Cuben Tarp Designs?

[WaffleBox]

I think you could attach it to the tarp without really changing the design of the skirt or the design of the tarp very much by using snaps. You could install snaps on the tarp body like I did for my tarp. Then install snaps on the skirt as well. You could use the snaps on the skirt to close the skirt while you are wearing it, too, so it's not even really any extra weight (though snaps weigh almost nothing). All you would need is shock cord at one corner of the skirt or tarp to pull the "door" taut.

[hipbone]

My girlfriend and I were thinking about doing the same thing. A rain skirt is a lot lighter than a pair of rain pants and would serve dual purpose... So it's not adding weight to the tarp... It's actually cutting weight from your pack AND serving 2 purposes. I've also been playing around with making my pack cover either convert to a gear hammock or making it convert to an under quilt protector. I like this idea...

[MattK]

I have been thinking about how to use my rain skirt/kilt as a tarp door lately as well. Warning: I have only ever slept on the ground while backpacking until very recently.

I started off with a Tyvek rain kilt. I got some Tyvek for free from a neighbor, so I figured it was a good place to start. Weighs 2.7oz. I have used this Tyvek kilt quite extensively as a "door"/beak for my tarp on the ground. There is a loop in the middle of the long edge, and loops at the four corners. The loop on the long edge went over the tip of my trekking pole, the two loops on the corners of the opposite side were tied to the corners of the tarp. Voila, door. There is excess material with this set up, but it gets the job done and is super simple. See below for a picture of what I am talking about. This was my first pass at the set up, and my second tyvek kilt turned out much better. It used the shock cord draw string (used for securing around your waist in kilt mode) to take up the slack while in door mode. As you can see, it isn't a particularly tight seal, but it does increase the weather protection and privacy. I can also use the kilt as a partial groundsheet and leave the poly cro at home. I am making a silnylon version now (I have some scrap) and with all the materials cut out and ready to be assembled, I am getting an approximate weight of 1.9oz. Not bad. You could get a bit lighter with cuben for sure, but all cuben kilts I am aware of are made of 1.0oz/sqyd material. For instance, the zpacks kilt is listed at the same weight as my silnylon version. Maybe I made mine too small.
Tyvek Tarp - with old Kilt 1.jpg
One of the things that might make it difficult to use this type of set up with a hammock, is the suspension. You would have to figure out some way to keep the kilt/skirt/door from interfering or being rendered useless by the fluctuations in the suspensions lines. You could do something as simple as using a loop of shock cord to drop the "door" lower. This reduces the efficacy of the door for blocking wind etc. I have assumed that it is for this reason that most all the doors for hammock tarps that I have seen are split into two panel for the end: it gives the suspension someplace to go. I guess you could put a closable slit in the kilt, but that doesn't bode well for performance as rain gear.

I will have to do some tinkering here soon, once I complete the hammock tarp I am working on, as well as the new silnylon rain kilt.

[hutzelbein]

ZPacks sells a rain kilt made from Cuben that has gotten good reviews, so it seems that Cuben works for that purpose.

I generally like the idea of multi-use gear, but I found that for rain gear this approach has its shortcomings. If the weather is bad enough for you to use the kilt as tarp doors, what are you going to use when you do your camp chores? It's probably not as bad as using your poncho for a tarp, since you can put on the doors when you retire to the hammock, but it still means that you will get wetter than if you had a tarp with doors and could use your kilt anytime. Are you willing to put up with it for days on end? Being cold and wet can drag your motivation down big time.

[vtaflyer]

I am pretty new at this, but have you considered Tyvek for the kilt? After washing, it is not noisy, and the color might blend well with the CF tarp. For that matter, when it's nasty enough to to need doors, the garden club will not be doing their tours!


Edit- oops- just saw the Tyvek reference above. I'll go away now...

[howlinmadman]

How about just putting doors on one end? Or just put one door on one end, then your kilt won't have as much space to span to close the gap.

