick and easy solution to running a tarp line.  I'm into my knots but fast and easy is the goal and these look like they might actually be an improvement on a trucker's hitch.  Has that been your experience?  I went into their site and noticed a product they call "Cam Jam" which I might try as a way to tie down my tarp.  Sometimes these clever little gadgets turn out to be more of a pain in the ash than a help but then sometimes they really do what they say they will.

I've used the figure 9 for a couple years now on my tarp, a Crazy Creek sil-nylon (very nice) and find they make tensioning the tarp immensely easy.  They are very easy to move up and down the rope too, if your tie off is closer or farther then the last one and much quicker than moving a trucker's hitch.  When you tension, run the free end over the hook so it hangs straight down - less likely to come undone due to a breeze or gravity.  I also like to add a quick slip know to help prevent that.  Hardest problem - teaching others that are unfamiliar, the right way to use them when they give you a funny look!

Don't you guys use the same (2 or 3 hole type) line tensioners that normally come with tents on your flys? Tiny, light, simple, effective ...? That figure 9 thing looks like an awful complicated solution.

I once ripped my fly by cranking a trucker's hitch too hard. I had another thingy that came with a tent and works on the same principle as the stone and knot trick to replace that tie point but I swear I sat there for a half hour figuring out how the heck to work it. This figure 9 thing looks way more complicated than that. Cool gadgets on that site but I just don't see the need for a lot of them beyond cool gadget status.

I move the tensioners all the way back to the fly before folding/rolling. Before it goes in the bag, the four corners are together and those cords are like 8' long or so. I just wrap them around the bundle like a chalk line on a stick. I know it seems like they should tangle but they really don't unless there are those little velcro type twigs involved.

Do you guys take your lines off and wrap them individually or what?

Quote:


No, I just untie the Trucker Hitches and start stuffing tarp/fly into bag. When I pull it out, the lines might be intertwined a bit, but a gentle shake seems to separate them nicely.
I'm trying to gradually get rid of items that get lost/broken or that I can use something I already have ( rope/guy lines) to do the same thing.
One of the best things about QJ is the different ways people do things and the clever ideas they come up with.
I'm always experimenting, looking for the " perfect" gear selection
Problem is there's NO such thing

Despite my namesake (Master-tangler) I actually hate tangles and have low tolerance for them. The last thing I need on a trip is any hassles. I just want to grab the lines and uncoil them bada-bing.

In the interests of credit to whom credit is due, I learned this from Cliff Jacobson and it works like a charm. I believe he said it is how the Navy handles ropes (lines). Larger lines like my ridgeline I coil around from palm to elbow (much like your extension cord). Smaller lines like paracord I have in 10' or 20' sections and loop them around my palm.

Now you have a coil. Leave about 10" or so loose and wrap it around several times. Then slide the tag end through the hole you have made and slide the wraps upward to lock in place. Quick and easily accomplished and all stays together without tangles. All my lines go into a small stuff sack without tangling.

The following vid is the general idea. I omit the last step on the vid and instead just pop the tag end through the hole and slide the loops up to lock in place. The trick is to not get the loops so tight that they won't slide up. Seems to work just fine.
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Yup Kerry, that is exactly what I'm talking about.
I have that many and like you I'm not going to take the time either.
When I take my tarp down ( Dri-Fly), I lay it flat on the ground and just let the guy lines fall loosely where there tied off.
I just start at one corner and stuff in bag.
Since I eliminated the 2-3 hole tensioner and any other things that tend to grab/snag, I've found that once I open the tarp out to hang, the lines don't seem to tangle as bad, if at all.

I set my tarp up so I can rig it even in heavy winds. Check my " clip" system out in my QJ picture gallery. If you've never strung a tarp solo in wind/rain, you don't know what your missing

Corner lines are effectively permanent, any point that's always tied off deserves a permanent line.  Everything else is usually added as needed for the conditions.  Sometimes a centerpoint line, sometimes a ridge line, sometimes a center pole.  Once the main set is up there's time for tweaking.

I don't like tangles.  With my tarps being my only shelter I like to be able to quickly set them up in a downpour. 

For my guy-lines I use something similar to a very small butterfly coil starting from one end of the rope.  Left hand is the jig held in a Hang 10 sign.  (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)  Cord goes around thumb & pinky crossing itself in between.  Then that mass of figure-8s is folded and wrapped with the last 12" of cord.  When it's time to pitch the tarp just grab a fist of cord and walk away paying out line as needed.

A big fan of the 3m reflective cord.  They used to make it red, now it's black & less visible in the day than it is at night with a light on it.  It should be hot pink, hunting vest orange, fireman yellow.

