Has anyone gotten in a hailstorm severe enough to damage your tarp? I'm just curious how much hail a tarp can stand. Thanks:confused:
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Has anyone gotten in a hailstorm severe enough to damage your tarp? I'm just curious how much hail a tarp can stand. Thanks:confused:
My MacCat withstood 3 rounds of hail and downpour last Saturday and sustained no damage whatsoever. The hail was very small though. Not sure how it would have done with large hail. The tarp probably weighed over a pound more from all the water it absorbed when I packed it up the next morning.
My Maccat Deluxe survived an onslaught of hail during a kick-*** summer thunderstorm. It sure was exciting! I was lying there expecting the tarp to disintegrate at any moment, but it came through without a scratch!
After seeing what BIG hail will do to my roof and my vehicle, I'm not left with a warm fuzzy feeling about a tarp stopping much.:scared:Quote:
Originally Posted by waddy
With that being said, I've weathered some smaller hail storms with a pu coated polyester and a silnylon tarp without any visible damage. I just try to find a place that the canopy will slow it down before hitting me.
My old MC Deluxe and my Speer8x10 have been through hail storms without issue! The MCD went through a nasty one too hail the size of golf balls without one problem! The Speer the hail was a little smaller than the stuff that hit the MCD but I had no problems!
Both times I had my tarp pitched at a very steep angle so that also plays into the equation and tarps ability to handle hail and stuff like that! At least that has been my experience, others may differ!?!?
It depends on the tarp fabric and construction I suppose. My Maccat 1.1 Silnylon and MLD 2K.08 Cuben have both survived some pretty serious hail peltings in the high country with no visible damage. If you go to lighter weight fabrics, maybe not so much.
Thanks for the replies. I just happened to be thinking about it, and all other kinds of problems have been reported and discussed on this forum, but I don't recall a single mention of hail damage. I'm thinking that the pitch of the tarp, the ability of the tarp to give and absorb the energy of the hail stones, and certainly the strength of the good tarps, all help to prevent damage. Hanging under the tree branches would definitely help as well, but I would imagine there have been hammocks hit that were simply hung from a stand, totally exposed to the hail. Still no reports of damage. Interesting and comforting.:D Thanks again for the replies.
We went through a wild storm with a 9x15 tyvek tarp a few years ago.
50+mph winds, and there was a spell of dime sized hail.
Not very big hail, but we were fine under the tarp.
I think this quote sums it up nicely. Many folks forget that the tarp, especially silnylon ones, have a little stretch to absorb energy. This is a major factor which cars and roofs don't possess.Quote:
Originally Posted by waddy
Yes, it will help slow down the hailstones, but couldn't this also be very dangerous? The kind of storm that will produce hail can also turn those seemingly-stout branches into widowmakers.Quote:
Hanging under the tree branches would definitely help as well
I guess it really depends on the braches and the storm, and would be a judgment call at the time.
We always take a risk in the wild......isn't that kinda why we go? to deal with the fun and scary nature stuff.
Never been in hail in the woods though.....just waiting.
Shug
A life without risk is not really lived but endured. That it Shug?Quote:
Originally Posted by Shug
I would think a good quality tarp would hold up to hail quite well. Acting like a trampoline and the hail just bouncing off.
I play around with folding kayaks, canoes. If you take a folding kayak down river through rapids and hit stones. If the fabric of the skin is pinched between a stone and the boat frame, you will likely get a cut in the fabric. If the stone pushes on the skin between frames you likely will not have damage. No hard point. ( could happen though if the hit is hard enough and the stone pointed enough, usually not)
To adapt the kayak for going down river a foam pad can be placed between the frame and fabric that will greatly reduce the possibility of damage to the fabric. Canoes made by Pakboats are designed for going down river and come manufactured with foam about 1/2 inch thick glued into the bottom of the skin on the floor for just this reason. No hard points to cause damage.
Anyway, I think hail is not likely to damage a tarp as long as there are no hard points. Unless its the cantaloupe sized hail that was reported in the news a week or so back. :scared:
High winds that come with hail storms may be another matter.
otoh - this whole opinion is just that, I've never been out in hail storm. Closest I ever got was twice while camping in the S. Dakota the news posted a warning about storms with possible golf ball sized hail. I was concerned about me, my tent and my motorcycle. Having previously seen a pickup truck caught in such a storm I was wasn't interested in the ball peen hammer treatment. :(
Luckily that hail storms never hit where I was at. :)
My question is: If you pitch the ridgeline and stake-outs really tight, could that contribute to hail damage? I would think you'd want a slightly looser tarp (not floppy) that would allow the tarp to decelerate a large hailstone over a greater time period...
True....SAFE = DULL! Well....risk is good once in a good while.Quote:
Originally Posted by Law Dawg (ret)
Shug