A dining fly is a useful part of any campsite. It provides shelter for your equipment and the people in your unit in case it rains, and it can serve as a meeting place and hub to set up your camp around.
But how do you put one up?
All you need is a large tarp, rope (to serve as guylines), stakes and a couple of Scout staves. Here’s how you do it:
- Lay out the tarp and attach a guyline to each corner with two half-hitches or a bowline.
- Pound in stakes 5 feet away and at a 45-degree angle from each corner of the tarp.
- Apply a taut-line hitch between the stakes and the tarp’s corner grommets.
- On each side, join two Scout staves together with two round lashings for the upright poles.
- Secure a ridge line to the upright poles with a series of half-hitches.
- With the ends of the ridge line attached to their stakes, the tarp is raised, and tension on the guylines is adjusted.
This isn’t the only way to set up a dining fly. You can also tie the guylines around nearby trees. Just make sure to protect the trees with padding so the ropes don’t cut into the bark.
"How to Set Up a Dining Fly" appeared first on Scout Life magazine.