What is a “Tent Guy Line”?
When tent camping you will notice small ropes dangling from the tent rain-fly. These ropes are called “Guy Lines”, some people mistakenly call them Guide-lines or Guide-ropes. They are pegged tightly into the ground about a foot away from your tent. The main reason for these Guy Lines is to prevent the tent from blowing over, another reason is to keep your rain-fly tight so water doesn’t drip inside the tent. The lines can be tightened up with the tensioner to strongly stabilize the tent from heavy winds.
2 Components:
- guy rope
- tensioner
Are Guy Lines Necessary?
As a tent camper myself I do not consider tent guy lines extremely important. I have camped in heavy winds without my tent blowing over or away, this is without the use of guy lines. I have done the research and asked many tent campers through the “Camping” group on Reddit, with over 440k subscribers, and they have a few responses.
One person said that they are not needed for 99% of your camping experiences. However, in storms and heavy winds, there is certainly no harm of having the extra reinforcement.
Another says that it depends on the quality of the given materials. Of course, if you are using junky gear and stakes, you will see no differences. The lines may just slip out and the stakes will slide out of the ground easily, not providing your tent with extra support.
Something worth mentioning is that the tightness from the guy lines creates a better airflow inside of your tent. With the rain-fly stretching out and over the mesh interior of your tent, condensation will be reduced due to the increase in air flowing. This can be a great tip if you ever have damp tent mornings. Also, having your tent rain-fly tight will make for better rain flow dripping away from the interior of your tent.
Lastly, another comment states accurate information. They say that since your tent itself is staked into the ground, your tent is not going to blow away. Just make sure the ground you hammer into is tough, unlike sand and loose gravel. The main reason for the guy lines is to keep tents standing tall and strong. The lines will prevent your tent from swaying in the wind.
What Do They Really Do?
We learned that guy Lines might not 100% prevent your tent from blowing away. Although, if you set up your guy lines correctly you create a stronger base for your tent. This means that your tent might not be as floppy against the wind. Sometimes when I camp in my enormous family sized tent, I tightly tie the lines so the walls make less noise from the wind. I am not necessarily scared it will blow away, mainly just to get a better sleep because of less noise.
In addition, we get a better airflow inside the tent. This reduces any condensation, and overall we get more fresh air, and that’s what camping is all about. We also prevent rain from easily accessing the inside of the tent because a tight rain-fly will keep dripping outside the tents core.
When Should They Be Used?
Are you unsure when you should use guy lines? Well after looking at what they really do and if they are actually necessary, we can decide when they are best used. It is obvious that there is no harm to using them, but they may not always serve a purpose. Although, when mountaineering or situated in a storm, using guy lines is essential. They can keep you dry and prevent your tent from collapsing.
Use guy lines when there are possible high winds and as well in any bad weather.
How Do Guy Lines Even Work?
Trust me… I had no idea myself how to use these “thingys” for so long! But this is how they work:
- The line ties around the tents loop if it is not already connected directly.
- Grab the Guys Tensioner. It has 3 holes:
1. Top – Line enters in from tent side
2. Mid- Line wraps around from the first hole and exits the second hole outward toward the peg. Make sure the peg is secured.
3. Bottom- After wrapped around the secured peg, the guy line is placed in the last hole. It is knotted so it remains tight.
- Finally, pull the tensioner towards the tent so it tightens up.
Do not mind the illustrations, LOL, but if you know what a tensioner looks like then you should get a brief understanding of how they work. It is simply a tightening and loosening piece of equipment that puts tension on the line. This tension acts as extra support into the ground to prevent wind from blowing your tent around.
Conclusion
To finish off, I hope you now have a brief understanding of what a guy line is. You should now know when it is essential to use guy-lines, tents are strong on their own, but guy lines just increase stability. You can’t go wrong with extra support, so taking a couple extra minutes during set up is not a bad idea.
We hope you learned something today about guy lines!
Simple Tenting thanks you for reading in with us, feel free to check out more articles on our website. If there is something worth mentioning in this article place it in the comments below.