FeatherSticks · Shelter
Tarp Ridgelines & Tensioners: Knots, Prusiks and the Right Height
A tarp is only as good as the line it hangs on – rig it tight.
Quick facts
- Time
- 3–5 min once practised
- Difficulty
- Easy – four knots to learn
- Best for
- Tarp pitches, hammock camps, drying lines
- You need
- 10–15 m of 3–5 mm cord, 2 prusik loops, 2 tree straps
What you need
- Ridgeline cord, 10–15 m, 3–5 mm, low-stretch
- 2–4 prusik loops, 40–60 cm of 2–3 mm cord
- 2 small carabiners or wooden toggles
- 2 tree straps, 2.5 cm or wider
- Short cords for drip lines
- Optional: small mechanical line tensioner
- Line winder or small stuff sack
Step by step
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1 Choose trees and ridge height
Pick two healthy trees 4–6 m apart with no dead wood above. Decide the ridge height for your pitch: about 1.1–1.3 m for a ground A-frame.
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2 Protect the bark, anchor tree 1
Put a wide strap round the trunk and tie off with a round turn and two half hitches, a timber hitch or a Siberian hitch.
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3 Slide on two prusik loops
Fit both prusiks on the free end now. Once the second end is tied, you cannot add them without undoing it.
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4 Tension with a trucker’s hitch
Tie a loop an arm’s length from tree 2, pass round the tree, back through the loop, pull and lock it with a slipped half hitch.
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5 Hang the tarp, re-tension when wet
Clip the tarp to the prusiks, slide them out until the ridge seam is straight, and pull the trucker’s tail again at dusk and after rain.
Common mistakes
- Tying off both ends before the prusiks are on the line.
- Prusik loops as thick as the ridgeline, so they slip under load.
- A tension knot without a slipped finish that jams when wet or frozen.
- Bare thin cord round the bark instead of a wide strap.
- A ridgeline that drops towards the head end, so water runs to your face.
- Never re-tensioning a nylon line after dusk or rain.
- Knots in the middle of the line where the prusiks need to slide.