tarp-tent for bridge hammocks

[FanaticFringer]

I played around with my BlackCat tarp and I think it should work well. Since my spreader bars are only 31" wide and my tarp is bigger than the JRB cat tarp, I wont need to use the tent poles. The spreader bars touch the sides but it is no big deal. Once occupied, it clears the tarp. Question for ya Grizz.....what's the best way to measure the doors that doesn't require a PHD in mathematics?
How well does that 1/4" wide free magic hold the doors together? Seems like it would come off a little too easy. Was thinking of using 1/2" wide. I wont have a seam down the middle like yours. I'll just undo the sides when entering/exiting.
I also wont be putting bar-tacked rope on it. Not sure I follow why you did that.

[GrizzlyAdams]

I played around with my BlackCat tarp and I think it should work well. Since my spreader bars are only 31" wide and my tarp is bigger than the JRB cat tarp, I wont need to use the tent poles. The spreader bars touch the sides but it is no big deal. Once occupied, it clears the tarp. Question for ya Grizz.....what's the best way to measure the doors that doesn't require a PHD in mathematics?
How well does that 1/4" wide free magic hold the doors together? Seems like it would come off a little too easy. Was thinking of using 1/2" wide. I wont have a seam down the middle like yours. I'll just undo the sides when entering/exiting.
I also wont be putting bar-tacked rope on it. Not sure I follow why you did that.

I presume you are looking at having doors like Shug's, and not ones that extend out beyond the bottom-most width of the tent.

I'd pitch the tent so that the corners are flush with the ground. At one end get some string to tie from corner to corner stake to corner stake, simulating the closed base of the doors. Tie a string from the middle of that and with a very little tension tie it to the ridgeline tie-out.

A door will have to be cut with its top/bottom ends going along a roll of material, rather than across. You get the height of the door from the second string---add hemming margins The width of the door is largely determine from half the length of the first string but there's the cat cut on the side to account for also. I'd add 2-3 inches for coverage there, plus hemming margins.

Your door is essentially a right triangle, whose height and base you've measured. With some Walmart $1 bin fabric make a rectangle of that size, and cut it into two right triangles, along the diagonal. Hopefully this is close. Pin it up and see. If you aren't fancy you can pin the edge of the fabric along the edge of the cat cut and hope it works out. If you are fancy then pin it so that the pins are closer to the edge of the door fabric near the middle of the edge, and creep away a little bit as you go towards the top and the bottom.

The 1/4" edge holds pretty well, but does need adjusting as the wind moves the shape of the tarp around and creates little gaps. 1/2" would hold better.

The business with the bar-tacked cords does two things. Primarily, it makes a more substantive means of holding the door to the tarp than the velcro. But with 1/2" velcro you may not need that...I was looking to save weight on the permanent infrastructure on the tarp. The secondary use is to have some ties so that the doors of the tarp can be tied back during the day, to be out of the way. Again not necessary.

One other thing, when you make your pitch for measurements make sure that there is enough clearance under your hammock for all the underinsulation you'll be using. You don't want a nasty surprise that you pitched so steeply so that either (a) your edges can't go to ground, or (b) your UQ is dragging on the ground when you get it!

Grizz

[FanaticFringer]

Thanks Grizz. Hard to believe you just started sewing a few months ago.
Your like a hammock camping scientist.

[job13_5]

Thanks Grizz. Hard to believe you just started sewing a few months ago.
Your like a hammock camping scientist.

I second that! Good work Grizz and thanks for always sharing.

FF: Looking forward to seeing pictures of how yours turns out....good luck!

[GrizzlyAdams]

Thanks Grizz. Hard to believe you just started sewing a few months ago.
Your like a hammock camping scientist.

thanks. I've been playing with Legos for years ( I'm a father of four ).
Biggest difference is that with Legos you don't poke
holes in your fingers with pins, nor run the risk of slicing
off your finger tip with a rotary cutter

Looking forward to seeing your handiwork. BTW in case it wasn't
clear, I'd suggest pinning up prototypes of both doors to see how they
meet in the middle.

Grizz