Just bought my first hammock (wbbb) and am looking for a 3-season ultralight tarp. The MacCat Deluxe at 10.2 ounces seems a common choice and gets great reviews. I am also considering a custom 11'x8'8" cuben rectangular tarp from ZPacks. It would weigh about 7 ounces. Anybody have experience with rectangular tarps? How do they do in high wind compared to a cat cut? How hard is it to get a taut pitch with a rectangular tarp?
Last edited by edv; 05-14-2010 at 20:06.
Welcome to the forum, edv!
It's easiest to get a taut pitch with cat tarps, but if you're gonna go rectangular then cuben or spinn would be easier sil. People used rectangular tarps for years before cat tarps became popular, so they work...just requires a little more care to get a taut pitch. Or more ability to ignore the flapping.
“Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall when the wise are banished from the public councils because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded because they flatter the people, in order to betray them.” ~Judge Joseph Story
- My site: http://www.tothewoods.net/
- Designer, Jeff's Gear Hammock / Pack Cover by JRB
IMPOSSIBLE JUST TAKES LONGER
I have a rectangular tarp (Campmor's 8x10 UL silnyl). I don't have a problem at all getting a taut pitch. I've never had a cat-cut tarp, so I don't know how much "easier" one is. Granted, after I pitch and attach to the stakes, I have to go around once and adjust, but what's that take, another 90 seconds?
"Every minute outside ... is a good minute!" -> Calvin & Hobbes, 8/1/1993
The cat cut tarps, like the MacCat dlx, are superb in the wind- best I have used, but you loose a little bit of coverage from both the hex cut and cat cut. Most folks seem to think it is still plenty of coverage, but that will also depend on the length of your hammock.
I have a hex cut- but NOT cat cut- HH tarp that has huge coverage. I think it has a 12 foot RL. The surprise is, it really is not all that bad in the wind. Really pretty good. But not as good as the Mac Cat I used to have. But several notches above the stock HH diamond tarp in the wind! (of course, also heavier and more expensive)
The JRB 11x8 is another way to go. It is rectangular, NOT Hex cut. But, it does have some small cat cuts on the long sides. I personally prefer the rectangular cut for amount of coverage (Especially end coverage) relative to any given RL, as well as variety of tarp set up(baker Hut, set up on short RL for a "hammock hut" etc). But with even those small cat cuts on the sides, it has proven quite stable and quiet in the wind. Great tarp!
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks