Tarp Pitch – Trekking Pole point UP or DOWN

Point down sticks in the ground and I find it more secure that way

In my Shangri la 2, I put the points down….b/c I would rather damage my polycryo than my silnylon…

I usually find two flat rocks to put the tips on…but usually they slip off so still looking for a better solution.

In my supermid, I lash the two tips together, so handles are both at the top and bottom.

down, the soft handle is what you want against your sil or cuben

I had grommets installed in the corners of my tarp when I had it made to facilitate the “Point Up” model (my Lunar Duo has grommets and a protective piece of strapping over the point). I was always a “Point Up” guy until…

Some very small rodents apparently spent the night tasting the handles of my GG LT4’s. I was NOT happy.

I just ordered some of the ZPacks Trekking Pole Cups to prevent this from ever happening again.

I prefer point down. Keeps mud and rodents away from the handles and provides extra stability on ground where I can push the tip in. On tarps with grommets and certain tents with grommets/cups/patches, it's necessary to go point up.

On a flat tarp I go point up and wrap the cord around the tip before going down to the stake. Nothing gets damaged and I haven't impaled myself yet. In soft ground I don't like that the point keeps digging deeper and deeper, whereas the grips disperse the pressure more evenly. On a Duomid I have to go point down, but I find a flat-ish rock to place under.

One other point in favor of the "Point Down" approach…If you have adjustable poles (I have GG LT4's) water can run down the pole and enter it if you've got the handle on the ground. GG includes an o-ring that you position at the junction of the two sections to keep water out, but not every pole manufacturer does that.

Looks like we have 5:1 for points down. I’m a points down kind of guy myself but I didn’t want to influence the results.

Second part….how do you secure the pole to the guyline?

This is the method I’ve come up with that holds the handle tight, while distributing the force directly from the ridgeline through the handle down the guyline without twisting.

1. Tie a bowline with a large enough loop that the knot won’t get in the way.

2. Slip through the tarp ridgeline tie-out.

3. Drop line through loop to secure tarp tie-out and pole.

4. Pull taught with stake-out point and secure with truckers hitch and slippery half-hitch.

I might be converted to points down (after only just mastering points up). Will try on my next trip.