Black Tarps v. Cuben Tarps (In the sun and heat)

[SilvrSurfr]

And if I could address designer@quickdata's comment about quicker drying, cuben is by far the quicker than nylon to dry because it doesn't absorb water like nylon, you give it a good shake, maybe a quick towel off and go.

While I agree that cuben doesn't absorb water like silnylon, I think the difference in drying time is minimal. If the conditions are right for tarp drying, then silnylon and cuben fiber are negligibly different. Couple of weeks ago i toweled off my HG Winter Palace after a rain storm (several times), but no amount of toweling was gonna get that tarp dry because the conditions weren't right (no wind, high humidity, etc.).

And back to the OP's original concern, I seriously doubt a camo CF tarp is going to be any less hot than a regular CF tarp, not in any meaningful way. You're talking about different levels of translucence - sunlight is coming through cuben fiber regardless of the camo pattern.

[dishonor39]

As a former test engineer, I think it would be hard to develop a test methodology that would yield any meaningful statistics. The main variable would be trees - though I suppose you could set up a bunch of turtle dog stands in a pasture to level the playing field, trying to insure that each test bed was exposed to equal amounts of sunlight. Even if you were to set up such a test bed with different colored tarps and materials, each with matching calibrated thermometers, I think the conclusion would be that it's darned hot under any tarp when the midday sun is blazing in summer, some more than others. Sounds like a lot of work for such a wow/duh moment.

Quite true sir, quite true. Time, a pasture, 2 hammock stands, and a pair of calibrated thermometers I have - 2 matching tarps cut the same with 2 different materials I do not. Some day perhaps, some day. It only has to be done once, perhaps I'll make it a project. Of course it can never be exact, but who knows, maybe it would be a 10 degree difference in which case that's such a wide variance, that I wouldn't be too concerned about being "exact".

[SilvrSurfr]

Quite true sir, quite true. Time, a pasture, 2 hammock stands, and a pair of calibrated thermometers I have - 2 matching tarps cut the same with 2 different materials I do not. Some day perhaps, some day. It only has to be done once, perhaps I'll make it a project. Of course it can never be exact, but who knows, maybe it would be a 10 degree difference in which case that's such a wide variance, that I wouldn't be too concerned about being "exact".

Maybe you can get dejoha to do such a test - he seems to be into that kind of comparative testing. He did a water break drip test which I did not find particularly meaningful because the levels of water flow (which appeared to be provided by a faucet) were not realistic - no suspension would ever see that level of water flow during rain.

http://theultimatehang.com/2014/05/h...nd-drip-lines/

[dishonor39]

Maybe you can get dejoha to do such a test - he seems to be into that kind of comparative testing. He did a water break drip test which I did not find particularly meaningful because the levels of water flow (which appeared to be provided by a faucet) were not realistic - no suspension would ever see that level of water flow during rain.

http://theultimatehang.com/2014/05/h...nd-drip-lines/

Funny that you mention that, I was actually just watching that video yesterday. I wonder if using a sprinkler or a nozzle on a garden hose would alter the results greatly.

[Brady]

I'll weigh in on this as I was lucky enough to do some training with Mors Kochanski a while back. There I got to see some testing regarding his super shelters, mind you, those are all plastic and not nylon or Cuben.

At the current location he still teaches at, they have multiple structures setup for students.

All are clear poly except for one. As a test, the built a large shelter using black poly rather than clear thinking it would be warmer due to the sun. It turned out the opposite. That thing is cold always and needs a wood stove to stay warm. It would appear that by filtering all the sun out, no warming radiation makes it into the shelter, leaving it cold and damp.

Compared to a tarp though it may be much different as there is much greater air flow under a tarp than in such a shelter.

[cougarmeat]

Just a note that my comment on drying time was referring to different colors, not different fabrics. In morning sun, would would a black SilNylon Tarp dry that much faster than forest green or gray SilNylon - that type of thing; not Nylon vs CF.

[hairbear]

In researching to build my passive solar cabin in had to spend years experimenting with solar gain.
I think what you will find is that the black tarp will seem hotter in the sun on the surface of the material compared to a transparent tarp as it's the material that is acting as thermal mass.
With a transparent the sun goes through it treating you and everything under it into thermal mass. The black material although being hotter on the surface than cuben, this heat is easy to displace because the material has no density to absorb heat long term. You on the other hand hold heat longer than cloth due to your water content and density. Winter hanging would be great with a cuben tarp with black gear hanging under it.

[hairbear]

In the sun things under transparent material will be hotter on the occupant.

[gbolt]

I agree with Hairbear. If looking for what is warmer - a black T-shirt or White - Black wins. But one cannot apply this concept to a greenhouse effect of a tarp. Otherwise, Greenhouse glass would be painted black. Transparent material will be hotter on the occupant. I like the Christmas Story of Frosty the snowman in the Poinsetta Greenhouse to illustrate hammock tarps. Don't forget to open or close the door (ventilation) to regulate whether Frosty melts or refreezes. Great discussion to make one go hmmmm.

[Oms]

I'd guess the black to be a little warmer, but on the flip side it has benefit. If you are planning on using it during the day a black tarp would be like having a black bill on a hat. It doesn't reflect the light as much. Anytime I ever laid under a tarp in the sun it was hot. You can feel the rays just beaming through. Shade trees are what's really needed!