Saggy tarp pitch

[heavy]

For the first few years I used a MYOG plastic tarp 8 x 10 and had no trouble getting a tight pitch in traditional a-frame mode. After it finally failed, I bought a silnylon flat 8 x 10 tarp and I have experimented with various pitches, but I'm not nearly as successful. My concern is that if really foul weather presents itself when I'm up in Roan or other exposed areas, that the tarp will collapse and I will be upset during my slumber with a wet tarp on my face. If anyone has silnylon tarp pitching tips, I'm all ears. I have a bowline attached to each tab to stake out the corners directly when needed and taut line hitch so that I can adjust guylines easily.

[LoneStranger]

Is your issue with the initial pitch or after the tarp gets wet? SilNylon is known for sagging when wet, but still works if you can adjust the stake out lines after it loosens up.

I guess I need to know more about what your problem is to give you proper advice.

[Time Zone]

Please be more specific about your current pitching method. Are you doing an A-frame, and if so, do you have trekking poles holding up each apex, or are you running a line between trees? If the latter, are you draping the tarp over the line, or does it hang from the line say with prussik knots on each end? Or is your ridge connected end-only to trees, with no continuous ridgeline at all?

What's the make of your tarp? Some of them are designed to be taut in diamond pitch, not necessarily A-frame. I noticed that with my old Kelty Noah tarps. Which way the seam runs can matter.

[heavy]

No continuous ridgeline. I'm using trekking poles at each end of an A frame pitch, but I do have one longer guyline that I tie to a tree when convenient and I get a much tighter pitch that way. It is generally not getting a tight pitch, but gets worse when wet. The seam runs through the middle of the tarp, but not lengthwise which seems strange, like there is a lot of strain on the seam. I have attached the link to the tarp if that's helpful.

http://www.etowahoutfittersultraligh...com/tarps.html

[Time Zone]

Agreed, the seam position is strange, and could well be one of the causes of your issues with tautness. Straining at the seam could lead to leakage too - you'll have to seam seal it well if it's not already.
You also mention it's worse when wet - that's a characteristic of silnylon, as LoneStranger noted. That's one reason for the growing popularity of SilPoly as a material - it does not get saggy when wet. Silnylon still has some advantages, though. And re-tightening guylines is just standard practice for silnylon users. E.g. pitch tent/tarp, then re-tension 30-60 min later, and if further sagging occurs, do it again at nighttime nature calls, etc. Be sure to loosen it up if it'll be left up and drying out during the day - else it'll be too tight.

Anyway, I don't have a good answer for you. Seems like you've got a couple good pitching methods. I like the one pole + tree idea. But the seam orientation and the material are ultimately going to be limiting factors in how much tautness you can get.

[Gambit McCrae]

I think what you have described is common sylnylon characteristics.
I would suggest becoming accustomed to retightening, or investing in a different material tarp.
I have a HMG echoii tarp i used a couple years ago, I have considered carrying again over my 30oz dyneema tarptent dipole2

[Alligator]

In the worst weather I pitched my 8x10 silnylon tarp in a pyramid pitch as an A-frame pitch leaves both ends open and you can still get rain splash or driving rain from two sides and one will be on your head. In pyramid pitch, I would tuck in parallel along the length of the back side. I'd still get some sag but I would stay dry every time, some condensation though. If you stick with specific pitches, there are add-on tabs that you could attach to a couple of spots that would allow you to guy out specific saggy points. I have some but haven't every bothered to attach them. There is also a type of attachment that looks like a distorted figure eight where one of the loops is oversized. It attaches both sides of the tarp by squeezing the tarp. Then you can attach a line. I had one but it weighed a little bit and I didn't like stretching the tarp with it. An older idea is simply a smooth rock (glass marble even) where you bunch the tarp around the rock and tie a line. The line would possibly wear on the tarp there too. Anyway, back to say the pyramid shape, a guyout in the middle and up from the ground about 2 feet or so maybe would be good as that long side can sag a little (experiment a little before permanently attaching). I switched to a homemade cuben tarp which is a bigger square and I have never bothered with additional tieouts. Beaks are an addon that help with rain splash in the A-frame configuration but again, I find the pyramid pitch a better poor weather option. Plus I would hang my rain jacket over the opening as a rough door. Flying diamond is also a decent option but it leaves a bigger opening and a rectangular tarp makes the pitch asymmetric. Relying on choosing the correct pitch direction in my opinion can be a crapshoot and no one wants to wake up in the middle of the night in the rain to reorient their shelter.

[heavy]

Thanks all for your advice. I have googled that some people rig elastic hair ties to maintain tension, I might give that a whirl. I also need to get out and get more experience with this equipment.

[Mikerfixit]

I use these on my tarps.

https://www.harborfreight.com/4-piec...set-47302.html

They have worked well in some strong wind gusts. When they are not in use I use them to bind equipment together.

[heavy]

Cheap, light, and dual purpose. I love it.