Trailstar guy line length

[Jeff M.]

For those of you who own trailstars, I was wondering what lengths you cut the guylines.

[David Chenault]

I almost always use one panel midpoint as the door. That gets a 4-5' guyline in red/blue. All the corners get 3-4' of the stock yellow line. I carry another 6 3-4' pieces of yellow line, for use on the midpanels and/or extending the door line.

These lengths are on the long side, but have come in handy on the occasions when I've had to use rocks and logs, rather than stakes.

[Travis Leanna]

I'm still playing with the pitching options and guyline lengths even though I've had the Trailstar for almost a year. But….
right now I'm using about 18" of guyline on each corner with a 6-7 foot section for the door.

[Jason Elsworth]

7.5 foot for the door and 2.5 foot for the rest.

[Steven McAllister]

I don't own a Trailstar, but I know I go longer with other tarps.

Extra long lines allow easier pitch when you can't use stakes or you want to pitch high as a summer sunshade among other things.

[Travis Leanna]

Unless you use a very long stick or paddle, or lash poles together, the Trailstar can only be raised to a certain height with a single trekking pole. Meaning, usable guyline length is limited by the height of the center pole. You do need a long length for the door, but not necessarily so with the other points. However, having extra length for creative anchoring can be helpful.

[Travis Leanna]

The Trailstar is really quite unique. Pitch up for sunshade. Pitch to the ground for storms. Pitch in pyramid form for snow or just because. Pitch with large, open door. Pitch with smaller tunnel-like door. It's big enough for two, yet light enough for one. You can easily cook under it (know the dangers and take precautions). No breakable zippers, poles, velcro, etc. Use optional bug shelter underneath, like the SMD Serenity. And there's plenty more.

My ONE complaint is that I wish there was a way to have the entire space bug free, instead of using the Serenity. But, c'est la vie!

[Jeff M.]

Thanks. Just for anyone else who is interested, I emailed Ron and he suggested: 2.5' (rear corners), 4' (side corners), 8' (door), and then pitch it and then decide on the rest.

Also, I remember seeing a thread where someone talked about how they did a pyramid pitch…could someone help me track that down?

[Brendan Swihart]

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=25431

[Ceph Lotus]

I received my Trailstar yesterday, and now trying to determine what lengths to cut my guy lines. It comes with a 40' roll of a thick line, something like 2.5mm or 3mm in thickness. I also have a 16-inch pole jack that I'm going to be experimenting with. I'll attach the pole jack to my adjustable trekking pole, and that will give me a total max height of about 6 feet. I'll play around with that and see how my Trailstar with the longer pole works as a shade tarp. Since I'll be trying out some higher than normal pitches, I'm expecting my guy lines will be a bit longer. I'm trying to figure what the optimal lengths should be before I actually cut the guy lines. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd appreciate it.

[Steven Paris]

Eugene Smith's video is a great starting point for the "main" pitch: http://desertpaincave.blogspot.com/

That's the pitch you'll probably use the most b/c it's so easy, only modifying it so that one or more of the guylines is raised to go over a log or around a tree.

My guylines are still too long but I just haven't cut dedicated lines so I have several feet just laying on the ground. I've been using Kelty Triptease with no problem with the linelocs and I don't think you'd want anything with a thinner diameter. The included line from MLD seems really big, but I believe several TS users use it for it's holding power (like Eugene).

Good luck choosing a line; it's a great shelter. It is a little bigger and slightly heavier for solo use than a lot of tarps, but not so bad that'd you regret carrying it, especially if there's any chance of inclement weather.

[Ceph Lotus]

Ok, I cut my guylines really long, four at 5 feet, and two at 8 feet. I can trim them back as needed after playing around with the tarp in various pitch configurations. I attached the 5-foot lines to four of the corners, and the 8-foot lines at side with the MLD logo, and the corner opposite that side. The 8-foot lines were attached to the points which are the common two points that are normally the 'door' to the Trailstar. I used up most of the line with these long line cuts, so thinking about possibly using the Kelty Triptease for the remaining 4 sides.

I set my hiking pole to its longest length, and with the pole jack attached, the total height was bout 6' 2". By the time I had cut the guylines and attached them to the tarp, it was dark outside, but no big deal to setup the Trailstar in a high pitch. I set up one of the corners as the door. Boy is it roomy under that tarp! I get a 360 degree view, and I can stand totally upright in the center. The tarp was sagging a little at the the back end opposite the door, and don't know if that was because of the high pitch or because this was my 1st attempt. Anyway, I plan to take some photos (in the daylight), and I'll post them to BPL.

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