Do I need a new tarp?

[wbJohn]

From back in the day I scored an 8X10 Silnylon tarp at ****'s Sporting Goods for $ 0.37 (yup, 37 cents). When I got home, the exact same tarp was on the REI web site for $78.99. I've been using it for several years for a shade tarp when tent camping and it has performed wonderfully. Now that I have a "real" hammock (Dutchware Chameleon Wide) I have been setting the tarp up in a rectangular A-frame or porch mode. The peak of the tarp just covers the continuous loops of the hammock from end to end and only the strap of the beetle buckles are exposed. The tarp is usually hung a couple of inches above the hammock ridge line. I haven't been in the rain with this tarp and hammock yet but I know that's inevitable eventually. I have a three night trip planned on an island in a couple of weeks and was wondering if I need to get a bigger tarp or would what I've got be sufficient.

I'm looking at this tarp https://www.amazon.com/Hammock-Rain-...lon+tarp&psc=1 as the price seems very good for silnylon and it's 12X9 hex.

Thanks for your help.

[Bubba]

It will cover you in straight down rain but I think a bigger tarp would protect you better if the wind picks up and would allow you to set up the tarp a little higher.

[alifeoutdoors]

If that's your budget it'll do the job just fine.

[Floridahanger]

"Do I need a new tarp?"

Silly rabbit. Yes, you always need a new tarp.

Better question: Should I get a new tarp? Use what you have until it no longer fits your needs or works how you want it to work....

...Then get a new tarp or 2 or 3. You know.....for different situations....like, a Tuesday hang or Friday thru Sun hang, etc.

[dkurfiss]

What ^^^^^^ said!

[TominMN]

Floridahanger beat me to it so I'll have to be totally serious just this once, not that he isn't right!


A really nice hammock "deserves" a really nice tarp. The trend is away from syl nylon to syl poly. I like owning a hex tarp but it does have limitations. A Hanger (wide?) from UGQ or one of WB's hexes with beaks or something similar from any of the other great vendors (HG, SLD, Dutch, etc.) would serve you well. If you want exceptional coverage, there are "winter" tarps. A compromise might be to get a hex and consider adding Grizz Beaks at some point.


So many choices. So many ways to spend money!

[SilvrSurfr]

I prefer tarps with an 11' ridgeline to go with an 11' hammock. A 10 ft. tarp just isn't enough coverage. Using a hammock ridgeline at 83%, that's 109.56 inches. That doesn't leave much coverage on the ends, less than five inches per side (and the continuous loops take up about 8 of those inches at least).

[Malcolm]

Whenever I find myself asking if I need a new piece of gear, I debate it for a long time. Then I do it. Always. Maybe I'm weak. Maybe I have good instincts. My setup keeps getting lighter, so I must be doing at least something right.

Sounds like you'd be just fine as long as there wasn't much wind. That's more of a caveat than I'd be comfortable with.

Buy that new tarp, budget be darned.

[WalksIn2Trees]

As pointed out, and having been there and used a tarp that only *just* fit for quite some time: you can get by with it if you need to, but if you can afford to go bigger, then I recommend it... getting dressed or drying off in the rain really sucks when your trying to stand hunched under this little triangle of room left under a tarp with your hammock hung, and trying to keep your Quilts dry, and if you move even a little bit to either side, you get wet. That's how I learned to get dressed in my hammock btw. and they was also when I learned what it's like to be wet when it rained for two weeks straight and couldn't keep the water out (was still fairly new to it at the time)



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[WalksIn2Trees]

that said, even a utility tarp from Harbor Freight will get the job done if it's a few days if you're not ready to spring for the "good stuff" yet

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