A while back I was taking a shower in a motel bathroom, thinking about backpacking gear as I often do . . . and I couldn't help but notice the water beading and sliding right down the nylon shower curtain. This got me thinking, if this curtain can keep water inside a shower . . . it should be able to keep water outside of my hammock. Being new to using a hammock to sleep in while camping, I was still looking to upgrade from a blue polyethelene tarp (heavy, noisy, ugly).
So when I got back home I very excitedly made my way down to Bed,Bath, & Beyond and purchased a nylon shower curtain liner.
:: pause ::
Ok, this is the first time I've ever been excited to go to B,B,& Beyond.
Where was I ? Oh yeah, so it said "Super Nylon" on the package and it was about $20. It looks to be a semi-thick nylon, I'm guessing coated. I improvised some tie-outs. They consisted of a small wooden bead pushed into the fabric in strategic locations, wrapped with a mini zip tie, with another mini zip tie inserted in that for a little 'D' ring of sorts.
-update- I had one of the zip ties fail, probably due to cold temps so I think I'll change to wrapping the bead directly with the tie out (larkshead) and just using a bread loaf twist tie to secure it.
Ok, Details . . . It's about 5'6" square (give or take) and about 8'6" on the diagonal so barely workable. I attach opposing corners to my cams (upgrading to rings when I can) and then stake out the rest. Given the length of my ridgeline this works out very well for me. The weight with mason line tie-outs (equiped w/silicone tubing tensioners) and stuff sack is 15 oz. and packs down to about half the size of a 32.oz Nalgene.
So needless to say I don't get much coverage, but it is mainly to keep leaves, pine needles and bird droppings off of me. I have used it in a light rain and a moderate hail/snow (it was kinda inbetween, like god sliced open a giant bean-bag-chair in the sky and let the styro.balls fall). More often than not it has just provided me with a false sense of shelter, and that always feels good
So to recap, twenty bucks and crossed fingers . . . got me away from the blue poly . . . and so far so good.
Slopes
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