How to hang a tarp so it is storm worthy
This is the report for a tarp workshop we held this past weekend.
The view from under the tarp. We could cook, hang out together, and be sheltered from the weather.
A group of us decided to meet for a Tarp Workshop at Silent Lake Provincial Park. The objective was to help everyone learn about hanging tarps well.
The tarp would drain itself automatically during rain. And it could handle wind with ease.
Success for this workshop was that everyone was very comfortable with efficiently putting up a very taught ridgeline, securing the tarp both to the ridgeline, and to anchor points whether they are trees, rocks, stakes, or whatever is available. The workshop featured a handful of the most useful knots, and the most common and useful tarp configurations.
A prusik with a carabiner was used on both sides of the ridge line to keep the tarp firmly in place, yet easily movable if we wanted to.
Tarps are incredibly useful when out in nature. They are quick to set up, and provide shelter from precipitation, and wind. This comes in handy both for overnight camps, and sheltering temporarily during bad weather.
A Siberian hitch was a crowd pleaser as a quick and easy way to securely anchor the tarp to a tree, while the quick release was super easy and fast to remove later.
The weather cooperated, in that we faced multiple significant storms. At one point on Saturday, it got super dark, and it looked as though the world was ending with high winds and heavy rain. All the while, we were dry and cosy under the tarp, practicing knots, with a campfire going. Here's a short video from that.
Everyone did great, mastering the knots, and even delighting in the usefulness and ease for some of them, like the Siberian hitch as a noteworthy example. The company and conversations were fabulous. The food was tasty. And we can’t wait until we can trip together again to practice our skills.
If there is interest, we’ll offer another tarp workshop in the fall to teach participants to be proficient in hanging a tarp.
AND, if there’s interest, we can even look at an advanced tarp workshop too. This would cover how to make a tarp shelter when there’s no trees around, and tips and tricks to make putting the tarp up even faster.
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