wilderblog

Tarps without Resources

I've now made a second attempt at getting an adirondac up on the mountain, but was again foiled. I got lucky with some old gazebo poles - they're fairly heavy, but good to practice with - or so I thought. I couldn't get the pegged into the ground, and they were also slippy to tie rope around.

• Tarp without grommets
• Constrictor knot

Failing knots in wind

The slidey knot I use on tent pegs won't hold at all in a storm

The ground is too rocky

The two moonlawns I found on the mountain are extremely rocky. Suggestions included using rocks, using heavy logs, or doing a flying tarp attached to trees i.e. we were out of luck with anything requiring tent pegs

The tarp catches the wind

Everyone's best advice was to camp somewhere else, taking landscape features into consideration to block the wind. I also felt that I needed to accept this was the wrong time to practice this tarp setup, if it wasn't suited to conditions. Tarps lower to the ground may be more wind-resistant.

Tarp and poles

Tarp designs with sticks

The purpose of these designs is to put up tarps in environments without trees.

• C-Fly
• Rectangular Adirondac

Lessons

• The rectangular adirondac, I really enjoy. It's huge but also cosy. I put it up with sticks that had a curve to them, the best I could find, & this was a disaster. However, I think I could have made it work with a more rope
• You can't have too much rope for this.
• I've found a couple of great camping spots

Hammock

Put up a hammock to rest in

Knots

• Repeat the knots from Tarp 101
• I half-assed a grippy knot like a single column tie for the hammocks, and then a kind of amateur pulley for one side and a rolling hitch on the other. I'm concerned about the trees - a single column tie like a handcuff is designed not to tighten and to distribute the grip, but I think it's supposed to grip a bit so it tightens as it takes weight
• Hammock Suspension. Three ways to hang your hammock.

Lessons

• The further apart the trees, the flatter the hammock - the easier to sleep in but also the more likely you are to fall out. I got tossed several times, like an Irish mythic hero attempting to ride a masterless horse.
• Figure out wind direction before you put it up, or it will catch all the wind
• A regular garden hammock works fine (although mine was heavy to carry)
• Did you know that bracken releases cancer spores? And they get into the water, the meat and the milk. I don't know what to do with this information, emotionally, practically or politically. I live in the stomach cancer capital of britain, because of the bracken.
• I cuddled up with my wool blanket and a hot water bottle but i still got cold really quickly during a nap, and this was during the day. September, not too cold.
• The trick, apparently, is to put a quilt around the outside of the hammock

Tarp 101

How to put up a basic tarp shelter

Knots

• Timber Hitch - tree 1
• Trucker Hitch - tree 2
• prusik knot - for tension on the tarp
• Rolling Hitch - tensioning guy lines
• Tie a tarp if it doesn't have grommets

Tarp Designs

• I put up an A-frame and a Lean-to
• 15 shelters with a tarp
• Creek Stewart's Pocket Field Guide: Survival Tarp Shelters

Picking a Campsite

• How To Pick A GOOD Camp Site: The Four W's
• 8 Things To Avoid When Choosing A Campsite

Lessons

• Bring one or more picnic squares at the top of the bag for putting your bag on and kneeling on. I use 'Bag for Life' which are easily available with not buying something new and can be used to carry stuff in a pinch.
• Finding a safe spot on the mountains is difficult
• Diagonal tarp setups don't seem to work well with a rectangular tarp, and it stretches uncomfortably on the bias
• The lean-to tarp setup is so welcoming, but I immediately wanted something to sit or lie on
• I got peckish, but bringing a coffee was a mistake for bladder reasons