Aricxi/Knot Tarp Owners Club

[HillBelly]

You'll get away with standard 8.5mm alloy poling , but it might get a bit flexy and interesting if you are caught out with strong winds. Another option is make some out of carbon fibre golf club shafts which can sometimes be picked up cheap on ebay. It requires some diy skills with a hacksaw and two-pack epoxy.

I'm going to experiment with £10's worth of fibreglass poles 9.5mm and weight for 2 lengths totals less than 400g, so less than a couple of walking poles. The sections of these are 50cm so handy for bike packing. I might end up with some nice aluminium ones if I can find the weights of the AliExpress sort. I saw some which had smaller sections at 32cm, so that could work too.

Thinking ahead. If it works the apex poles will make adding a 'door' much simpler - with a triangular piece of fabric being able to tie into the poles simply.

 

[TinTin]

I left my tarp up in the garden set up as shown in the picture. It is reasonably sheltered but it is very gusty out there and the way I had it set up there is quite a bit of tension on the front of the beak. A gust caught it and the stitching has come away from the guy line loop. This lead to a all but two of the pegs being ripped out of the ground and scattered across the garden. There was no damage that I can see apart from the stitching of the beak hoop coming away and a bit of the hem there having loose stitching. I plan to reinforce the areas of greatest tension with silnylon patches just stuck on with Silnet (other silicones are available ) and re sew the guy loops on with some decent thread.

Note to self. This is not a Trailstar and won't take the tight as a drum type setup of that tarp without some mods.

 

[Rog Tallbloke]

Good day for testing!

Anyway, drum tight is better and less stressful on tieouts than flap-flap, whip-crack SNAP!

 

[EM-Chiseller]

Sorry to hear you've had a failure
I did notice that in wind, it is better with all 3 front guys pulled together. This saves a ripple effect that could turn into a whipping (like a sheet on a line) type effect that would stress the lone tie out.
When you say a gust caught... I'm presuming you mean a direction change 180 ish and funneled in through the front?
If I get time, I'll go potch mine in an exposed field to see how it fairs.
I'd probably have some bungees at near full stretch tied to the front corners and centres. These will at least work as self tensioners when it stretches in prolonged rain.

 

[TinTin]

Sorry to hear you've had a failure
I did notice that in wind, it is better with all 3 front guys pulled together. This saves a ripple effect that could turn into a whipping (like a sheet on a line) type effect that would stress the lone tie out.
When you say a gust caught... I'm presuming you mean a direction change 180 ish and funneled in through the front?
If I get time, I'll go potch mine in an exposed field to see how it fairs.
I'd probably have some bungees at near full stretch tied to the front corners and centres. These will at least work as self tensioners when it stretches in prolonged rain.

Good idea re bungees and share the load. It's no big deal I was thinking of putting patches in and re-sewing the loops on anyway. I'll try and do some close up pics later but I'm a bit knackered, had a busy day and I've got some things to do on the field that I have to do.

 

[Rog Tallbloke]

Sorry to hear you've had a failure
I did notice that in wind, it is better with all 3 front guys pulled together. This saves a ripple effect that could turn into a whipping (like a sheet on a line) type effect that would stress the lone tie out.

Agree with you Chis. I found the front three beaks loops needed to be together in moderately high pitch mode to get any decent tension on the beak front edges.

 

[TinTin]

Forgot to say. I watched a video by Bigfoot that had a bit about how he attaches a bathtub to his hexamid and I'm thinking I might put in some tabs to do similar with this and my 3F 210x80 bathtub.

 

[EM-Chiseller]

Just a curiosity... Are you certain the centre guy failed before the pegs came out? (as in you saw the front fail 1st)
If the pegging failed 1st...that would give the material more stress through flapping.

 

[Rog Tallbloke]

The perils of leaving kit unattended on a windy day...

 

[TinTin]

Just a curiosity... Are you certain the centre guy failed before the pegs came out? (as in you saw the front fail 1st)
If the pegging failed 1st...that would give the material more stress through flapping.

TBH I don't know. Mrs H came into the office and said you need to go and sort your shelter. I went straight out and it was laying flat in the ground with the poles flat and the only pegs in the right place were the read guy line peg the two rear edge pegs and one of the centre ones.

 

[TinTin]

The perils of leaving kit unattended on a windy day...

It was kind of deliberate. I was hoping to report how well it had done.

 

[Rog Tallbloke]

Thanks for taking one for the team Phil.

 

[TinTin]

I don't think it is that big a deal. It has just shown me what I need to do to improve matters. As you can see from the pics. There's not much sewing holding these loops on and the reinforcement isn't up to much. The one that came off didn't actually damage anything, the stitching just gave way. By the way I've changed the guys for 3mm polyprop. Maybe the 2mm stuff would have slipped before there was any damage.

 

[Rog Tallbloke]

I have a very strong polyester sailmakers yarn that would have made a mess of the hem before it gave way. Having learned a bit more about bonding over the last few days, I'd consider sewing the tieout to a 3" circle of 30d silnylon and then using McNett silnet to bond that over the hem and original reinforcement. Then run a single line of stitching round the perimeter.

