Has Anyone Tried a Poncho Tarp Above Their Hammock?

Hey all,

I was planning on on hanging my Integral Designs SilPoncho above my hammock (in fair weather to start) to see what it looked like.

I suspect it will be a bit on the small side... it is 8 ft x 5 ft (my MacCat Std is 10.4' x 7') but it will be fun to check out regardless.

Given my fears, I am wondering if one could create an oversized poncho tarp that had the extra material fold up and button up to eliminate another 8-10 oz caused by carrying rain gear for your body & rain gear for your hammock.

Obviously this would only really be good if you planned on moving every night... not if you had a base-camp setup.

Thoughts?

Sean

I carry an Exped Bivy Poncho, but in addition to a tarp. I do that in case I need to set up in the rain---which would mean taking off the poncho while its raining if that's my only rain shelter.

Its 6" shorter and 2" wider than the one you linked to, but has snaps on all sides which would allow a larger shelter to be built if two individuals are traveling together.

To give an idea of how big a shelter it would make:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAoA4iA2oZs

Personally, I look on a poncho tarp as more of an emergency shelter.

It might work with a short asym hammock if hung in a diamond, but it I wouldn't want to be out in any rain with it.

I know R00K had Joe from Zpacks make a cuben tarp/poncho and pack cover for his up comming thru. I checked it out at fall MAHHA. It seemed like there was enough coverage when in tarp mode. He hiked in and out with it and stayed dry ( and it RAINED). Except for a leak the first night, in tarp mode that was due to it not getting seam sealed prior to the trip. As far as I remember R00K is so far still good to go with it. PM him or he may chime in.

I tried it with my Sea to Summit Silnylon Poncho tarp but quickly abandoned that idea in favor of my JRB 8x8, which is lighter and gives more 'minimal' protection.

For expected rain on longer trips I still am not satisfied with the weight of my current solution for rain gear on my person, so researching that is a continuous thing.

Looking into Cuben for a tarp but awaiting the reports after winter trips from the usual suspects :shades:

Usually in tropical conditions when it pours down I either go without a rain cover for the body and welcome the shower opportunity since you are wet anyway. For windy occasions I had good results with a 'throw away' plastic emergency poncho which I reused for in total about a week before it fell apart on me.

On my three week canoeing trip last summer in Sweden I was glad with my (heavy) Fjallraven jacket with wind, rain and hail.

YMMV though....

Grtz Johan

Went looking on You Tube to see if there is anything showing a poncho tarp and hammock:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNEig254G3c

The comments are interesting.

At about 11:35 he mentions that the ends of the hammock are outside the poncho tarp.

Based on this, I'd say that a poncho is less than optimum for use with a hammock for rain protection. It's probably a sensible option for ultralight ground dwelling in conjunction with a bivy sack.

Perhaps an extra large poncho tarp is the answer. My Integral Designs SilPoncho has some very cleverly placed snaps that create arm holes and cinch up the waist etc. A couple extra snaps could make a long poncho (that would otherwise drag on the ground) the correct size to wear.

Sean

The answer is always maybe. The extended poncho set in A-Sym diamond has a ridgeline of 119" The BlackBird has a 101" ridgeline. That means about 9' of coverage on each end. Enough, but just barely.

The Hennessy Explorer has too long of a ridgeline to use a poncho.

The Blackbird has a short ridgeline but has a flat lay because it encourages a diagonal lay. It would not be a good idea to use the side pullouts if you are using a poncho.

My gallery has photos that show a royal blue poncho tarp.

The downside of using your poncho as your tarp would be during setup/breakdown...would you wear it and get your hammock/gear wet, or take it off to string up...getting yourself wet in the process?

I always carry a windshirt (3.8 oz.) and that is enough to keep you dry for the amount of time it takes to rig the poncho. I also carry a Wall*Mart emergency poncho (88 cents and 1.9 oz.)

In the west the storms tend to be short and intense. When I get the idea that there might be rain I slip the emergency ponsho into my cargo pocket. You have to pull your head inside in the real poncho and put on the emergency poncho. The emergency poncho and several binderclips become additional weather protection.

Here in the west I look for evergreen trees that provide primary shelter - OK they drip all night but shelter you from intense rain.

It is a problem that can be solved by good site selection and a 88 cent and 1.9 oz. emergency poncho.

I often use my GoLite Poncho Tarp with my hammock. Worked great even during a long rain shower in Virginia.

