Why use line locks on a guylines?

I figure folks like LineLoc's for their simplicity, which means they don't have to tie any knots… just stake out, cinch, and done.

Personal preference most of the time dictates the choice. I like both. But good points made here.

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In fine weather in the forest – no problems.
Now try setting up a taut line hitch at -10 C in a gale in the snow on icy lines. A bit harder.

So – my summer tent works mainly with simple guy lines. My winter tent uses Clam Cleat mini linelocs.

Cheers

Taughtline hitch? No.

Blake's hitch? Awwwwwwww yeahhhhhhhhh

So as I began to set up a newly purchased tent recently I was attaching a guy line and wondered, is there a preferred know for attaching the guy line to the webbing loop on the tent body?

I've always used a bowline knot. Doesn't go anywhere & I know how to easily untie them.

Knowing knots is like knowing first aid. Basic camping knowledge is definitely the lightest thing one can carry when backpacking.

(As much as the hitches work, the line locks & all the other hitching products work quiet well, esp. in winter.)

It is optional, however.

What Roger said – line locks are a lot easier to deal with in wind/rain/snow/dark with gloves on.

Both of my climbing tents us linelocks, the cycling backpacking tent does not.

I think the easiest solution for me is one that doesn't exist, but it should. I would like to see a line loc 3 that is made for 1-2 mm line. I've tried the mini line loc and they just aren't as easy or usable.

The line loc 3s I've tried won't secure Lawson Glo Wire when really tightened up.

I have some 1.1 mm reflective dyneema from China that I really would like to use, but I need a better way to tighten things up.

I don't know what my problem is but I have set up numerous tents, free standing and not on nice soil, sand, rock and forest duff. I pull my line tight and stab the stake into the ground if possible. I have never thought "Man I wish I had an adjuster doohickey right now".
If the stake won't go it seems there's always rocks,sticks logs etc. to use.
What am I missing here?

I never used line locks until I got a Hexamid. They came with the tent. As it turns out, if you restake one corner of this tent, all of the other points will go out of whack. So you restake everything. With line locks, adjusting the tension on one stake is simpler and less likely to affect the other guyed out points on the tent.

I imagine that this is true with tarps as well, although I don't have experience here.

"Taughtline hitch? No.

Blake's hitch? Awwwwwwww yeahhhhhhhhh"

+1 for Blake's hitch

Works great even on that skinny, slick bear-bag line that will slip with a tautline.

The zero-stretch Cuben shelters seem to be a little more finicky about stake placement, especially when pitching on uneven ground, so some sort of adjuster is very handy.

Doesn't seem like such a big deal when you just tie the adjustable loops into the guy lines and leave them there. If for some reason the ability to remove them quickly is needed, the tail can be fed through on a bight (though obviously not in a climbing situation).

Jeffrey, I was composing as you were posting, but your observation matches mine exactly when it comes to the Hexamid Duplex.

I use fixed lines with my Hex Twin and it works fine. My experiences with the shelter being out of whack have more to do with the the direction of the lines and not the length. I only adjust the length when there is an obstacle in my way preventing the ti stake from going in that I can't easily work around. To shorten it, I tie a slip knot where I need the stake to go.

-Brian: "I pull my line tight and stab the stake into the ground if possible. I have never thought "Man I wish I had an adjuster doohickey right now".
If the stake won't go it seems there's always rocks,sticks logs etc. to use.
What am I missing here?"

Never mattered to me with my old freestanding tent, or my hooped bivy with fixed tieouts and a single guyline. With my Tarptent Notch, though, easily adjusted guy lines help a lot, as I usually have to adjust at least 2, and often all 4, in the process of setting up. Makes getting a taut pitch quick and simple, as well as repositioning stakes when the ground isn't cooperating.
I recently had a lineloc lose its grip for the first time, during some strong wind while using just the Notch's fly. Readjusting it with one hand took a couple of seconds from inside the shelter, and I barely had to get off my pad. May not have happened with a knotted line, but it certainly illustrates the lineloc's ease of use.

If my hexamid line needs to be adjusted for some reason, like pitching lower to groud, or uneven ground, I wrap it around the stake to shorten it up, then stick it in the ground.

A pitch, doesnt have to be perfect either.

I cant imagine my "the one" without line locs, but i dont find that a hexamid needs them. Or most tents for that matter. Pitching a flat tarp in various positions, they would come in handy.

It is very interesting to see that what many people find handy and/or necessary, many people also find totally unnecessary!

Even if it didn't change my opinion on the matter, it did give rise to the idea for a guyline set-up wherein the length can be adjusted from 100% of available guyline length to about 5% of guyline length while maintaining the flexibility to loop around logs and rocks when needed. A simple guyline with loop/hitch gives a range of 100% to roughly 50%.

I will be doing a little trip in the next few days and will give it a try and make some photos to illustrate.

Convenience and ease of use are the main reasons I use LineLoc 3s. I know the knots I would substitute them with, but I still consider LineLocs to have less fiddle factor. Adjusting them from the inside of a tarp is easier, adjusting for sagging silnylon is quicker. Lawson's Glowire hasn't slipped on me yet. Sometimes I pull out guylines from one shelter to use them on another. Threading them out and into new LineLocs is a piece of cake and I don't need to worry about any extra length.

The weight is a non-issue for me, it totals to about 0.4oz for eight of them on a flat tarp or Duomid.

It's entirely possible that I may want to attach and stake out my guylines in a bug hurry in the middle of the night when a storm suddenly blows in.

THAT is why my guylines are pre-rigged with a snap hook on the tent end and a Line Loc on the other.

HOOK IT (on the tent)
STAKE IT
ADJUST IT – DONE

If wet lines freeze a plastic Line Loc will be much more likely to release the ice and slide over line ice or break it than will a hitch.

I used to us a knot that I could slide on my lines though with spectra line they don't always hold that well. Then I tried the linelocs for awhile and they do work easily with a small weight penalty. But after 2008, I stopped using them when I bought a CF tarp since it doesn't stretch when it gets wet.

My lines all have loops at the ends. I found that I only use 3 lengths for any condition so I don't bother playing with their lengths. (1) I stake my tarp tieouts straight into the ground without the line. (2) I run the line full length. (3) Or I run the line half length where both loop ends go over the stake.

Having now hiked the entire PCT and the northern 600 miles of the AT plus numerous other trips, I never needed to adjust my line lengths. Using thin pointed titanium stakes, I always can get them in the ground about where I want them. I keep the line pulled tight and swing the line in an arc a few inches either way until I can push the stake into the ground without hitting a rock. Never not been able to get my stakes in that way.

Its really interesting to read everyone's reasoning for or against linelocks and/or taughtline hitches.

I have never used a linelock…I am just so used to tieing a taughtline hitch. I can practically tie one in my sleep. I was a boy scout and we used to have competitions that included knot tying where we were timed.

I will say, regardless of how you do it, I think having adjustable guylines is very useful, especially in areas where the ground can be very difficult to sink a stake into