[QUOTE=butler1850]
Exactly. The rope is the support in this case, all along the edge, rather than using the strength of the tarp’s seam as the support. You can adjust how tight the tarp is by the position of the knots with respect to the tarp corners, but your grommets will never be the load bearing points, so they don’t tear out.
[/QUOTE]
Genuis! I can’t wait to suggest this on the next camping trip and pretend I thought of it myself.
[QUOTE=Malthus]
More or less what I do. I’m always making tarp shelters. The difficulty I found was angling the shelter so that you can tend a fire while it is somewhat raining, without getting either wet or smoked out (and without burning the tarp).
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Long ropes… they allow you to get the tarp UP away from the direct heat. Tie a piece of wood or a rock to the end, and sling it up over a tree branch, then tie off the end at a lower point (another branch, or to the trunk).
Overhanging tarp, it hangs over the sheltered area, and over the fire itself. If it’s up high enough, and angled, it deflects the smoke, and shields it from the rain.
Cub Mistress - You’d not be the first to claim to have thought of it. Feel free to take credit, but raise a toast to me! 
In fact, I couldn’t believe the genius of it the first time I tried it… and it WORKED! As mentioned, it only took 20 years for me to figure out. :smack:
[QUOTE=butler1850]
Long ropes… they allow you to get the tarp UP away from the direct heat. Tie a piece of wood or a rock to the end, and sling it up over a tree branch, then tie off the end at a lower point (another branch, or to the trunk).
Overhanging tarp, it hangs over the sheltered area, and over the fire itself. If it’s up high enough, and angled, it deflects the smoke, and shields it from the rain.
[/QUOTE]
Good idea - what I have usually done is cut a couple of tall, thin saplings and use them as tent poles to hold the top of the tarp up & away, but this takes a lot of work to make stable & keep high enough. Your way sounds better.
[QUOTE=Cub Mistress]
Genuis! I can’t wait to suggest this on the next camping trip and pretend I thought of it myself.
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To attach the tarp to its support rope, use something like 1/8" braided nylon cord. Tie it through the grommet with a bowline, and to the rope with a rolling hitch. This allows you to readily adjust the tension of the tarp - the rolling hitch can easily be slid along the rope by hand, but steadfastly holds its place against the tension on it.
Which brings me to the tautline hitch. This is tied the same as the rolling hitch, but onto the same piece of line you’re tying the knot with. Great for tent guy lines.
[QUOTE=Gary T]
Which brings me to the tautline hitch. This is tied the same as the rolling hitch, but onto the same piece of line you’re tying the knot with. Great for tent guy lines.
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This knot, along with 2 half hitches, is required to earn the Rank of Tenderfoot in Boy Scouts. A great knot that I spent awhile re-learning and then teaching to my son and his buddies recently so that they could pass their first real Board of Review.
Other quick thoughts to get back on topic:
Bandanas are great filters. Boil coffee with the beans, and filter out the chunks at the end if you only brought a pot.
Clothes can be pulled apart for kindling (threads of cotton burn well).
Old school hubcaps can be used as a skillet. Just be sure to clean them well first!
Tin Foil reflects heat, can wrap up food and be placed next to the fire, and can be used as a hat to keep away the mind control rays.
[QUOTE=kambuckta]
The guts of an old top-loader washing machine makes a terrific (and safe) fireplace for bush camping. Perched on a couple of rocks or bricks, with all the draught holes and a grate on top, it keeps the fire hot and contained…a must for any camping in fire-prone regions. The ‘hole’ is also the perfect size for a large frypan or wok if you are camping-light and don’t want to carry a grate.
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My grandparents camping group (50 or so campers) all used the washing tubs. The only difference was they made metal legs for the tubs that screwed in with butterfly washers. Easy to take apart and store.
[QUOTE=Malthus]
I was actually quite mystified by the concept of driving to a prepared campground with lots of other people and camping there, when I first encountered it. It was only when I grew up that I realized that not everyone meant " fly into remote parts of northern Quebec, and then canoe out over a couple of hundred miles" when they said “we went camping”.
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To be honest, that’s more or less the only option available here in the UK - we don’t have much wilderness, and you wouldn’t be allowed to pitch a tent in it anyway.
That said, I do think camping should involve some degree of ‘getting away from it all’, rather than taking it all with you.
[QUOTE=Mangetout]
If you need all that, wouldn’t it be better just to stay at home?
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Fair comment.
However, in my defense, I’m a keen birder, and the laptop would be used for bird identification, especially bird calls. I’m currently studying to become a professional safari guide, specializing in birds, and there are some very useful computer programmes that can help with bird identification.
