What do y'all think of this?

[BillyBob58]

I was out side today experimenting with the PeaPod, using a line/pulley attached to the end to make fine adjustments. BTW, I am getting much better at arriving at an almost zero gap on the bottom while maintaining full loft. But I digress.

Yesterday, because we have had so much rain with a lot more on the way and now I'm playing with down, I took down my Mac Cat Dlx and put up my HH Sil Hex, 19 oz with a 12 foot ridge line, by (I think) 11 feet wide.

I decided I would see what kind of storm pitch could be done with this non cat tarp, which so far is OK, but not fantastic, in the wind.

Here is the over all coverage, hanging over a Speer 8.5 wrapped in a PeaPodIII. Even with some more sag when weighted, coverage would be excellent on the sides. But keep in mind that this PeaPod is hung with almost a foot more sag than the hammock ( 10-12" lower at the inner surface of the pod than at the low point than the hammock) plus several inches of loft. Strangely to me, when I weight the hammock, the pod does not sag all that much more and the hammock sags down 6" to 1 foot, to just barely make contact with the pods upper/inner surface. But, either way, it looks like there is plenty of side coverage for wind driven rain. Also, notice to the left I have NOT hung the tarp higher than the hammock, though I would in the field.
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery/files/2/2/9/IMG_0833.jpg

This next shot is the foot end pitched in what I'm calling a "moderate" storm pitch. Excellent coverage, probably for even more than moderate storms.
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery/files/2/2/9/IMG_0834.jpg

This last shot is what I'm calling "severe" storm pitch, AKA the well known "Noah's pitch"! OK. I probably over did it a bit here, cause I was too lazy to move my stakes again. So I just crossed the lines over. But, as you can see, if you want to block rain or wind from coming in the ends, this tarp should be pretty effective.
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery/files/2/2/9/IMG_0835.jpg


Bill

[NCPatrick]

Looks good to me. I staked my tarp sides to the ground last weekend (same tarp) and still had a goodly amount of room. I really hadn't thought of closing off one end. That's interesting.


Send some of that rain to NC please.

[txulrich]

That's one of those things that when you see it, you hit yourself in the forehead and say, "Why didn't I think of that?" Great idea on alternative tarp setup.

[headchange4u]

That's would work and I have tried it before, but the only downfall that if you have any condensation under the tarp, you and your gear will get wet . It can also cause some compression on the sides of your under quilt, depending on how diagonally you lay in your hammock.

[Cannibal]

I'm just glad I'm not the only one using those cheap yellow stakes from Walmart! :D

I would be worried about getting wet in the 'extreme' pitch. I know when my back brushes against the inside of the tarp after a solid night of rain, it gets damp. But, I suppose 'damp' is leaps and bounds better than sopping wet. It is a pretty neat idea just crossing the lines like that! :cool:

[Ewker]

http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery/files/2/2/9/IMG_0833.jpg

Bill


I have a Speer hammock and I never have that much sag. That seems like a lot of sag to me. Is that normal??

[hangnout]

That is similar to a Clark in storm mode. You will have condensation but I could live with it in the Clark because of the bug net catching any drips. It did not work as well with the UQ though because the UQ acted like a big sponge that caught the condensation as it came down the inside of the tarp.

[BillyBob58]

I have a Speer hammock and I never have that much sag. That seems like a lot of sag to me. Is that normal??
For some reason, I have had to hang this much sag in my Speer to approach the comfort of my HH. But you remind me that I want to experiment, once again, to see if I can hang with less hang and be comfortable. I particularly have a hard time using the Speer as a chair without a lot of sag. The less sag, the more the edges want to "cut" into my legs.

So yeah, there is a lot of sag, maybe more than usual. BUT, the PeaPod is hung with even more sag than the hammock, and that is really what you mostly see in this picture.

[BillyBob58]

That's would work and I have tried it before, but the only downfall that if you have any condensation under the tarp, you and your gear will get wet . It can also cause some compression on the sides of your under quilt, depending on how diagonally you lay in your hammock.

Yeah, I even have some trouble with that with a wider pitch. On my recent cold sleep outs ( 10 and 24 degrees), when I would get in and out, the frozen condensation would "snow" on my bed. But, I still managed to stay dry enough.

I would only use such a setup if I was in or expected a wind blown a deluge, where I would rather take a chance on condensation on the DWR of the pod, than on the rain or snow. Or, maybe to block a really icy wind. And even then, probably only on the windward side.

But I think it would work really great with my HH SS, with the bottom entry and netting/over cover and sil nylon Undercover.

[Just Jeff]

I like a lot of sag like that, too. Last week I tried hanging with less sag just to see if anything has changed...nope, still like lots of sag. Just me...do what feels good!

[Crawldaddy]

Am I missing something or looking at it wrong, but it looks like that hammock is hanging off a seperate ridge line?

[BillyBob58]

Am I missing something or looking at it wrong, but it looks like that hammock is hanging off a seperate ridge line?

Well, there is an added structural ridge line between the end knots of the Speer hammock. The regular Speer Polypro is attached to the supports, and the hammock hangs from that. Then there is a spider line RL supplying the sag. So it's just the typical set up: hammock hanging from webbing tied to supports, with RL setting the sag.

[macfly]

I'm afraid I don't really have anything practical to add to this thread, but I just have to say...there's something really freaking cool about the way that silhouette of you in the hammock looks in that first photo. It's like the HF logo come to life :D

[BillyBob58]

It is the best silhouette shot I've ever taken. I was surprised at how it came out. But I'm not actually in it, cause my self timer won't delay long enough for me to push the button and get in.

But let me say about this tarp: i've decided it is 1st rate! Of course it does weigh a relatively heavy 19 ozs, but for that you get a noticeably larger house than even my Mac Cat Deluxe. But we have had heavy gusting winds around here the las couple of days. It was quite the trick getting it set up yesterday, because of the broadside wind. But once I got the lines tightened down, it seems to me about as stable and quiet in the wind as my Mac Cat. I'm imagine that in reality there is an advantage to the Mac Cat, but it isn't to a degree that I can really notice it. All I know is that it has been quiet and stable for a couple of days whenever I have been under it, with the wind usually blowing pretty hard. I have not even had to re-tighten the guy lines. So it is a pretty good tarp over all, with plenty of coverage compared to most. But at the cost of a few ounces- 8 more than the stock diamond HH Explorer tarp and about 5 or 6 more than the Mac Cat. Might not always be worth it.

Of course, if weather was not expected to be horrendous, this might be a good tarp to do one of those two hammock/one tarp deals.