[Two Tents]

The skirt idea is something that will work. Make it and then figure out where you need pull tabs to steak it to. Consider it having a tapered floor or where your pack can help weight it down when deployed. Boots, a dog, rocks, all can help shape and anchor it. I have a half skirt, kinda, that goes on the problem side. All it is a rectangle made of tyvek and cord & shock cord and 4 titanium steaks. If this tyvek one ever dies I'll do the next in cuben. It blocks rain/wind to the ground and then continues under the evolite pad the dog sleeps on. I used cuben stick on loops in a couple places and ran cord with a shock section to puussics on the ridgeline. My tarp has after market modified cuben doors sewn on if it really gets bad out. Most trips the skirt/floor stuff sack never leaves ben's pack. Yea, he carries it. The first aid kit too is his job to carry for 'daddy'. He's a good boy!

[hipbone]

I have been thinking about how to use my rain skirt/kilt as a tarp door lately as well. Warning: I have only ever slept on the ground while backpacking until very recently.

I started off with a Tyvek rain kilt. I got some Tyvek for free from a neighbor, so I figured it was a good place to start. Weighs 2.7oz. I have used this Tyvek kilt quite extensively as a "door"/beak for my tarp on the ground. There is a loop in the middle of the long edge, and loops at the four corners. The loop on the long edge went over the tip of my trekking pole, the two loops on the corners of the opposite side were tied to the corners of the tarp. Voila, door. There is excess material with this set up, but it gets the job done and is super simple. See below for a picture of what I am talking about. This was my first pass at the set up, and my second tyvek kilt turned out much better. It used the shock cord draw string (used for securing around your waist in kilt mode) to take up the slack while in door mode. As you can see, it isn't a particularly tight seal, but it does increase the weather protection and privacy. I can also use the kilt as a partial groundsheet and leave the poly cro at home. I am making a silnylon version now (I have some scrap) and with all the materials cut out and ready to be assembled, I am getting an approximate weight of 1.9oz. Not bad. You could get a bit lighter with cuben for sure, but all cuben kilts I am aware of are made of 1.0oz/sqyd material. For instance, the zpacks kilt is listed at the same weight as my silnylon version. Maybe I made mine too small.
Tyvek Tarp - with old Kilt 1.jpg
One of the things that might make it difficult to use this type of set up with a hammock, is the suspension. You would have to figure out some way to keep the kilt/skirt/door from interfering or being rendered useless by the fluctuations in the suspensions lines. You could do something as simple as using a loop of shock cord to drop the "door" lower. This reduces the efficacy of the door for blocking wind etc. I have assumed that it is for this reason that most all the doors for hammock tarps that I have seen are split into two panel for the end: it gives the suspension someplace to go. I guess you could put a closable slit in the kilt, but that doesn't bode well for performance as rain gear.

I will have to do some tinkering here soon, once I complete the hammock tarp I am working on, as well as the new silnylon rain kilt.

I love this stuff...my gf and I hike long trails and this setup would be very acceptable. it could possibly cut 5 oz. out of my pack by replacing rain pants with the rain kilt and could also cover both sides of my hammock tarp (since my gf would also have a rain kilt). I rarely use rain pants because I hike mainly east coast 3 season and hammock. Using a silnylon/tyvek/cuban would cut 5 oz out of my pack, give me a better situation for keeping rain off my lower body, AND it just happens to be a tarp door...

We haven't made the kilts yet, but our thinking is that they would leave a pretty significant gap at the top for suspension and would extend pretty low on the tarp to block wind from below...plans are in my head but not on paper yet =)

[jdr724]

http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/cloudkilt.shtml

http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/cloudkilt.shtml

If you're thinking it would save you 5oz to get rid of the rain pants then check out zpacks rain pants. They also make this cuben kilt which might help you with design idea.

[hipbone]

My girlfriend and I made rain kilts that works as doors. I made a few videos and started a new thread here:

https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...86#post1512086