The AA batteries are used for my GPS which is crucial for the remote areas we visit, and I’m relied upon to get my friends and guests in and out without too much driving in circles. Lighting in some form is inevitably required at night, and I’ve found that rechargeable lanterns and batteries are cleaner, safer and easier to use and transport than paraffin. I also carry and use two way radios between vehicles in a convoy, and these require batteries.
As for cellphones, as much as I hate these intrusive devices, mostly they are switched off but they can be very useful in emergencies and casevacs, signal permitting, of course. A Sat phone would be preferable.
Perishable food deteriorates rapidly in the African heat, and on extended trips into areas with very little and sometimes no infrastructure, I think that a good fridge is indispensable.
BTW, one other tip that may or may not have been mentioned, cable ties. Cable ties are probably the best invention since the wheel. Carry a whole bunch of different sizes. You’ll be amazed at what you can fix with a cable tie.
[QUOTE=Mangetout]
To be honest, that’s more or less the only option available here in the UK - we don’t have much wilderness, and you wouldn’t be allowed to pitch a tent in it anyway.*.
[/QUOTE]
Sorry, but that’s rather misleading. Wild camping is perfectly legal in Scotland:
In England, you do have to request the landowners permission, but that’s seldom a problem. There are also large chunks of land in national parklands such as Dartmoor which have been designated as common land, so camping is perfectly legal. Here’s a link to a PDF of Dartmoor’s commonlands:
http://www.dartmoor-npa.gov.uk/vi-crowmap.pdf
Being honest, England is too small and populated to have any real wilderness, but certainly in the scottish highlands there’s some proper camping and hiking to be done.
I didn’t know that. Thanks.
My one visit to England assured me that ‘camping’ would not be on the agenda. 
In Australia, within a 2 hour (in some cases just 1 hour) drive of most capital cities you’ll find yourself in wilderness, or at least enough bush to pitch a tent and feel like yer’ a million miles away from civilisation and the local general store.
Just make sure you take yer’ bog at least 50m away from the creek/river to avoid ecoli contamination, take your rubbish home with you, and don’t start a bushfire while you’re camped.
Sweet 
And don’t let the dingoes eat your baby.
[QUOTE=Mangetout]
And don’t let the dingoes eat your baby.
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Bugger the dingoes…you can hear (and smell) them coming a mile away. It’s the dropbears you have to worry about. Mind you, they don’t actually ‘eat’ kids like dingoes do, but the injuries inflicted make you wish they’d been killed outright all the same.
Bastards they are. And don’t get me started on the kangawallabats either. They reckon there’s no human predators in Australia…like fuck there’s not.
:rolleyes:
That’s one thing to be said in favour of England then - the most dangerous wild animal we have here is probably the honey bee.
Unless you count the cryptocats on the moors.
[QUOTE=Mangetout]
To be honest, that’s more or less the only option available here in the UK - we don’t have much wilderness, and you wouldn’t be allowed to pitch a tent in it anyway.
That said, I do think camping should involve some degree of ‘getting away from it all’, rather than taking it all with you.
[/QUOTE]
Well, certainly living in Canada provides better opportunities for wilderness camping. Even so, to get real wilderness you have to work pretty hard at it, if you live in Toronto - for us, a six hour car ride and then fly-in on a bush plane.
[QUOTE=kambuckta]
Bugger the dingoes…you can hear (and smell) them coming a mile away. It’s the dropbears you have to worry about. Mind you, they don’t actually ‘eat’ kids like dingoes do, but the injuries inflicted make you wish they’d been killed outright all the same.
Bastards they are. And don’t get me started on the kangawallabats either. They reckon there’s no human predators in Australia…like fuck there’s not.
:rolleyes:
[/QUOTE]
I have a vague impression of my leg being pulled.
[QUOTE=jsc1953]
I have a vague impression of my leg being pulled.
[/QUOTE]
Fortunately, information on the dread drop bear is readily available.
[QUOTE=Malacandra]
Fortunately, information on the dread drop bear is readily available.
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Here in Maine, depending on where you camp, the biggest threat is from the black bears. Camping in Baxter state park, we often will not only see traces of the bears (rocks overturned on trails – they’re looking for tasty grubs) but you’ll occasionally see them in camp.
Another tip: bring a book. If it’s a rainy day (assuing you don’t have kids to amuse) it’s nice to relax in the tent / camp with a good book. Beats twiddling your thumbs.
At my shack / camp, I have probably 10 books there – books that I’ve read but wouldn’t mind reading again. And there’s often one stuffed in my bag, or in the car or truck just in case.
All of my skillz revolve around backpacking, when the challenge is balancing comfort and utility with weight. When camping out of a vehicle, I tend to bring absolutely everything I can think of or want. Why not if you’re not having to carry it yourself?