DIY Tarp Ideas

[Peg-Leg]

Anyone seen the new car covers made from a polypropelene cloth? There are also rain suits made of this material Just saw one at Wal-mart that was roughly 16 X 10 for $22. The material is advertised as waterproof and breathable. It's also very lightweight.

Also, in my initial quest to make my own hammock, I purchased some white $1 per yard fabric from Walmart. It's not ripstop, but it's very thin, slicky and some type of nylon/polyester. I noticed while laying in the hammock that the material was not breathable. So I did an experiment. I poured a few ounces of water into the hammock and let it sit overnight. To my surprise in the morning, the water had not leaked through. There was a miniscule amount of dampness on the bottom of the hammock.

Is there some chance that Walmart may have sold me a Silnylon fabric? I poured more water on while holding the hammock at and angle and the water just ran right off. Given my overnight test, I would think this fabric would do fine at a tarp. I'm going to do more testing this week.

Last but not least, has anyone used a normal tent rainfly for their hammock?

Thanks.

[gunn parker]

I made a tarp from one of those rain car covers and I would not do it again.
To start with it is all cut and sewn to suit the shape of a car and has seams all over the place. Trying to find the largest area with a seam running down the ridgline of the tarp to be was a pain.

Then the cutting of it was not to bad and then sewing the edges of the tarp across the seams that are already there was not very easy.

Then when it was all done the tarp ridgline had a dip in it to one end, I could never get it straight.

I'll try to find some pics of it for you.

[fin]

I made a tarp from one of those rain car covers and I would not do it again.
To start with it is all cut and sewn to suit the shape of a car and has seams all over the place. Trying to find the largest area with a seam running down the ridgline of the tarp to be was a pain.

Then the cutting of it was not to bad and then sewing the edges of the tarp across the seams that are already there was not very easy.

Then when it was all done the tarp ridgline had a dip in it to one end, I could never get it straight.

I'll try to find some pics of it for you.

Ditto. Hard to work with for a tarp. The car cover I was working with had elastic on the edges. Cut all the elastic off first, and it is a lot easier to figure out how much fabric you have and the orientation of the seams.

On the other hand, I have used this fabric as a liner between the hammock and my under quilt. It is breathable, yet waterproof. Works great in that application. It also works good as a mat underneath the hammock. Very lightweight and packable. You just have to make sure to set something on it, or the wind will take it away.

[Brian]

Is there some chance that Walmart may have sold me a Silnylon fabric? I poured more water on while holding the hammock at and angle and the water just ran right off. Given my overnight test, I would think this fabric would do fine at a tarp. I'm going to do more testing this week.

One of the easier methods to use is to take a piece in the shower, hold it up to the shower head, and then turn it on full blast. Your test had very minimal pressures involved - the real test comes from wind driven, higher pressure rain hitting the tarp.

If you need a piece of sil to compare to, do let me know and I'll mail one out to you.

[fin]

Is there some chance that Walmart may have sold me a Silnylon fabric?

No, not likely. I've never seen silnylon that wasn't also ripstop. You probably have some kind of coated poly or taffeta. I have found some interesting waterproof fabrics at Walmart, but never sil.

If you can find a tent rain fly large enough to cover the length of the hammock, I would give it a shot. I had a tough time finding a tent fly that would work - and gave up in favor of a tarp made by a professional designed for use with a hammock. It would require some modification to work correctly/tie out correctly, but there is no reason that it couldn't be done.

[Peg-Leg]

Guys, thanks for all the info. Your insights are very helpful. I am so fired up about making my own hammock and tarp. I've got a backpacking trip to the Smokeys in July so I've got to hurry.