Guyline lengths

[Greyson Howard]

I want to start using my Golite poncho as a shelter, and have 50 ft of triptease for guylines.
What lengths should I cut the line into for a variety of pitches?
I read the bpl article and got a lot of good info, but I didn’t see line-lengths.
Any other tips for a new poncho user?

[D T]

Greyson, there is a book called Lightwieght Backpacking and Camping by some guy named Ryan Jordan (whoever that is). You should give it a read. In the book Ryan suggests 8-3 foot lengths with loops tied in both ends. If you were to use your poncho tarp in a lean-to set up then simply double up two 3 foot lengths together to make one 6 foot length for you trekking poles and one 3 foot length for the hood of you poncho tarp. If you were to set up in an A-frame configuration with one end positioned low for wind and rain resistance then you would use two 3 foot lengths doubled up and supported by your trekking pole for the tall end of the A-frame, one length for each of the front corners ,one length for each of the mid-section tie outs ,and one for the middle rear of the A-frame , and none for the back corners (just stake them out directly to the ground). Something I did when I first started to camp with a poncho tarp is to start with the eight 3 foot lengths and also take the remainder of the 50 feet just in case I wanted to change the lengths I use. I hope this helps.

[Author]

Posts