In Virginia:
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...5/img_2160.jpg

In Arizona:
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...k-hammocks.jpg

My poncho serves double duty as a weathershield for underneath my hammock. It also provides some additional insulation as it blocks the wind. If needed, I can use it as a ground sheet for going to ground (oh the horror!). Fortunately I have never had to do that.

I heard about Rook's poncho/tarp and loved the idea so much I am in the process of working with Joe (zpacks.com) on making me a poncho tarp as well. I am going with a 9 long x 6 wide x 5 base hex. The caveats being I set my ridgeline to 80-85 inches, and I'm 5' 3". Someone bigger than me might want a bigger tarp. A regular 9x6 was going to be too baggy on my short body, so making it into a hex cuts out the bagginess of such a big poncho without losing too much coverage in tarp mode. I'm also planning on making some GrizzBeaks for it that only add an ounce at most. I think the key will be wearing my wind gear under it all. That way if I do have any issue with the poncho, I have a bit of a backup and like others have said, it will give me enough of a barrier to get the tarp set up without soaking me. Match a rain skirt that doubles as a place to sit/stand under my hammock and I'll be set!

In all honesty, the only reason I'm even going this route is because I can have something custom made. I looked, and if I had to try and do it with one of the poncho/tarps on the market, I wouldn't.

Edit: Oh and if you're still undecided by then, I should have my tarp in hand and a review up on my blog by mid to late February.

I've been using DIYed poncho over my hammock. None of the budget ponchos were long enough. First tests were in quite heavy weather - strong wind and torrential rain combined with an old pine forest (trees far apart, no real cover against elements, wet moss underneath). It worked out well enough, so I keep on using that setup.

Poncho is 150x270cm, hammock body is by coincidence made out of same sized-cloth (5x9 ft if you're from the Empire) and that's as big/small, as I can wear/sleep in comfortably.

My personal conclusions are as follows:
Poncho is small, but may be just enough not to put me in survival mode every time when the weather breaks.
Rain, even torrential, is not a big problem. Ugly stuff happens with strong wind. I had a piece of my hammock sprayed with the water that was dripping along the longer edge of the poncho. Also it does not shield the lowest part of the hammock against the wind. I probably could improve my situation - move things around, check and re-check if it's ok. However - the wet part was mostly under the foam, so I just ignored that, things dried later.

It looks like the poncho is not wide enough to use it as an A-frame roof (maybe if you like to feel wind blowing through you), diamond configuration (or a-sym if you like) is much better. You can still not tie the poncho to the ridgeline, and fiddle individually with ever corner to create exactly the kind of shelter that you need - anywhere you want between lean-to, a-sym and A-frame. It can be ugly and labor-intensive, but that's how turning **** into gold looks like if you're going that light.

I started out using my poncho as my tarp. But found I was stuck under it in fowl weather.
I now carry a hammock tarp and to save weight I use a light weight rain jacket with chaps and find life is much more comfortable in bad weather.

hth

Photo taken 1976
http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/p...ictureid=12642

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SunshineHiker

I heard about Rook's poncho/tarp and loved the idea so much I am in the process of working with Joe (zpacks.com) on making me a poncho tarp as well. I am going with a 9 long x 6 wide x 5 base hex. The caveats being I set my ridgeline to 80-85 inches, and I'm 5' 3". Someone bigger than me might want a bigger tarp. A regular 9x6 was going to be too baggy on my short body, so making it into a hex cuts out the bagginess of such a big poncho without losing too much coverage in tarp mode. I'm also planning on making some GrizzBeaks for it that only add an ounce at most. I think the key will be wearing my wind gear under it all. That way if I do have any issue with the poncho, I have a bit of a backup and like others have said, it will give me enough of a barrier to get the tarp set up without soaking me. Match a rain skirt that doubles as a place to sit/stand under my hammock and I'll be set!

In all honesty, the only reason I'm even going this route is because I can have something custom made. I looked, and if I had to try and do it with one of the poncho/tarps on the market, I wouldn't.

Edit: Oh and if you're still undecided by then, I should have my tarp in hand and a review up on my blog by mid to late February.

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So how did you go with that ZPacks Custom job?

Any photos?

Ive been looking at this for a while and I think it's going to have to be a custom job. I'm 6'2" so the dimensions will be a little different.

I live out in Far North Queensland in Australia. A lot of my hanging will be very unlikely to get rained on and this sort of solution is very attractive. I'd love to hear how it worked out for you.

I don't think it has any PRACTICAL application unless you are POSITIVE it's not going to rain and you really only want to keep a light dew off the majority of you and your gear.

I use a G.I. poncho over my youngest's kids hammock and it works well, but the hammock is only 6' long.