Originally Posted by
Dublinlin
Latt, I can't take credit for it...I was watching YouTube videos on different ways a tarp can be used as a tent and thought, why not a tinier tarp for the dog? So, I bought some remnant PU coated material (heavier duty than silnylon but still lighter than the small blue WalMart hiking tarps) and hemmed all four sides of the rectangle. The only modifications I made to the tarp different from the blue WalMart one I'd experimented with is that instead of tying the edges of one of the longer sides together through its grommets, I sewed the edges together from the two joined corners all the way to the center fold. This made my DIY tarp more wind and rain proof by ensuring no drafts can come through under the staked out walls in the rearmost corner of the tent. Also, just simplifies it so it's quicker and easier to stake out and hang each time.
Then, rather than putting grommets in at regular intervals like my storebought tarp had, I used a PakTach from Dutch's site to suspend the tarp and just marked where I needed stake out points. I just bar stitched small Lashit loops and the long attached tails to each of those points. That way I can either stake it down right through the loops with a tiny titanium shepherd's hook (what I have been doing) or I could lash it to regular Y stakes.
The whole thing, Dutch titanium shepherd hooks and all, folds up into a very small, light package that I can easily slip into my dog's backpack next to his food. Best of all, it was super cheap and fast to put together and solves well a problem I've struggled with on every cold hiking/camping trip--how to shelter my dogs WELL from wind and blowing rain. Since my daughter and I normally bunk our hammocks from the same two trees, our tarp has to be hung fairly high...leaving the dogs below without a windbreak. Problem solved now!
Latt, since you'll be hanging from your tarp's ridgeline, you can utilize the shape I started out with. I like that shape much better because it gives more wrap around protection which would hold in a bit more body heat!
I think the main thing is to watch to make sure your end design doesn't collect condensation. I'd tried a different sort of windbreak out of the slick, heavy WalMart ground tarps and that was a disaster...horrific condensation in just a matter of minutes! (The small, blue fabric WalMart "backpacking" tarps do work ok.) So, you do have to choose your materials strategically and make sure the design ventilates adequately. So far, every "shape" I've experimented with using my DIY tarp has passed that test with flying colors...never any hint of condensation. And when I picked up the tarp as I was packing my gear away yesterday, the underside of the tent's floor was wet from the soggy ground, but the dog's side of the floor was still bone dry!
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