Hex Tarp Spreadsheet with equal cat cuts

[MAD777]

I noticed a lot of new threads lately from folks who are making a hex tarp with cat cut edges. One of the biggest obstacles is the cat cut. Wouldn't it be nice to draw a cat cut on a piece of cardboard or other stock and use it for ALL SIX SIDES! Well, here is a spreadsheet to figure that out.

Just enter the first 3 numbers in the first column.
1. Ridgeline length plus seam allowance (in.)
2. Half width plus seam allowance (in.)
3. Unit weight of fabric (oz/sy)

The graph is a picture of the cuts you need to make from the total length of raw fabric. Please excuse my feeble attempt to draw the cat curves with my mouse. They are the light weight lines on the graph. The heavy diagonal lines are the theoretical edges without the cat cuts.

I hope this attached spreadsheet is downloadable and can make your DIY experience a bit better.

[Oper8or]

Sweet! Thanks for taking the time to do this and sharing it. Love my noah, but its time to think about a smaller lighter tarp. One of the two things on my list. Tarp and UQ. Just waiting to find a cheap sleeping bag for the UQ for now. The tarp mats I will not skimp on. That is one object that needs to be tough and durable as it is the one thing that keeps me and my gear dry and protected from smaller objects.

[Lost_Biker]

Thanks MAD777. A great time saver.

[gmcttr]

Very nice, thank you. Downloaded and saved.

[Gredemeer]

Thanks for that. I am getting ready to do my first DIY tarp.

[Mundele]

Might make a great addition to the google docs quilt calculator spreadsheets...

[GrayDog]

Thanks MADD!

Do you recommend any cat cut for the ridge line?

[Knotty]

Excellent Mike! No tarp projects on the radar right now but will file this info away for later.

Thanks.

[DemostiX]

Thanks MADD!

Do you recommend any cat cut for the ridge line?

I'd almost put this in a separate thread and get a survey on what the pro fabricators do. A carefully made hex DIY tarp I have seems to me to have too much of one, diminishing head room just where I want it. The tighter I pitch, the greater the loss.

I know Warbonnet refers to a mild cat cut in the ridgelinee of at least one of his hammocks.
Do others?
Is it more feature than improvement?
Is it appropriate to a hex tarp, when tight tie outs at the ground are going to pull the ridgeline down more than they will on a tarp with less of the ends cut away?

[Chenvre]

Thank you and great job! This is much more than just a helper for cat cuts.


Throwing it out there: it would be nice to see the alternative 'diagonal ridgeline' method which uses less fabric length. Such a nice tool to figure out your measurements for a hex tarp!

Thanks again!