Originally Posted by
BillyBob58
I have continued to experiment with the stock HH UL Explorer tarp, though I have a MacCat deluxe. I don't exactly know why I do. Maybe some stubborness, knowing that some people have claimed more than adequate success with the original design. Sgt. Rock in his hurricane, etc.! Also the possible benefits of only two side tie outs and the convenience of being attached to the suspension already when using skins. and it is 7" longer on the ridgeline than my MacCat deluxe ( 137" vs. 130"). Pros and cons. MacCat is superb, especially in wind, but for some reason I keep playing with the original.
I had much more success once I added a ridgeline to the fly, tightened as needed with a truckers hitch, and when I started hanging weighted stuff sacks to the side guy outs as Hennessy recommends. This gave me a much sharper A-frame, and the weighted stuff sacks cut down wind flapping a good bit, and kept things more snug thru the night. Though usually, there would still be a few wrinkles and folds.
But today, I finally followed the advice of the folks here. ( With the HH fly, I already did this with the MacCat) With the hammock hung normal HH style, fly on ridgeline, I attached some thin cord to the HH fly ridge end rings and attached to tree, and when I tightened, this naturally pulled the fly ring off of the prussick hook. I hung the tarp lower lower than the hammock suspension. This left the hammock ridge tight up against the fly. After tightening the extra fly ridge cord, I was amazed at how tight and neat this fly looked. Finally! It never looked so great. With just one guy out point per side, I'm sure it will still move more in the wind than a MacCat or some others, but today it seemed far more wind resistant than ever before. And just to look at it, it looked as tight as any tarp I have seen. When I lay down in the hammock, the hammock ridgeline, which had been tight up against the fly, was now only about half a hand length lower, or about 4" or so below the tarp ridge. Coverage of the hammock seemed more than adequate.
Anyway, with a little work and experimenting, this fly can be made to work better than you would at first think. I'm thinking that even if I do stick with the setup convenience of fly attached to spectra ridgeline, it would be easy enought to have some cord available for tree attachment if it looked stormy.
Though now, MacCat, HH original or Hex Tarp- whatever- I'm thinking of sticking with tree attachment and getting a separate set of skins just for the tarp. That might still be a very quick and convenient set up method. I wonder what size skins would be right for tarp only? I guess it would vary with stock tarp vs. one of the larger ones. Anyway, something to consider.
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