Cuben tarp for Hammock and/or ground

[Dirtbaghiker]

Ahhh.. Nicely done. Much better then what I came up with..
I pitched mine tight to the ground.. I could slide under it and be protected for the night and it would work in a pinch, for me.. Not ideal but definitely possible..
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I will probably never have to do this, but who knows what could happen and I would rather know that there is a way to protect myself and know how to do it, should a situation arise.

[Rain Man]

I guess if I had to pitch my hex tarp in ground mode i could do it? I have not tried it yet, but maybe I will try and see. Has anyone experimented with this yet?? If the hex tarp had the grommets on ends, it would be simple with trekking poles no? any thoughts??

I retro-fitted my old MacCat Deluxe sil-nylon tarp with a single pole from side-to-side, centered. Has worked well for me when going to ground. In that case, I run a small line under my sleeping pad from end-to-end of the pole and draw it just tight enough to bow the pole, which raises the rainfly just as a tent pole does to a tent rainfly.

Got a Hammock Gear dyneema rainfly for Christmas, with doors. Am in process of doing same thing to it. I prefer the single pole under the rainfly instead of the two shorter poles on the outside top of the rainfly. Plus it allows me to do the trick above when going to ground.

Pic below is my MacCat on the John Muir Trail in California back in September. One of the few nights I was able to hang.

[MikekiM]

Got a Hammock Gear dyneema rainfly for Christmas, with doors. Am in process of doing same thing to it. I prefer the single pole under the rainfly instead of the two shorter poles on the outside top of the rainfly. Plus it allows me to do the trick above when going to ground.

Are you going to try a single pole internal pole with the cuben tarp? Interested to know how that works out..

[Mountain Gout]

I retro-fitted my old MacCat Deluxe sil-nylon tarp with a single pole from side-to-side, centered. Has worked well for me when going to ground. In that case, I run a small line under my sleeping pad from end-to-end of the pole and draw it just tight enough to bow the pole, which raises the rainfly just as a tent pole does to a tent rainfly.

Got a Hammock Gear dyneema rainfly for Christmas, with doors. Am in process of doing same thing to it. I prefer the single pole under the rainfly instead of the two shorter poles on the outside top of the rainfly. Plus it allows me to do the trick above when going to ground.

Pic below is my MacCat on the John Muir Trail in California back in September. One of the few nights I was able to hang.

Love the picture..

[Rain Man]

Are you going to try a single pole internal pole with the cuben tarp? Interested to know how that works out..

Yes, just like my MacCat mod.

[MikekiM]

Yes, just like my MacCat mod.

Really interested to see how that works. I've been using a single pole under both of my silpoly's but with zero stretch in the cuben, I'm not sure if it will work well or be advisable.. Standing by to see how you make out..

[Jimswms]

Sadly, Youtube isn't letting me embed, but the Hammock Tent TarpTent hangs or goes to ground exceptionally. Yep, it's crazy expensive, but in this case you truly get what you pay for. It's an extremely well designed setup.Of course, you need a 90 degree style hammock to use it. I think an Amok would work, but haven't tried. I guess it depends on the RL on the Amok. Love mine


on the ground

In the air

[Rain Man]

Really interested to see how that works. I've been using a single pole under both of my silpoly's but with zero stretch in the cuben, I'm not sure if it will work well or be advisable.. Standing by to see how you make out..

Here's my then-almost-finished product in my backyard yesterday. After these photos I added a twelve-inch loop of shock cord to each tie-out and re-attached the guylines to the shock cords. Nevertheless, it was so windy last night that this morning I found the .275 pole had snapped and poked a small hole through the top middle of my brand new HammockGear dyneema rainfly! YIKES!!! Thank goodness HammockGear includes a patch kit with each new rainfly. Should be an easy fix. I never had a pole snap on this type modification with my MacCat Deluxe, even bent much more when going to ground, so I don't know if it was the pole, the wind, or what.

Anyway, once patched up and fixed, I'll be out on the trail with it. As you can see in these photos, on one side I added a bit of shock "ribbon" and sewed it to an old grommet piece. (with the MacCat, I did this on both sides, not just one, so that could be a critical difference?). On the other side, I formed a small "channel," i.e., "pocket" for that end of the pole to slide into. (sorry that photo is out-of-focus) I also added a small loop in the top center on the underside of the ridgeline, for the pole to slide through and be held in place. I bought an extra repair kit and cannibalized it to make and attach these retrofits. I went through several pieces of paper making actual-size "models" of what I needed to do to try to convert a flat piece of repair fabric into a "round" channel pocket for the end of the pole ... finally went with a triangle instead of round channel.

You can see in one photo that I added a small loop of cord to the channel. That's for when I have to go-to-ground and need to run a cord (along the ground) from pole end to pole end to pull the pole into a half-circle similar to the shape a tent pole takes. (could perhaps use stakes instead?)

I really like to added side room and ability to go-to-ground similar to a tent.

Questions?

[u.willie]

Sadly, Youtube isn't letting me embed, but the Hammock Tent TarpTent hangs, or goes to ground exceptionally. Yep, it's crazy expensive, but in this case you truly get what you pay for. It's an extremely well designed setup. Of course, you need a 90 degree style hammock to use it. I think an Amok would work, but haven't tried. I guess it depends on the RL on the Amok. Love mine


on the ground

In the air

Very Nice! Thanks for posting that!

u.w.

[Jimswms]

Very Nice! Thanks for posting that!

u.w.

Of course. I'd love to try this tarp with an amok. I think it would work well. There are so many little thoughtful things about this tarp that make it such a joy to use, and it's so lightweight. It's worth every penny imho