MacCat with Explorer/Heavy storms/wind/hail

[BillyBob58]

I had posted here earlier expressing concern about my new MacCat deluxe's length, which to my amazement was 7" shorter than my stock HH Exporer tarp. Most people responding had only used the MacCats with the shorter ULBP. But a couple had used the delux with the explorer with good results, which reassured me.

Last night I set the Explorer/MacCat up with forcasts of heavy rain and wind by morning. But by bed time (I wasn't planning on sleeping out) it was already raining, the forecast had changed to very heavy storms/ straight line winds and ( sacttered) large hail, and possible tornados. I was regretting being set up, but was to lazy to go out in the rain and pull it all in. Besides, I figured this might happen in the wild, so I'd just see what happened. And maybe the hail would be elsewhere. But I wouldn't have set up in this with such a forecast.

About midnight I was awakened by incredibly heavy wind lightening storms and the sound of large hail! I figured Oh well, that's it, and the hail would destroy my tarp and hammock. This morning I looked out expecting to see, at the least, that the stakes had pulled out of the rain soaked ground and the tarp blowing around wildly. And at the worst, everything shredded by the hail. To my amazement, all was intact. The tarp seemed to be flapping in the wind a little more than normal for the MacCat, not as tight of a pitch( no bungee type tensioners used). I went out to the now swamp of a backyard to survey how much water got in the HHSS. Not one single drop! As far as I could tell, the undercover of the SS did not even have any water on the outside of it. I guess I lucked out and the wind driven rain did not come in from the ends. Still, I am impressed! Not one drop! Of course, I wasn't in it causing it to hang lower under the tarp, and that might of made a difference. More tornado warnings this A.M., so I pulled everything inside.

So it looks like the length is adequate for the Explorer, and wind performance has been superb. Much better than the stock rainfly. I would still prefer it to be longer on the ridgeline. If I had it to do over I would probably get one of the other MacCats that are a little larger than the Deluxe, though for some reason they seem to jump up in weight a good bit, more than the small size increase would indicate. They may be made a little more heavy duty. I would not want to risk the Standard or Micro with the Explorer.

Some of these end covers I'm seeing here might be just the insurance called for!

[blackbishop351]

So it looks like the length is adequate for the Explorer, and wind performance has been superb. Much better than the stock rainfly. I would still prefer it to be longer on the ridgeline. If I had it to do over I would probably get one of the other MacCats that are a little larger than the Deluxe, though for some reason they seem to jump up in weight a good bit, more than the small size increase would indicate. They may be made a little more heavy duty. I would not want to risk the Standard or Micro with the Explorer.

Some of these end covers I'm seeing here might be just the insurance called for!

Yep - IMO you just can't beat the hex-cat design for coverage and taut pitch. I haven't looked in a while, but I didn't realize Brian offered anything bigger than the Deluxe....regardless, if you're in the mood for a project and want something larger, you can always make a BlackCat!

[BillyBob58]

Yep - IMO you just can't beat the hex-cat design for coverage and taut pitch. I haven't looked in a while, but I didn't realize Brian offered anything bigger than the Deluxe....regardless, if you're in the mood for a project and want something larger, you can always make a BlackCat!

He makes tarps, including both regular and Cat cuts, of much larger size. But they are in a different category than the "generation 3" MacCats, and they seem to be heavier per size covered.

http://www.outdoorequipmentsupplier....ylon_tarps.htm

Silnylon Tarps

Many standard sizes to choose from, and if you don' see a size listed, just ask: These are on a different page than the "gen3" tarps.




Finished Size Weight Number of Tieouts Stuffed Size Cost
5' x 8' 10.5 oz 8 6" x 8" $56
5' x 10' 12.5 oz 8 6" x 8" $63
8' x 10' 20 oz 10 8" x 8" $85
10' x 10' 22 oz 12 8" x 8" $100
10' x 12' 27 oz 14 10" x 8" $110
15' x 12' (2 Seams) * oz 18 14" x 10" $185
Additional tieouts .5 oz ---- ---- $4.00
Finished Size Weight Number of Tieouts Stuffed Size Cost

8' x 10' Cat Cut 16.5 oz $95
9' x 9' Cat Cut 20 oz $95
10' x 10' Cat Cut 21 oz $120
10' x 12' Cat Cut 26 oz $135
15' x 12' Cat Cut (2 Seams) 39 oz $200
All Catenary Cut tarps feature the entire perimeter having a cat cut.

You can see that the 10x10 - 100 sq.ft., ( the MC deluxe is 10.83 ft long by 8.5 wide( 92 sq.ft and 13.8 oz. ) is 21 oz. So it is roughly 10% larger but more like 50% heavier. I'm not sure why. I guess I need to ask Brian. They must be heavier duty, and they definitely have a lot more tie outs. I notice extra tieouts are .5 oz. ea., so that may be a large part of it.

Maybe I better look into that BlackCat homemade! But, something like the home made end covers recently featured here might take care of any additional coverage I might need from wind driven rain.

[Coffee]

Some of the weight difference will be in the cat cuts. Not factored into your sq ft of coverage calculations, but I noticed a good bit that I cut off of mine. My McCat Deluxe looks like it has a decent amount of sil removed.

[slowhike]

.Some of these end covers I'm seeing here might be just the insurance called for!

the end covers or an extension something like brian (t-back) did would add very little weight & give you that extra protection when those mountain winds can't make up their mind which way they want to blow<g>.
i'm really liking the dry storage in the end covers.

[BillyBob58]

Some of the weight difference will be in the cat cuts. Not factored into your sq ft of coverage calculations, but I noticed a good bit that I cut off of mine. My McCat Deluxe looks like it has a decent amount of sil removed.

I should have made clear that I was comparing the 10x10 cat cut tarp with the MacCat Deluxe, rather than just putting it in bold in the table I copied. So I was comparing cat cut to cat cut. Though the cat cuts would reduce the actual square footage compared to my calculations, it shoud reduce thr area of both tarps about the same percentage, I guess.

SH:

the end covers or an extension something like brian (t-back) did would add very little weight & give you that extra protection when those mountain winds can't make up their mind which way they want to blow<g>.

Yep, that's what I'm thinking.

[Just Jeff]

Sew the bottoms of the end covers together. Then you can put your pack in the pocket it makes at the bottom. Dry storage, better protection, and the weight will help keep the tarp taut. Too much weight and it might cause sag issues, though.

[slowhike]

Sew the bottoms of the end covers together. Then you can put your pack in the pocket it makes at the bottom. Dry storage, better protection, and the weight will help keep the tarp taut. Too much weight and it might cause sag issues, though.

are you talking about sewing the bottom of the end covers like i made together, or the tarp beaks that brian made?
you could from a storage pocket in the ends of the tarp beak, but you would have to have a strong, structural type ridge line.
and you might have a hard time getting in & out

[Just Jeff]

I was talking about sewing the tarp beaks together to make end covers like yours. But yeah...getting in and out would take some planning.