dave womble (youngblood) has been working w/ ed speer on a new tarp design that should soon be available through speer hammocks.
it's design allows it to be closed on the ends to provide wind protection... especially important in cooler weather.
it can be closed a little... or a lot.
i watched & helped as dave demonstrated how it works.
it's much simpler to work w/ than his 1st tarp tent.
it does require 8 stakes when used as intended, but i suspect the corners that form the doors could be rolled up & velcroed out of the way, only requiring 4 stakes when the ends aren't needed.
it can be hung high & wide in fair weather, but gives a great deal of protection when the weather gets bad.
i don't know what the finished weight will be but it shouldn't be much more than other larger sil tarps being used.
if i remember correctly, the ridge was about 11' long, but you can see in the pictures how it cuts back w/ the curved edges on the ends.
it started out w/ a 5' wide piece of sil on each side before the curves were cut & hemmed, so it should be at least 9' wide in the small of the curves.
side view http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...5/P9150019.JPG
corner view http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...5/P9150020.JPG
end mostly closed http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...5/P9150026.JPG
dave exiting the mostly closed end http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...5/P9150025.JPG
closer shot of mostly closed end, showing crosed guy lines http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...5/P9150029.JPG
if the tarp is wet or fully closed (over lapped) you can just unhook the guy line from the stake to enter & exit.
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...5/P9150027.JPG
it can be re-hooked from inside the tarp. http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...5/P9150028.JPG
