Tarp for Bunk Bed hangs

[UrsaMajor1887]

Hey hammock hangers!

A few months ago I hung my twins (at the time 7 years old, now 8). I know, but I couldn't resist, and I had my wife’s permission. They have become full time hangers with their DIY 1.6 single layer 10’ hammocks and AHE Jarbridge underquilts (which are beautiful in red and blue).

Spring is here and we have backpacking on the brain. They have always done well in tents, but really want to hang in the woods.

The wife doesn't want them hanging on their own, even if they are close by, so we are going to try to bunk bed hang. We went to the local park and tried it out with my HG standard tarp. Unfortunately, I didn't take a pic with the tarp (like I thought I did), but I did get one of the wife and a kid hanging.

bunk hammock.jpg

The HG tarp is 8.5’ wide, and when hung as low as I can hang it over the top hammock, it leaves the lower hammock total exposed to wind blow rain (which we get here in the southeastern US). I don't see where I reasonably hang the hammocks closer together.

I have thought about the side-by-side hang, but I think that would really limit tree selection and I still think I would need a wider tarp anyway. Having a wet wife in the woods at 4 AM is not a good thing.

So I am thinking of making two ARGON Sil Nylon tarps with doors. Think Warbonnet Superfly which is (11’ x 10’) only bigger, like 11’ x 14’ (if I did the math right). I was going to get 33’ of ARGON (with a little extra at the ends for slop and stuff sacks), cut into 3 pieces at 11”, split one down the middle and add it to each side to increase the width. Of course, I would do this for two tarps starting with like 24 yards of fabric. I was going to try 5" cat cuts on the bottom edges (should they be deeper). When the doors are folded up the tarp would be a hex with a 6' edge at the bottom, but I am thinking I should make that more like 7 feet.

Good idea?

Am I on the right track?

Will the 14’ be wider than I need or not long enough?

What dimensions should I go with?

Should I just tent until the kids are old enough to hang on their own in the woods?

[5th]

Personally I would just put them in a tent until your wife is comfortable with them being in a hammock nearby. You and your wife can still hang. We did this with our girls when they were 6-ish and it worked well.

I'm just thinking that by the time you have 2 tarps big enough to bunk-bed under, they will be fairly heavy (though if you're car camping I guess that's not an issue). Also, I would put the adult in the upper hammock and the child in the lower. It would be safer IMO.

FWIW

[UrsaMajor1887]

We are talking backpack here, not car camping.

I thought about having the kid on the bottom, but the concern there would be if some part of the suspension or hammock failed on the adult’s set up, they would come down on the 50 lbs. kid. It’s not like there has never been a hammock failure before and I think it would be better have a kid come crashing down on me than the other way around.

I think it has been said, “Never hang your hammock higher than you are willing to fall or over something you don’t want to fall on or in!”

With the integrated bug net zipped, the kid can’t roll out of the hammock and they have never rolled out while sleeping at home and they have been sleeping in their hammocks most nights since January. They are also climbers and have no problem getting up into the hammock themselves. The little one in the upper hammock pictured got in and out of the hammock all by himself while his mother was hanging below.

The wife won’t let them sleep alone in a tent in the woods. I have been told the way that would work would be 2 tents, one kid per parent in each of our 2-person tents. Putting one parent in a 2-person tent with the two of them would be bad as they really spread out when they sleep, and they getting kind of big for that. I could try putting them in their own tent while car camping and see if the wife will go for that and depending on how that works maybe work into that on the trail.

The other tenting problem is 2 of my backpacking tents are in the 15-20 year old category, are heavy, and on one the coating is delaminating from the nylon so it would leak all over. The other is around 8 pounds. My newer tent is in the 3 pound area so that wouldn’t be bad. Getting another one is cost prohibitive especially if we are going to all hang in a couple of years anyway.

So maybe I am taking myself out of tenting.

Back to the tarps…

24 yards of Sil ARGON is only $156 from Dutch and the tarps wouldn’t way that much, much less than the tent options would weigh, and we are looking for a project anyway. ARGON doesn’t weigh much more than Cuben from what I can ascertain and is much less expensive.

[2ply]

I think it's a great idea. The extra width will give good coverage for both hangers.

[gmcttr]

Sounds like a good time to make a small scale paper model to confirm dimensions and fit.

[UrsaMajor1887]

Sounds like a good time to make a small scale paper model to confirm dimensions and fit.

Thanks for the idea on the paper model. I was concerned about the doors being the right size.

Even if the kids outgrow the bunk bed hanging in a year or two, it is always good to have a couple of good size tarps around for camping and whatever.

[CamoDeafie82]

what about silnylon from Ripstop By The Roll or Magna Fabrics?

Also, what about this idea for a tarp...a simple rectangle the width of which is your tarp ridge line, and then if it's long enough, you could have room for 3 or 4 hammocks underneath two tarp lines, one higher than the other, essentially a giant lean to shelter? (would be best made out of 2-4 long strips of fabrics....)

[UrsaMajor1887]

what about silnylon from Ripstop By The Roll or Magna Fabrics?

Also, what about this idea for a tarp...a simple rectangle the width of which is your tarp ridge line, and then if it's long enough, you could have room for 3 or 4 hammocks underneath two tarp lines, one higher than the other, essentially a giant lean to shelter? (would be best made out of 2-4 long strips of fabrics....)

I have thought of getting some Sil Nylon from Magna Fabrics as they have some fantastic prices. I am trying to keep the weight down on the tarps as I will be carrying them, two sleeping bags, one topquilt, three underquilts, food, 2-3L water, fuel, stove, cook set, etc. With the tarps as large as they will be, 0.5 ounces per yard weight savings would add up. I don't want the kids packs to be over 5 lbs and the wife wants to keep hers under 20 lbs. so I am the Sherpa and I don't mind that roll if it gets us out in the piney woods, but I do want to enjoy the hiking as much as I can as well.

The giant lean to concept would only require carrying one large tarp instead of everything for two, and that sounds like a good option.

I was also thinking, when the kids are bigger and can hang on their own we could cut the large tarps down to a 1 hammock size without too much effort.

Stuff to think about. Thanks!

[Geck0]

What about a kind of pole mod that would hold the sides out and then pull the bottom straight down to the ground?
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Would that get you better coverage?

[UrsaMajor1887]

What about a kind of pole mod that would hold the sides out and then pull the bottom straight down to the ground?
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Would that get you better coverage?

Interesting idea. I will have to play with that a little. I am going to get start with some paper models as suggested.