Tarp Size?

[sparkysko]

I managed to find another bundle of silnylon at wally world. Only problem is, it's 4 feet wide instead of the 5 1/2 feet wide stuff I had bought earlier (it's exactly the same fabric otherwise). I'm torn on what to do to make a tarp.

I have 12 yards of the 4 feet wide stuff, and a 9 foot chunk and a 12 foot long chunk of the 5 1/2 foot wide stuff. (all the 5 1/2 foot stuff I hemmed for making a hammock, so i'd have to cut the hems off to make anything w/ them).

I want to make a tarp, but since i live in the pacific northwest and it rains 2/3rds of the time, I want to make darn sure I make something more than adequate for rain coverage.

What are your experiences with your tarp size and the coverage you get under your hammock?

I can use the 5.5' chunk alongside a 4' chunk and make a nice wide tarp, but then my ridgeline on it will not be centered. I'm just really concerned about an 8 foot wide tarp being wide enough, I set up a mock setup inside my house, and i'm still wondering..

Also would it be a good idea to put the tarp diagonal instead of rectangle. How much overlap do you have of your tarp over your hammock?

Lastly, can anyone give me some tips on how the heck to get out of the hammock? I've set mine up sometimes so low that my back sometimes touches the ground, and I still have troubles getting out. I swing my feet over the edge, but I can't get my center of gravity leaned forward enough to get out. I've had to resort to pulling on a ridgeline, or pushing myself upright with me feet, both methods i've almost flipped myself over. I'm wondering if i should loosen the long edges of my hammock (i pulled them out about 4 inches when whipping), since the main hurdle seems to be getting over the 'lip' of the hammock.. Once I get this step figured out, I'd be confident to leave the safety of my backyard and start camping.

[blackbishop351]

What are your experiences with your tarp size and the coverage you get under your hammock?

Also would it be a good idea to put the tarp diagonal instead of rectangle. How much overlap do you have of your tarp over your hammock?

My tarp - and the size I personally like - is a hex with 12' ridge, 11' wide. To me, that's good coverage. Using a square tarp on the diagonal will save weight (you can use a smaller piece of material) but you lose a lot of coverage on the ends - too much, IMO.

Four feet each side can be enough, though. Barely, but enough. Just closer to the edge of comfort than I like :p



Lastly, can anyone give me some tips on how the heck to get out of the hammock? I've set mine up sometimes so low that my back sometimes touches the ground, and I still have troubles getting out. I swing my feet over the edge, but I can't get my center of gravity leaned forward enough to get out. I've had to resort to pulling on a ridgeline, or pushing myself upright with me feet, both methods i've almost flipped myself over. I'm wondering if i should loosen the long edges of my hammock (i pulled them out about 4 inches when whipping), since the main hurdle seems to be getting over the 'lip' of the hammock.. Once I get this step figured out, I'd be confident to leave the safety of my backyard and start camping.

Four inches of edge pull (on each end, I assume?) is probably way too much. I leave the head end alone and pull about 3" at the foot - that's plenty for me. The sides don't stay very high when I'm not in the hammock, but it's easy to get in and out, and I can sit in it to cook, change clothes, whatever.

[slowhike]

ed speer makes all his tarps w/ the ridge line going "side to side" & i've never herd of a problem w/ that method.
so w/ that in mind, you could still make the tarp any size you wanted... even if you put two "side to side" seams in it.
and i guess you're sure you have silnylon & not just nylon w/ a DWR treatment. i haven't yet seen silnylon at walmart, but at least a couple people that i believe would know the difference, say they have found it there.
not trying to doubt you, i would just hate to see someone spend all that time on a tarp & find out it's not going to be water proof... especially in in the north west<g>.
as for getting out of the hammock, if i hang mine to low (just about touching) i have a hard time getting my feet under me.
but when i'm a little higher, i can give my self a little push w/ my feet & swing so when i swing back, i can put my feet under me & stand up.

[Coffee]

Here's an idea Jeff gave me when I had similar restraints on material size. Do a search on campmor.com for the kelty noah tarp. It is a design of a rectange pitched on the diagonal, kind of. It is more of a diamond shape tarp where you would cut the center piece out of your wide sil, then one piece on each side using the narrow sil. That would give you a lot of coverage on the sides.

You could do this on a hex tarp too. Just have 2 seams instead of one. A little more work and a little heavy, but you can get the tarp you want with the material you want. Then again Ed Speer's sil is 6 feet wide and $4 a yard. But the engineer in me likes to make things using what I have at hand. A little challange is a good thing.

[sparkysko]

slowhike:

Well, I did the rubber band + glass + cloth + water test for about an hour or two. Water doesn't go through it. If i wrap it REALLY tight around the kitchen faucet, and pump 100psi of water through the fabric, I can get pinhole leaks at any folds, or if i bend the fabric into a kind of bag shape, it'll hold water, but when I squeeze the bag really hard the water will squirt out through the fabric. I'm not sure if I can breathe through this fabric or not. I have something that looks similar, that I can *barely* breathe through that does not hold water and wets through when wet. By comparison, a t-shirt I can blow through easily. Maybe it is DWR, but if it can hold water like a bag, that's pretty good for me, we don't get hard driving rain, and I can't imagine how water would go through this if it was setup like a tarp :|.. How does DWR behave when you add water? This stuff just sheets off water, and refuses to wet if you pour water over it. If you dunk it, it'll wet, but quickly dries. But it's not 'crinkly', at least not anymore than my non waterproof stuff.

