Rate My TarpTent Pitch (w/questions)

[Kier Selinsky]

Alright, so I got the seam sealing done, and set the new TarpTent out to practice my pitch and do a water test. So far I'm really liking the Rainshadow2 – nice and spacious for me and the family, and well designed.

I do have some questions about setup though. They are:
1) my bathtub floor doesn't seem to really be a bathtub, just mostly flat – is there an adjustment I should make with the tie outs?
2) on the sides, the netting seems to pop out from the top – while I was water testing my seam sealing, the netting got wet. It didn't run into the interior, but I wonder if this would become an issue in sustained rain.
3) water would collect in the middle between the two roof seams, this seems like it would become a problem during a long overnight rain – is there something I can adjust in my pitch to fix this?
and 4) I noticed there are tie outs on the sides – are these a heavy wind option or something?

To illustrate, here are some pics I took:
Bathtub floor:

Example of netting sticking out the side:

And here's the whole tent – how's that pitch? Anything I should adjust to keep the top from pooling water?

Thanks!
(Edit: just making it easier to read)

[Eric Blumensaadt]

It appears the problem is that the length of the floor lets the walls sag.

I'd suggest sewing tie-outs (same setup as the corners) at the midway points of the floor to raise the "walls". Seal the new stitching with SILNYLON sealer (only) available from REI, among others. You may have to attatch the top tie-outs higher up the tent canopy than they are on the corners to make it work properly. (The canopy might stretch at the mid point since there is no pole support, thus the higher attatchment point.)

[carl becker]

I have a new Rainshadow2 also. My pitch looks pretty close to yours. I have the supplied poles but I want to spread them out further so I will have to add a few inches to each. When I used the side tie outs it got rid of the netting billow. I have only pitched it a few times. At home I had it in soft ground and the pegs came up. Made the wife a bit uncomfortable about the tent but it was my fault.

[Kier Selinsky]

Thanks Eric, though I'm pretty squirrelly with needle and thread, so I don't think I'll be adding stitches.

Carl thanks for the tip on the side tie out. I may pick up a couple extra stakes just for that.

[Jeffs Eleven]

have uou done it with the floor unclipped in the corners?

I have a Cloudburst and I never clipped the corners. I just pulled the floor really tight along the length, sometimes putting rocks or stakes to hold the poles as far apart as possible. The bathtub flipped right up and the screen along the sides was horizontal and not saggy.

[Ceph Lotus]

I had a similar issue the first time I put up my Double Rainbow. I had a flat floor initially. I then noticed there were clips at each corner of the floor, but on the outside. I clipped each one to the nearest corner guy lines, and then fiddled with the 4 corner stakes, pulling everything taunt. The walls of the bathtub floor then came up.

[Kier Selinsky]

I initially didn't have the corners clipped. After clipping them, the corners were up, but the sides still down. I think in the pictures the corners are clipped up.

[Franco Darioli]

Kier,
Very close but not there yet…
First take a good look at the official TT video :
Henry's RS 2
There you see Henry fiddling a bit to show how to do it right.
Next you could look at my way of doing it.
Franco's RS2
note the bit where I show how to adjust the floor tension. (2min 55 sec)
Before I do that adjustment , you can see a wave going from the front left corner to the right one at the back.
That wave is closer to my corner (the front right) than the rear left indicating that there is something wrong with the tension on the front right corner.
This "tale tale" sign works with any tent/tarp set up…..
Note also that once I do adjust that corner tension the floor is up and flat.
Using the provided mid side tie out points will keep the bottom mesh from sagging , however it will not sag much if set up correctly anyway.
The water pooling towards the bottom of the ridge indicate that the longitudinal tension is not correct.
Again have a good look at Henry and myself set up both the rear and front guyout points.
The water on the floor (if not from side splash) means that the ridge seams are not fully seam sealed.
To do that correctly keep in mind that the silicone/mineral spirit solution should be runny enough to penetrate the stitch holes. Coating is not the best way of doing it.
Again both Henry at TT and myself on my You Tube channel show how to do it.
Most of all , fiddle a bit with your set up (after watching the videos) and you will get there.
Specifically looking at those pics, I would start with the position of the rear pole. My guess is that it isn't exactly parallel to the front , the right corner beiing a bit closer to the front than the one on the left.
(probably less than 1"…)
Next the front left corner is slightly wrong . Maybe the tie out point needs to be slightly more to the left.
The front guyline appears to change angle from the bottom of the beak, it should be one straight line from the top to the bottom.
In other words with just a bit of fiddling it will look right.

If any of the above is not clear, please ask again.
Franco
[email protected]

[Kier Selinsky]

Thanks Franco! I followed your video when I set it up – it went a long ways towards getting me started. The wave in the floor is a good clue. I had lots of tension in the ridgeline – I'm wondering if I didn't have the back pole angled back enough. I'll give it another go here soon.

Oh and I didn't have any leaks, thanks in large part to the tips and video you provided before.

I'm sure I'm gonna love this tent – it's a palace! Just gotta get the skills right.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

I had a similar probem with my former TT Contrail until I learned to tension it correctly, as mentioned above. I learned to always use the side pullouts on the Contrail after setting up proper front-to-rear tension. This made for less sag by morning, which was always a bit of a Contrail characteristic with its long unsupported stretch of canopy.

My TT Moment is a newer design that utilizes the vertical door-side mesh and the mid-tent pole floor attatchment on the opposite side to keep the floor "walls" vertical at the middle.

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