HG 4S Cuben has arrived!!

[Acer]

Like I said in my previous posts on the beauty of the making of my tarp by HG. the labor, the tedious meticulous endevours of Adam and his people putting it together, gluing this and that, sewing this and that, sealing this and that..and as perfect every inch of it is made...I really don't see how they make the money on the labor it takes, the time,,,and the cost of materials...price the materials it takes to go into making a cuben tarp. No way am I going to take on the task of building my own 4S tarp..just don't want to try it. I will leave it to the "Pro's" and pay the price and contribute to keeping these cottage makers as we call them..in business. They have the equipment, and knowledge and materials at hand to do what I want them to make me. Its just that simple!

[enyapjr]

Sorry I missed all the postings and some questions - I was outside playing with the tarp before dinner - and after dinner, too!...

Yes, 4S is short form for "4 Season" from the HammockGear tarp name - though I personally don't consider it a true 'winter' tarp due to its supposed 'lack' of width (but hanging 'low' it could certainly be capable with its 8.5' width) - but it does have 4 door panels to close off the ends... Without the door panels the HG 4S tarp has the same dimensions as my OES MacCat Spinn Deluxe - so now I have a tarp with the same 'coverage' as my OES but with door panels to help block wind/rain and an overall lighter weight - just what I was looking for in preparation for future thru-hikes!

There have been wider cuben tarps made - "winter palace" widths - but as noted previously it takes a lot more work plus extra side 'seams' due to the cuben's limited stock width... I myself would definitely be leery of the extra side seams needed to gain width for what some consider required for a 'winter' tarp, especially in very cold, windy winter conditions - but I'm more than happy with the 8.5' width for the reason(s) I bought it for (after all, I wasn't buying a dedicated 'winter' tarp!)...

I can't say enough about the quality and workmanship of HammockGear products (and service, too) - "excellent" doesn't seem quite good enough at times IMHO!

CRL failure - I, too, had a recent CRL failure... High winds were predicted a while back - I decided it was a great time to 'test' my setup in the backyard... I use Zing-it for ridgeline & guylines and Lash-it for prussics and had just received some Dutch Flyz... I had the Flyz installed directly on the ridgeline - and in 30-40 MPH gusting winds it broke at one of the Flyz right where it 'exited' a Flyz hole... Perhaps I had it strung too tightly - or if I had used a prussic to attach the Flyz to the ridgeline instead - ?? Who knows!
The Flyz I received did have fairly 'sharp' hole edges - but a few minutes with a drill to 'bevel' the hole edges slightly and 'finish' them off with a small needle file, I'm confident it won't ever happen again... Plus, remember, this was in my 'wind-tunnel' backyard! - if I was out on a trail, I would have selected a much better & sheltered hang location!!
BTW, the OES tarp made it through unharmed with flying colors - as some have said before: it is better that 'something' in the rig fails before the tarp itself does!

Looking forward to seeing some of you plus gear testing on the trail on the hike into and/or at Spring MAHHA!

[enyapjr]

Dutch PMed me after my last post - thinking one his Flyz may have broken ()...
Not at all! The Zing-it CRL broke at the one Flyz...
The Zing-it makes a sharp right angle bend as it exits the Flyz hole nearest the tree - and though the Flyz hole edge was not "cutting" 'sharp', that sharp/tight bend was the probable cause of the Zing-it's failure in the very gusty, high winds...
Afterwards, I simply altered the Flyz by giving all the holes' edges more 'bevel' and am confident that should be enough that a Zing-it CRL won't fail again at one of the Flyz...
As said previously, I would have selected a more sheltered location if out on a trail - but we can't always get out to where one would rather be, so the backyard gets used for both a quick 'fix' and/or experimentation...
Thanks for the concern, Dutch! (plus the offer of replacement if a Flyz had failed - but I think you probably still have a perfect record going!!)

[lazy river road]

Dutch PMed me after my last post - thinking one his Flyz may have broken ()...
Not at all! The Zing-it CRL broke at the one Flyz...
The Zing-it makes a sharp right angle bend as it exits the Flyz hole nearest the tree - and though the Flyz hole edge was not "cutting" 'sharp', that sharp/tight bend was the probable cause of the Zing-it's failure in the very gusty, high winds...
Afterwards, I simply altered the Flyz by giving all the holes' edges more 'bevel' and am confident that should be enough that a Zing-it CRL won't fail again at one of the Flyz...
As said previously, I would have selected a more sheltered location if out on a trail - but we can't always get out to where one would rather be, so the backyard gets used for both a quick 'fix' and/or experimentation...
Thanks for the concern, Dutch! (plus the offer of replacement if a Flyz had failed - but I think you probably still have a perfect record going!!)

Another way you could go about it would be to attach the Flyz on a continuous loop and larks heading it to the CRL. This would eliminate any tension/bend of the CRL cause it would not have to be threaded through the Flyz holes. I also find that with a prussicked flyz I get better tension on the RL. YMMV

[enyapjr]

Another way you could go about it would be to attach the Flyz on a continuous loop and larks heading it to the CRL. This would eliminate any tension/bend of the CRL cause it would not have to be threaded through the Flyz holes. I also find that with a prussicked flyz I get better tension on the RL. YMMV

True, and I thought about doing that - mounting the Flyz on prussic loops - but decided to try the 'direct' mount first (wanted the Flyz as close as possible to the tarp ends so the "V"s created would also be very close to the tarp ends)... Time will tell - I will be on the lookout for possible 'wear' on the Zing-it at the Flyz locations (and, if so, will then convert to prussic mountings)...
I also have to emphasize that my backyard is indeed a wind tunnel/funnel - and I would never select such a spot in high winds if I were out on a trail somewhere - and during my 'experiment' the winds were definitely very strong with severe gusting... The CRL 'failure' in this case doesn't necessarily make it a "no go" for the direct mounting of the Flyz - as yet, anyway...


ps: sorry this wound up off-topic!! - talking about tarp ridgeline rigging should be under "weather protection", not here under HammockGear...