 

[TinTin]

I have a very strong polyester sailmakers yarn that would have made a mess of the hem before it gave way. Having learned a bit more about bonding over the last few days, I'd consider sewing the tieout to a 3" circle of 30d silnylon and then using McNett silnet to bond that over the hem and original reinforcement. Then run a single line of stitching round the perimeter.

Once I find a bit of silnylon, I'll read that recipe a bit more carefully but it sounds like what I was planning. While I'm at it I'm going to add some inside loops to put in an inner ridge-line.

I have some of this 0.8mm polyester from ebay. I've also some Gutermann HD polyester thread. which I think I'll use to repair the hem.

 

[HillBelly]

I ordered a fibreglass pole kit, then found a aluminium kit here in UK which is a lot lighter - doh. Both coming my way to see what works best with the tarp. The fibreglass ones whilst heavier have the steel joiners...which could be useful for a mod I have in mind (think earth magnets).

Best get my new workbench top done today so I have my new assembly area!

 

[Balagan]

I don't think it is that big a deal. It has just shown me what I need to do to improve matters. As you can see from the pics. There's not much sewing holding these loops on and the reinforcement isn't up to much. The one that came off didn't actually damage anything, the stitching just gave way. By the way I've changed the guys for 3mm polyprop. Maybe the 2mm stuff would have slipped before there was any damage.

View attachment 23530 View attachment 23531

Interesting. The stitching is very different from the original Aricxi tarp which has a box stitch and longer tie-outs that are independent of the hem stitching. Changing to LL3s meant unstitching and sewing it all back on so I'm not worried.

 

[HillBelly]

Interesting. The stitching is very different from the original Aricxi tarp which has a box stitch and longer tie-outs that are independent of the hem stitching. Changing to LL3s meant unstitching and sewing it all back on so I'm not worried.

Yes, I reckon longer tie out (over reinforced part), box stitch and a LL3 is the way to go on that front bit.

 

[Enzo]

Agree, I'd run the webbing either side of the fabric and near the length of the reinforcement. That guy out is really stressed if the wind comes face on.

 

[EM-Chiseller]

Someone say Ranger?

Photo credit @Phil-s

 

[Rmr]

My Aricxi has arrived, 10 days since ordering.

 

[Paiolo]

Hi all!

...I just want to share some random comments in no particular order:

- Broken tie out:

I don't think it is that big a deal. It has just shown me what I need to do to improve matters. As you can see from the pics. There's not much sewing holding these loops on and the reinforcement isn't up to much. The one that came off didn't actually damage anything, the stitching just gave way.

To prevent damages like this, an idea is to take advantage of the 2 other loops near the broken one: adding some short cords to all 3 loops so that the carabiner discharges the stress on all the 3 loops.

- About newer and older version, here there is an interesting comparison between them... the author really prefers the older one: https://imgur.com/a/jpxX5NR (look at the end of the page) ...obviously I have the newer ;-)

- I only use one single trekking pole, for the back I ordered for €7 a custom 65cm foldable tent pole that weights about 40 grams from here:
https://it.aliexpress.com/item/1686444831.html (length is custom, you specify what you need in order comments)

 

[HillBelly]

Hi all!

...I just want to share some random comments in no particular order:

- Broken tie out:

To prevent damages like this, an idea is to take advantage of the 2 other loops near the broken one: adding some short cords to all 3 loops so that the carabiner discharges the stress on all the 3 loops.

- About newer and older version, here there is an interesting comparison between them... the author really prefers the older one: https://imgur.com/a/jpxX5NR (look at the end of the page)

- I only use one single trekking pole, for the back I ordered a custom €7 65cm foldable tent pole that weight about 40 grams from here:
https://it.aliexpress.com/item/1686444831.html (length is custom, you specify what you need in order comments)

The guy in the Imgur link mentions there is no inner loop in the footbox, on the new version. The latest ones do have the loop. So the first incarnations of the new versions have already been superceded. I wonder if this was an oversight on the part of Aricxi?

Work and DIY has restricted any further play with the tarp for me. But my fibreglass pole kit arrived whilst I was in the workshop, so I cut and made up my pole arc. I used some clear thick walled tubing as a joiner. and is stiff enough not to crease and fold. The cord tension is just right so the arc assembles itself when you open it up!

Not as light as Aluminium, but £10 for 4.5m its great. The arc total weight is 305g so if your average single walking pole is about 250g, thats not bad.

 

[Rog Tallbloke]

Someone say Ranger?
View attachment 23716
Photo credit @Phil-s

Front edge of that beak still looking flappy. Deffo needs all three tieouts linked.

Mine new version has the foot end bivy loop. I stitched a plastic thimble through it and the outer tieout loop to take the top of my internal rear pole.

 

[TinTin]

I've got my guy loop stitching strengthened and a new one for the peak. I got my 85 year old Mum to do it but it is the first time she has tried to sew silnylon and the grosgrain slipped a bit so not as tidy as it could be but very strong. Used a bit about 200mm long and has 4 lines of strong stitching using a strong Gutermann polyester thread. You might get the idea that this is strong. We spotted a slit about 150mm long that I'd missed so need to patch it.