Tie Down a Hammock Tarp With Adjustable Guy Lines

Tying out a hammock tarp can be a pain unless you know the right techniques. This article explains the knots you can use to make your tieouts easily adjustable.

Watch the video which demonstrates the proper method for tying out your guy lines:

Tie out your hammock tarp with adjustable knots

Your hammock tarp comes with D-rings or grommets at the corners. Tying adjustable guy lines is easy if you know the right techniques. I say that in the plural because there are others besides the one demonstrated here, but this one works well if you don’t have any hardware beyond the stake itself. Here’s the recipe:

• Cut a guy line the length of your outstretched arms
• Tie a bowline in one end for a loop as big around as an “O” formed by your index finger and thumb (how to tie the bowline)
• Cut a piece of line as long as the distance from your knee to your hip joint
• Tie this piece into a loop using two rolling hitches as demonstrated in the video
• Tie this loop onto the guy line using a Prussik knot with five turns
• Tie the end of the guy line into the loop with a double sheet bend
• Drive a stake
• Now hook the large loop of the guy line to your stake, and tighten the tarp by sliding the Prussik loop upward on the guy line

If you’ve done a lot of camping, this all makes perfect sense, but if you’re new to knots, it might seem complicated…. unless you watch the video!

As the wind and humidity cause the tarp to stretch, tightening it down is easy with these Prussik loops. In a future article I will demonstrate the use of shock cord to automatically tighten your tarp.

~SnoMan