[Coffee]

Try this, does the edges fray really easy? If it frays it is DWR, if not it is sil. The sil treatment goes all the way though the fabric making it not fray.

[sparkysko]

the factory 4 foot width cuts don't fray at all. if i make a cut and mess with it, it will fray. I have to run my fingers along the cut 4-5 times and it'll start to fray, all the cuts after a while start to fray.

[blackbishop351]

the factory 4 foot width cuts don't fray at all. if i make a cut and mess with it, it will fray. I have to run my fingers along the cut 4-5 times and it'll start to fray, all the cuts after a while start to fray.

That's DWR then for sure. Sil is a lot like thin waxed paper - doesn't ever fray.

[Coffee]

In my opinion it is DWR. I have never had my sil fray no matter what I have done to it.

[lvleph]

I have only had DWR fray. I mostly have used SilNylon. In fact, I have only used DWR once, and it was the only time I had fraying.

[stoikurt]

I believe good DWR can make an acceptable tarp for shorter trips. I wouldn't want to have to rely on it day in and day out on a 6 month AT trip. You could also spray it down occasionally with some silicon spray to further reduce any water penetration.

[Just Jeff]

Sil can fray as it ages...my Python Skins are sil and they're starting to get a bit of fraying. As waterproof as you say it is, I'd say it's sil. Or maybe urethane-coated or something.

[blackbishop351]

I believe good DWR can make an acceptable tarp for shorter trips. I wouldn't want to have to rely on it day in and day out on a 6 month AT trip. You could also spray it down occasionally with some silicon spray to further reduce any water penetration.

I wouldn't try spraying DWR with silicon - it's treatment isn't silicon based so the spray might very well peel off. Same problem with using a non-silicon sealer on a sil tarp.

If you've already got the DWR, I could sort of understand wanting to use it, but when you can get Ed Speer's sil for $4/yd., I think you'd be a lot better off using sil from the start rather than trying to make do.

[blackbishop351]

Sil can fray as it ages...my Python Skins are sil and they're starting to get a bit of fraying. As waterproof as you say it is, I'd say it's sil. Or maybe urethane-coated or something.

Yeah, but how long have you had your Pythons? I've had sil lying around for MONTHS and it hasn't frayed at all. Even at the cut ends.

And btw, the DWR I have is VERY water-repellent. I've done the squeezing water test and it's performed almost as well as sil.

[sparkysko]

Well, I was using the DWR because that's what I found, and I'm just playing around w/ building stuff while I'm unemployed. Can't afford to be buying Sil and stuff. I did buy some silicone and mineral spirits, I was debating making a silicone bath, just dipping everything into a bucket of this goo and hanging it out to dry. I ended up making an 8x12 tarp. Messed up my fell seams so they're ugly as heck, probably going to use a liberal amount of sealer on them. My wife says it's more thread than fabric ;) from all the sewing i've been doing on it.

[slowhike]

Well, I was using the DWR because that's what I found, and I'm just playing around w/ building stuff while I'm unemployed. Can't afford to be buying Sil and stuff. I did buy some silicone and mineral spirits, I was debating making a silicone bath, just dipping everything into a bucket of this goo and hanging it out to dry. I ended up making an 8x12 tarp. Messed up my fell seams so they're ugly as heck, probably going to use a liberal amount of sealer on them. My wife says it's more thread than fabric ;) from all the sewing i've been doing on it.

that's ok, you should see some of my first sewing projects:eek:
my sewing has improved, but it still ain't great:o
but it's a learning process. and practicing on the $1.00 stuff is a good way to learn.
just don't let it discourage you when something don't turn out very good.
it'll be better next time!!!

[slowhike]

about the silicon bath... from what i've read from others that know far more than i about that stuff than me, i believe you'd end up w/ something way heaver than you planned.

[sparkysko]

about the silicon bath... from what i've read from others that know far more than i about that stuff than me, i believe you'd end up w/ something way heaver than you planned.

I'm not ultralight just yet. I expect to carry 30-40lbs pack weight. I'm doing some quick tests on waterproofing baths. I used a can opener and removed the top of a soda can, mixed in the mineral spirits and silicone with bamboo skewers, and shoved the cloth in there and poked it around a bit. I'd say it took on alot more liquid than when I painted it. It's dripping. I busted out with a hairdryer, and it dried out in about a minute or two (turned back to it's normal color/look). With my DWR or Sil or whatever the heck I have, it made the material much more transparent, and I could definitely feel the more rubberyness. On a normal piece of nylon it definitely helped, and seems to act just like my DWR fabric, but it doesn't have as much of a rubbery feel. Weird.

[sparkysko]

Okay, so a silicone bath is *not* a good idea. the silicone was so thick on it, i could draw and make indentations in the layer. painting good, dipping bad.

[blackbishop351]

Okay, so a silicone bath is *not* a good idea. the silicone was so thick on it, i could draw and make indentations in the layer. painting good, dipping bad.

I'm glad you tried it - now I know not to! :p

[slowhike]

yeah, i believe you'd be better off buying a cheap tarp from the hardware store than trying to make one that way my friend.
but i'm like you, sometimes i just want to see for myself what happens when you try it;)