This summer I made a bridge hammock with a narrow foot end (only 18" spreader bar), in part to reduce the amount of fabric in the hammock. But I had been nursing a hope that making the foot end narrow would also let me carry less fabric in the winter for a more-or-less full enclosure tarp. Last winter I did the quonset hut tarp, but that took two full sets of doors, two poles, pole sleeves, and I ended up sewing on a foot high skirt all around the edges. I had great wind blockage, but really more room than I need, and more weight than I want.

So my secret hope was that with a narrow foot bridge I could close off the foot end of the tarp completely, without a door. Not the keyhole door-ish sort of thing you get with the JRB 11'x10' tarp or the SWT. More-or-less completely shut off, like the JRB hammock hut.

So I did that, and it works. Here's a couple views of the closed off end.



The base tarp is a JRB 11'x10', using the 11 foot ridgeline (which places 3 tie-outs on a side). I used two pair of grip-clips to fasten off the end; other times I've had this up I used one more grip clip at the bottom. Had the narrow end pointing into the considerable wind, and it shed it as pretty as you'd like---instead of pushing the tarp wall into my side, which is the norm if you pitch broadside to the wind.

Doing nothing else gives you three sided coverage. When I'm using my Hammock Micro-environment Containment Device* I'm unlikely to need more coverage. But Just In Case I put together doors that are modeled after WBG superfly tarp doors, with a couple of differences. First, they are removeable. I have sturdy versions of hook-and-loop devices Dutch is humored to call bra clips at four places, each side---at the top and bottom, and the two tie-outs per side between the top and bottom (one of these is the one I added for my tarp spreader bar modification).



In this shot I am using the spreader bar. It is not rigorously necessary to have it, but if you do you can bring the tarp down closer to the ground. The door material is cut to the shape of the head opening when the spreader bar is in place, but adapts when the side is a straight edge.

The interior



There is clearance for the foot, and at the head there is enough room to clamer in and sit down. If I hang high enough, I can accommodate a ground-dwelling friend or two.



This technique should work for those hangers who string up tightly without much diagonal. The sidewall of the tarp at the foot isn't under much tension, so I imagine that a diagonal-laying arrangement could be OK if you accept having the foot of the hammock touching the tarp. A take-away point here is that you can do this without modifying the tarp. All you have to have is some grip-clips.

Next thing to try is the same arrangement but using the 10' side for a ridge-line. That will mean the hammock can get wider, faster, from the sharp edge.

With respect to condensation, my hope is that (a) it won't be an issue if the head-end doors are ajar, and (b) the gap between edge of tarp and ground will keep some air moving along. Will just have to see how that goes.

Grizz

*a.k.a. Hammock Sock, tm@hanger-formerly-known-as-hammock-engineer