In January, I was shifting my gear around in my tent due to the sleet coming down outside, and I must have put just a little bit of tension on the side wall of the TarpTent Notch, because  I heard a snap and the internal tent came down on top of me. Using my headlamp, I realized it was the clip that held the tent internals to the rain fly at the trekking pole support point. Thinking quickly, I grabbed my small roll of duct tape and made myself some duct tape rope by twisting it and then tied a knot to keep the tent up. It has held up just fine for the last 8 trips, but it’s time to make the fix permanent. (The duct tape emergency solution was 3g FWIW)
I’ve been looking for alternate solutions because the plastic clips were sewn into the tent, so if one breaks, you can’t just replace it.
You can see it’s a very flimsy clip. But it’s lightweight…so I guess you have to expect some compromises.
I ordered new clips from Z-Packs and others including Dutchware to test out.
The mitten clips don’t even register on my scale, so they must be less than 0.5g. These can be used because they have clips on both ends so they can clip into the sewn in loops. However, I have concerns about their strength due to the previous plastic part failure. It doesn’t take much to shift in the tent and pull tension on that support point.
I looked at the Z-Packs plastic clip in case I wanted to find a way to sew it back into the tent. These  are sturdier looking and weigh 1g, the same as  the ones that came with the TarpTent.
So, I decided to install the Dutchware titanium micro double biners. At 3g each, they are 2g heavier per side for a total of 4g heavier. I think I can live with that! :D They look very solid and can easily be added to tent without modification.
You can see my fix here:
This is what the side that didn’t break looks like:
The two ends of the tent have these same clips, however these do not see much if any tension on them, so they appear to be holding up just fine.
Here’s the final result:
Now, I may be the only person who’s ever had this problem…but when I look at these clips and the clips that hold the vestibule sides together at the guyline, I just see parts that are weak and likely to fail. I’m all about saving weight and money, but I do think there are other alternatives that are only slightly more expensive, and inconsequential in weight addition.
Here is the point of connection for the vestibule to the guyline tie out. It feels and looks super fragile and worries me every time I use it even though it has held up fine so far.
And here is how Z-Packs handles this connection point. This definitely looks stronger to me.
Any ideas how I can replace this clip with something a bit sturdier? Since these plastic clips are sewn in, I’m in a similar situation as I was above connecting the inside of the shelter to the fly.