Most all my lines are butterfly-coiled.  That's just how I learned.  It keeps twists out of the rope.

I have more like 12-16 ropes hanging off my tarp.  I cut them to about 5 foot lengths and tie onto the tarp loops where they generally stay unless I need to move one or double them up for length.  When storing I just double each up a few times until they are about 8 inches long and tie the group in an overhand or slip knot to hold.  Then either fold or stuff the tarp into its bag.  I have the center of the tarp already tied to a main rope, about 50 feet long, which is also stuffed in when storing.  When I take it out I can tie one free end of the main rope to a tree and find the other end to tie to a tree opposite the first.  When the rope is stretched the tarp center line is already secured and is easy to control even if it is windy and fast since I already have the tarp on the main rope as it comes out of the bag.

BTW, Ranger...is that a Eureka Apex 2XT tent you use?  I have been eyeing that model up and wonder how you like it.

Man!  I must be doing something wrong because it's so much easier and simpler than anything described in this thread.

I mean my rigging a tarp - rope between two trees with half hitches, toss tarp over on a diagonal - and guy out two lines to a tree or root or log - usually with half hitches.  3 pieces of rope and a few minutes and no skills I didn't learn 50 years ago in Scouts.

I must be doing it wrong.

BillConner wrote on Sep 27^th, 2011 at 6:01pm:

Unless it's failed you when you need it, your doing it YOUR way, not necessarily the wrong way
What works for one might be a pain for others.
I've learned a lot here from hearing how others do things. Sometimes they're things I already tried and rejected but often they make me slap my head and say " DUH"
Everyone has they're individual style in how they do things.
Unless your dissatisfied then your way is the right way for you

Excellent point / tip IC.
I also might suggest that if you tie your canoe on top of your car and secure the middle by passing a rope/strap thru car window that doing this will eliminate water seeping along rope/strap when it rains and dripping inside your car.
Tie on both sides of window and you'll eliminate this potential problem.

BillConner wrote on Sep 28^th, 2011 at 1:48am:

Wow that is lucky!  I need to go tripping with you, sneak some of that luck.

Neat trick ST.  I've tried the drip-line on tarp & hammock sets, mixed results, takes care for much but not all drips.

Here's a car-topping trick.  If you use webbing straps and get tired of the hum of the wind put a 1/2 twist in the webbing.

I've done the twist thing with web straps and it works great.  And..ST...Duh!  Why didn't I think of that on my last return drive??? I got a soaked left shoulder from my car top strap dripping on me as I drove through rain. 

Recent set-up of the new rasberry tarp on my September solo.

Photo#3:  One of my more creative set-ups...note unique weights (firewood, rock) hung from sky hooks 

That tent is a Sierra Meteor Light which I got off E-bay for $35.00...it was inexpensive because it did not have a rain fly.  I replaced one full wall with a mosquito screen window and put a zipper on it and the nylon wall so I can still zip up the wall in cooler weather.  Then I made a cover for it that works well and adds a little camoflage when I might not be camping exactly where I am supposed to be    The tent's original design had quite a bit of mosquito screen in the body, across the top and down the corners to the floor, and with just a tarp the wind can blow rain in underneath.

IC
That color of tent cover looks familiar.
MagicPaddler

I only set it up when needed, usually using the same basic setup. Always a ridgeline or two and when possable, one end or at least a corner over the fire. I can always use my foodpack for seating if wind direction is screwing up the log seating. Having as much walking around without rubbing area near the fire as possible is the goal though it can get lower over the seating quickly if there's more than just me and it's nasty out:
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Notice the nearest middle cord is staked in this photo. Normally there'd be a prussic on the ridgeline, a side rope or tree but it was raining enough I needed better drainage. I'll do stuff like that at night before hitting the sack or anytime I leave camp. Usually all it takes is lowering one rope to get a good pitch on all surfaces to be sure water won't puddle when I'm not around to poke at it.

I don't recall a problem with dripping from the ridgeline but I don't hang anything to dry from it either. It will wick and get saturated. Drying things in the rain doesn't work very well for me without body heat anyway.


If it's really windy I just go in the woods and use the stove:
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White or brightly colored cordage to replace my dark cordage is on my to-do list. Has been since I bought that fly. I thought reflective would be worth the price but last trip, I noticed it's only reflective if the light is near eye level. My tent looks like a freaken airport with lamp on head but when holding the lamp at my side there's no apparent reflectivity to it at all.

The prettiest award goes to IC no doubt. Raspberry? Could be my monitor but who's gonna beat that frilly Hollywood pink at it's pooffiest possible state?