Thanks for the input everybody. I would love to go cuben on this one and I am really intrigued by Acer's setup. I have been considering making some shorter dogbones for the RR, just to test it out with a smaller suspension triangle.
But economics may lead me to get a BMJ. I may ask Brandon to make the panel pulls 80" to match the RR, but probably not. I would be looking to upgrade to cuben in a couple years at which time I would want to sell the BMJ and it would probably sell quicker if it were unaltered...
For a bridge hammock, You definitely want the panel ties farther out than normal for a gathered end hammock so that your spreader bars aren't touching silnylon. If it is raining or there is dew on it and the spreader bars are touching silnylon, its going to get wet alittle I am thinking.
2nd CAG, CAP 2-1-5 5th Marines, 1st Mar. Div.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_Action_Program
I have an AHE Toxaway that is 12' long and is about the same weight as the 11' BMJ due to more exaggerated cat cuts. Here's a pic...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scope333/8392908381/
I bought the cloud burst. the RR doesn't have a ridge line and the CB has two rings on the bottom side so you can hang a light.
Has anyone tried the OES Four Season 10' X 12' tarp with their Ridgerunner? I am on the fence regarding what tarp to get as well. Here in Florida the larger tarps are handy with the wind and rain when island camping out of a sea kayak. In the summer many of us use them as massive wind "chutes" to funnel the sea breeze around the hammock.
Cheers,
doc
Yes, but I haven't found that I need them. Now, I like to hang my tarp high because I like to see out. But really, you could get it much lower than I have in the pic without much s-bar issues. Think this is true for the BMJ and Cloudburst, too. Really the only difference is the 12' ridgeline and the exaggerated cat cuts. The other tarps might be slightly better for windblown rain, but not by much.
Thanks for the pic of the Toxaway. I have that but left it at home for the Florida hang. I wasn't sure how it'd work and hadn't had time to test at before I left. I took my JRB 11x10 and boy, talk about coverage. I could keep an army under there. I had a good 2' of coverage on either end and more than enough on the sides. It made it a little hard on one side since I was running into the palmetto brush but it worked well enough.
Unfortunately I left my trekking poles at home. I wish I could've setup in porch mode so you could get a better idea about the amount of end-to-end coverage. Here's the best I have.
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I've used my Etowah Outfitters 10x12 rectangle silnylon tarp with my RidgeRunner, hung with a 12' ridgeline. Nice coverage but a bit narrower than the RR's suspension triangles.
As for width and room under the tarp, I opted to insert some cheapo flexible tent poles underneath the tarp and those provided enough interior Width for most activities - even when pitched low - ala 'storm-mode'.
For porchmode I just un-stake one side, insert my hiking poles under the tarp edge, then re-stake the side. Works great! FYI: these are the tent poles from wallyworld's 2-person dome tent, retails about $40, purchased onsale ~$25. No i've never setup the tent
I'll continue experimenting with this and eventually purchase some carbon fiber poles. Then add a small gorssgrain loop with a grommet to the four tarp tieouts where the poles are -to secure the poles into at the tarp's edges. For me - not a distance hiker- the tarp-pole mod is less fiddly than using removable side pullouts provided by several of our HF vendors.
In the end, I'll most likely purchase a cuben tarp to offset other weight... A 13+' ridgeline, in cuben, would be ideal for the RR (and the JRB bridge) and allow a rectangular shaped tarp 's corners to be folded-in like doors.
I'm still a noob; but Hickery taught me the secret to using a tarp's 'doors' (either built-in or folded rectangle's corners).
[1] suspend the ridgeline,
[2] clip the two corners together at each end - before setting any side tieouts!
[3] stake-down those 2 end clips until the rest of your guylines are positioned.
So Simple this caveman had not even thought of it yet! Thanks Hickery!
Not a great photo but shows the poles Not in porchmode (Buck Lake Sunrise, FF3 2013):
Last edited by Loki; 01-27-2013 at 11:25.
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