After a,,,,, Interesting trip or 6 with a heavily modified "Neo Tarp" from SG, I acquired some sil-nylon (Thanks Coffee) With plans on making my own tarp, cause, thought I "I know how to sew, pretty good.
I was so wrong,,, that's WRONG WRONG & WRONG! Thankfully, I has some spare to practice on. Yea, that was good enough to make a stuff sack or 3, but,,,, NO!
So, I called Teenage Brian at OES, "Dude, can you make me a tarp out of the Sil I got?" He agreed, I sent a letter with the tarp saying how big I would like it "12' to 12.5' long, & as wide as 2 pieces of material would allow. About a month later, I got a 13.5' X 10' Tarp with 12 (Plastic) D rings as tie out points & (I supplied) Figure 9s at the ridge line. It seemed as if it took me 10 minutes to get the tarp out of the package, it was SOOOO longI thought "OMG What did he send me???" So, I called him, Said He: "Yea, I had enough material, so I went for it! Try it out & if you don't like it, send it back & I'll shorten it!" So, out to the back yard, set up my tarp & hammock, spent the night. Called Brian about a week later (after a 3 day weekend trip, with rain) "YOU CAN'T HAVE MY TARP BACK EVER!!!!" That was nearly 10 years ago. I have since used my "Palace" as some of you have christened it probably 900 or more nights, sometimes (Stupidly I know) Left it up all day.
ALL of the seams / stitching are still nearly pristine looking, but due to all the use & sun my tarp has had, I must retire it from daily use. This makes me sadder than I had thought about a piece of gear, possibly you can imagine it, but It's hard. I will patch what I can & still use it on winter trips, , , ,
Oh, the stuff sack, made from the same material, from the same roll, gave up being usable over a year ago, but it was in the sun every time I hiked as it was in a pocket on the outside of my pack. So, as much as possible, keep your Nylon stuff out of the sun!
ANYWAY, I have ordered a new tarp from Brian, this time in my 2nd favorite color, Coyote Brown. I will take better care of this one, not leaving it up during the day & stuff like that. I figure that this tarp will last much longer as I now use a "Blue tarp" (green actually) from Ollie's at home.
So, my experience with OES: GREAT service, Over the top workmanship, & gear that will last a normal person 50 years.
FYI: I average over 100 nights in my hammock a year, outside,, year round.
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