I bought the Bonded Wide Xenon Winter Tarp with side pullouts & external pole mods. I have been teaching myself how to pitch it with a hammock in the woods about a mile’s walk away from home. I haven’t used it for an overnight trip yet, but so far I’m very impressed. For the past two days, we’ve had a red flag warning for wildfires here in the San Francisco Bay Area because of dry conditions and 25-35 mph winds with gusts up to 50 mph. The wind was howling so loud the night before last that it woke me up! I worried about the tarp, but decided against getting out of bed & hiking in the dark to check on it. Shortly after sunrise, I hiked to the spot. The tarp was fine! Granted, it wasn’t the wildest storm, but my visions of a torn & tangled tarp didn’t come true, so I was very happy. In fact, the pitch was still taut thanks to the shock cord that I got with the guylines with spliced ringworm. It was my first time using this hardware. Brilliant! The one thing I’m having problems with is the doors. I bought ringworm door anchors with Zing-it guylines & shock cord loops. I have three questions about setting up the doors. First, I think the shock cord loops were a mistake because they create a gap between the bottom corners of the doors. There is no gap if I attach the door anchors directly to the D-rings. Why would I want the shock cord? Second, it seems like the order in which you secure the tarp tie-outs matters. At first, I secured the tie-outs in the following order: 1) ridgeline tie-outs (using Dutch’s continuous ridgeline with soft shackles), 2) side tie-outs (with zing-it, shock cord loops & spliced ringworms), and 3) door tie-outs (with shock cord loops & ringworm door anchors). But doing it this way, the door flaps were too far apart. It was only after I released the tension on the side tie-outs, that I was able to position the stakes & guylines for the doors correctly. I got the doors right first, and only then could I properly tension the side guylines. Am I correct in thinking that the you have to position the doors first before you do the side tie-outs? Third, there is still a big gap even when the doors are positioned correctly and the corners are secured shut. Is there any reason why I can’t or shouldn’t fix this by purchasing Dutch’s KAM snaps and and installing them on the doors? I would also need to purchase the KAM snap pliers to install them. I’m thinking 2-4 snaps per door. I’m actually surprised that snaps aren’t an option that you can choose when ordering the tarp in the first place. Has anyone done this? How many snaps did you use? The extra weight seems negligible. I would be very grateful for any advice about the doors from DutchWare or other users.
