Outdoor Idiots Tarps and Knots

[ringzero]

This site http://outdooridiots.com/ has some excellent articles on tarp rigging and prussik knots.

Very well done articles featuring photos that clearly illustrate the topics under discussion.

Also has articles on various other outdoor topics which are worth reading, if perhaps not as outstanding as the tarps and knots articles.

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[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

I love that site, thermo nuclear tea light anyone

[FredKJ]

I liked the article titled Multifool.  you can do a lot making a tarp with plastic dropcloth.  Don't know where you would find them in the UK but in the outdoor section of Walmart or in outdoor shops you can get these snapon things for plastic tarps that give you a tieoff point.  Might be worth looking for.

[ringzero]

I liked the article titled Multifool.  you can do a lot making a tarp with plastic dropcloth.  Don't know where you would find them in the UK but in the outdoor section of Walmart or in outdoor shops you can get these snapon things for plastic tarps that give you a tieoff point.  Might be worth looking for.

You can set yourself up with a two-man tarp very cheaply, if you get materials at one of the big box hardware stores.

Plastic tarps of various sizes are available with preset grommets, but these are somewhat more expensive than plain plastic sheeting.  These ready made tarps tend to be somewhat heavier, but very strong.  People use them for covering cargo lashed onto cartop carriers, which is very stressful duty for a tarp due to turbulent air flow buffeting the tarp at highway speeds for hours or days.

If you want to make your own, plastic sheeting, 100 feet of paracord, and a roll of duct tape are all you really need.

Cut out a tarp of the desired dimensions - 8 ft x 10 ft will work for two people and their gear.

Tie 8 short paracord loops - about 4 to 6 inch loops.

Duct tape the 8 paracord loops to the 4 corners and to the 4 centerpoints of the sides of the tarp.  Place each paracord loop around a 6 inch piece of duct tape positioned at the center, then fold tape in half and apply to both sides of the plastic.  The duct tape will spread stress across a wide enough area so that the paracord loops will be well anchored.

Cut a second piece of sheeting about 6 ft by 8 ft to use as a ground cloth.  You could also add paracord loops to the corners of the groundcloth so that it can be staked down, although I generally prefer to just weight down the groundcloth with gear.

I've camped using plastic tarps like these many times over the years.  Ordinary storms are no problem, and they'll even handle severe storms if staked out properly, although the stress of high winds will decrease their useful lifetime.  Also, they'll eventually start to degrade and become brittle due to the UV in sunlight.

Depending on the weather encountered, a homemade plastic tarp may last for a years's worth of weekend camping trips - maybe even longer if you are careful with it.

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