My DIY SilPoly Tarp w/ Snap-On Doors

[WaffleBox]

Well, it only took me about 6 weeks of work and numerous threads begging for help after I screwed something up, but I finally finished my SilPoly tarp. Well, sort of. It's 99% finished. I still need to find and seal the holes I accidentally sewed in a part of the tarp that is not supposed to have holes. But it's done other than that!

I present to you the [insert awesome yet-to-be-determined name here]:

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It's made of olive yellow SilPoly from Ripstop by the Roll, with grey HyperD 300 for reinforcement pieces. The ridgeline is 11' long, and it is 9' 6" wide. The base tarp is hex shaped with no cat cuts.

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I used the DIY Gear Supply tarp w/ doors design, with one major change. I cut off all the doors, and installed 3 snaps on each door so that I could reattach them. My previous tarp was the standard hex from Zpacks. I loved the weight, but wanted more coverage and wanted doors. But in designing this tarp, I realized I didn't necessarily want doors on both sides of the tarp. My main reason for wanting them is privacy (I haven't yet encountered weather conditions where doors would have helped), and doors on one end is sufficient for that in many scenarios. But what if I'm hiking alone and the weather is expected to be perfect? Well then I'm just carrying extra weight that I don't need to. So I decided I wanted to be able to add 0, 1 or 2 sets of doors depending on the circumstances.

I could have copied the design used in the Wilderness Logics door kit. But I'm not a huge fan of the extra fabric that overlaps the tarp, or the fact that you have to tie a cord to the complete other end of the tarp. You also can't install them from under the tarp, in case things turn nasty suddenly. So I decided I'd give snaps a try. I haven't seen anybody else try that. I've found some folks who use snaps to close the doors, but not attach them to the tarp. I'm not afraid to try something new, though. Here's what the system looks like:

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As you can see, there is a small gap between the tarp and door where they connect. The extra bit of fabric on the Wilderness Logics door kit fixes that problem, but it doesn't bother me at all. It only takes a couple seconds to attach the door or take it off, and they can be put on from under the tarp very easily. The snaps hold very well. If one of them breaks, it's extremely easy to replace (though not in the field unless I want to carry a tool to install a replacement, and I'm not willing to accept that weight). The female end is installed directly through the reinforcement pieces on the tarp body. The male end are installed through grosgrain tabs which are sewn to the doors.

Here are some more pics of the tarp in various configurations in terms of number of doors, using side panel pulls or not, etc.

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I'm using a continuous ridgeline of lash-it, prussiks, a Dutch hook, a Dutch wasp, and MountainGoat snake skins.

The total weight for the tarp body with all of those accessories is 16.9 oz. I haven't weighed it without the accessories, but I estimate it is about 15.2 oz without them. Each pair of doors weighs 3.0 oz. The titanium shepherd hooks and Lawson reflective cord I use for guy lines total 1.9 oz. So the total setup can range from 18.8 oz to 24.8 oz depending on how many doors I bring. That's definitely heavier than I was hoping it would be. But I'm okay with that because I love the design and I am obsessed with olive yellow. I will likely make a cuben version of this tarp at some point in the future, but I need to make a pack, NS 50 fronkey style net and snake skins, and an olive yellow quilt set first. So much to do...

Thanks so much to everybody that helped me through this process. I couldn't have gotten past my many ordeals without you. Thanks to RSBTR for giving in to my obnoxious nagging and making almost every fabric they have in olive yellow. Thanks to DIY Gear Supply for the pattern.

[drlupton]

Congratulations WaffleBox on an awesome looking tarp. I am slowly getting into the DIY addiction and in awe of what others are coming up with. If I may be so bold, I'd like to throw in "cold Snap doors" as a potential name. Thank you for the post.

[boulderv7]

That looks very nice. I really like the color. I've used snaps to keep my doors shut on my tarp and never had a problem with them. They hold really well. That tarp should service you very well!

[brianb]

Great looking tarp.

[jjr]

Very nice! Where did you get your snaps?

[WaffleBox]

Very nice! Where did you get your snaps?

Thanks! They come from Kam Snaps. Very easy to work with, and seem to hold well.

[MattK]

This looks amazing! I love the color, even though I am personally partial to grays and blacks. I have been thinking of how to make a pair of doors for my my upcoming hex tarp project, and I think I know now how to attach them.

I noticed that your reinforcement patches for the tie outs have radiused edges. I was thinking about doing that for my tarp, but wasn't sure if it was a huge pain in the butt trying sew all those curves. What was your experience?

Also, the idea of using your trekking poles as a "pole mod" instead of having to attach 12ft of guyline to each panel pullout and staking them out is amazing! I am hoping that I can use that for my tarp, which will not use a continuous ridge line. Just not a fan.

Also, I have to second naming the doors "Cold Snap Doors".

Anyways, it turned out amazing, and I will be integrating some of your design into my upcoming tarp project. And, I am looking forward to seeing how the rest of the projects on your to-do list turn out.

[sjlawrence]

Awesome tarp!

I made a hex silpoly tarp this spring but was debating whether to make another one with doors. I may have to purchase more silpoly & try this method to add doors when needed.

I have those same hiking poles too! I like that you used them as pull outs.

[WaffleBox]

I noticed that your reinforcement patches for the tie outs have radiused edges. I was thinking about doing that for my tarp, but wasn't sure if it was a huge pain in the butt trying sew all those curves. What was your experience?

Sewing the curves was actually really easy. Hemming them was a little annoying, but was much easier with the HyperD 300 than with other materials. Actually attaching them to the tarp was a breeze. I started by lining the fabric up such that one of the straight edges was perpendicular to the needle. Then I pressed my finger down hard on the corner and the feed dogs rotated it perfectly. I'm not sure that makes sense in reading, so here's an illustration. I pressed my finger down where the red X-shape is, and just didn't let that bit of fabric move other than to get rotated under my finger.

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Also, the idea of using your trekking poles as a "pole mod" instead of having to attach 12ft of guyline to each panel pullout and staking them out is amazing! I am hoping that I can use that for my tarp, which will not use a continuous ridge line. Just not a fan.

Yeah, you definitely can. Some people prefer not to put poles directly onto the tarp ridgeline because of fears of abrasion/wear, but I'm not worried about it. They mostly sit on my CR but I would be fine if they sat directly on the tarp too.

[MattK]

Sewing the curves was actually really easy... I pressed my finger down where the red X-shape is, and just didn't let that bit of fabric move other than to get rotated under my finger.

That is a great idea. I will have to try it on a couple scraps. I am using Oxford from DIY Gear Supply, so it may be a little stiffer and more challenging. The hem is the thing I am concerned about.

Yeah, you definitely can. Some people prefer not to put poles directly onto the tarp ridgeline because of fears of abrasion/wear, but I'm not worried about it. They mostly sit on my CR but I would be fine if they sat directly on the tarp too.

Cool, I will definitely give this a shot. If it seems like the poles are having an adverse affect, I will likely just add on a couple of reinforcement patches where they contact tarp. I doubt they will though. This just seems like such a great idea. I may have to give it a try on my 8x10 tarp with pull outs. I use that on the ground, but I just have to see how this looks in person!

Thanks for the insight!