I have a TarpTent Scarp 1 which I dearly love. It is 2 wall tent that sets up fast,weights only 2 lb 6 oz, has ample room for one, two vestibules, and is impeccably designed and manufactured. And all this for $295.

I have just one problem. The rain fly is made from sylnylon which I have not used before. I find that even if I have tightened the tent (stretched it out as much as possible with the 6 stakes) it will still stretch another 2 inches along it's length when it gets wet. If I don't have it on perfectly level ground, the rainfly will touch the inner tent, and I get condensation, sometimes a lot. I have never had water penetrate the inner tent, even though puddles were standing on it.

But I just don't like the idea of the rain fly being so unreliable. Sure I can get up in the middle of the night to re-stake my tent, but I just don't think that should be necessary for a new tent, that otherwise is so perfectly designed & manufactured.

What kinds of experiences do other Scarp tents have? How about other owners of tents using silnylon in the rain fly?

That is pretty much how silnylon performs. After the breaking in period generally just before you go to sleep and once during the night is enough to keep it taut enough.

“How about other owners of tents using silnylon in the rain fly?”

Well. I have tarptents. They sag within the first 30 minutes. I don’t restake. I adjust the line tension. It’s just something to be expected with silnylon. IMHO it’s worth it since weight and pack space is saved.

However, that’s probably another reason I love my GG Squall Classic more. It’s made out of Spinnaker and doesn’t sag.

-Barry

I have a tarptent cloudburst, made of silnylon. Great tent, but it also stretches. I use a length of about 1/8 inch diameter bungee cord with hooks on both ends, doubled like a hairpin to fasten the rear of the tent to the stake. Since this location tensions the whole tent, if you set the tent up with a reasonable amount on tension in the bungee cord, as the tent stretches the bungee takes up the slack- so no further adjustment is necessary. I have not looked up the Scarp to see if it might need more than 1 bungee cord to tension the tent, but for the Cloudburst, the bungee works great!! Bungee cord and hooks were available at the local hardware store.

BpackerDon,

I really like the idea of not having to exit the tent in order to adjust the stakes when it rains. Thanks for providing an alternative that makes getting out in the rain unnecessary.

Scarp tent has 3 cords on each end. I think all three would need to be bungeed in order to keep the rain fly from touching the inner tent. I have 3 questions:

1) How long (outstretched) is your bungee cord?
2) Did you replace the original cord or is it in addition to the original cord?
3) Have you experienced how it performs in high winds when it is soaked? I frequently backpack the Colorado Rockies above treeline where high winds (30-40) can occur.

Dash4689-

1) How long (outstretched) is your bungee cord?

Let me set the tent up and see- Will report back in a day or so.

2) Did you replace the original cord or is it in addition to the original cord?

The bungee is IN ADDITION to the original cord. The cloudburst has rear cords where three cords come together at one spot so the entire rear is held in place by one stake (take a look at the tarptent web site- several of their tents use this configuration). So I just moved the stake back a bit and put a bungee between where the cords come together and the stake (which is now further away from the tent, to allow room for the bungee)

3) Have you experienced how it performs in high winds when it is soaked?

I have used the tent in fairly high winds (no rain), and if the stake is in firmly, it seems to work OK. BUT I have never used this in a combination of BOTH high wind and rain.

Will report back on the slack and outstretched length of the bungee. I don't think this is critical- I just took a length of bungee and used it.

Don

Surgical tubing works well to keep a silnylon tent tensioned. I think Jacks R' Better sells some pre-made tensioners that work.

On a recent 3 night 4 day trip to the Weminuche Wilderness in Colorado, I tied 1/8" bungee cords to each of the three stake-out cords on one end of my TarpTent Scarp 1. They were about 36" long, unstretched. I looped each one and tied the ends together. Each night when I sat up the tent, I would stretch the cords 3-4 inches before staking. Despite significant rain most afternoons and nights, the tent stayed taut.

I'm wondering if I can loose some weight and use just 1 strand of bungee cord instead of 2. I'll experiment with it.

It's an often thought question, and if you don't expect a lot of wind, bungee or shockcord will keep your tarp (or tent) nice and tight.

Unfortunately if you get serious wind, the extra stretch in these makes it *much* easier for the wind to pick stuff up and raise heck with your pitch, unstake it, blow it away, sail it up and blow stuff under it, etc. etc.

This is why I don't do this I use a nice line tightener or a proper line tightening knot.