I have all three on it. If I'm using it with a bridge, I take the two end poles and usually a center pole with a gathered end. 13' is really overkill for a gathered end. I have taken all three and it is like being in an airplane hangar. FYI, two poles weigh in at 325 grams (.7 lbs) if you are counting weight. I don't take a bridge out without the poles, though. My Townsend Luxury bridge fits better under a 12' tarp since it has recessed spreader bars and is shorter.
I may not be adding much new to the discussion here, but anyway...
For the RR, a solid option without necessarily going for maximum coverage is the 11' Cloudburst with the external pole mod. The panel pulls are spaced specifically for the spreader bars on the RR and there is a connection point at each end of the inside of the tarp for clipping the RR bugnet pullouts. This setup is very solid for rain coverage, but doesn't have doors to protect against strong wind coming in through the ends. Since the RR is a shorter hammock than a typical gathered end, even the 11' tarp without doors provides pretty good coverage against blowing rain coming in through the ends. You can use driplines on each leg of the hammock suspension triangles, in case the metal buckles don't cut it as water breaks.
I've slept with the combination of Ridgerunner, Tensa4, and Cloudburst as described above several times and think it's a really solid package... with one caveat that without using the tarp extensions, the ridgeline of the tarp can be a bit low to the ground, due to the nature of setting up the Tensa4 to work with the Ridgerunner so that the hammock spreader bars don't collide with the stand poles.
To that point, if setting up the RR on a Tensa4, you may have to splay out the ends of the stand far enough that a 12' tarp actually will fit without using the tarp extensions. The compromise again, will be that the ridgeline of the tarp may be closer to the ground than you'd like, which is where the tarp extensions can come into play. Then there's still the fact that a 12' tarp doesn't fully cover the RR suspension triangles, if that's one of the goals.
If using the tarp extensions, and if maximum coverage is what you're after, then any 13' tarp with full doors will get you there. 13' custom WB Superfly, 13' SLD Winter Haven, 13' UGQ Winterdream - just to name 3.
Between 2 trees with a RR, these 13' tarps will fully cover the suspension triangles and if you add pole mods, you'll be living in spacious luxury. On a Tensa4 though, even though the 13' tarp will cover the suspension triangles, you still have to be able to close the doors around the poles of the stand, and even with the tarp extensions that might entail some compromise to the ability to fully close the doors. I've never used a 13' tarp with the Tensa4, so I'm only speculating on this last point.
Last edited by cmc4free; 09-17-2019 at 10:55.
Though 13 is a larger number than 12, I'm guessing if you look at the weight difference between a 12ft and 13ft SuperFly, you'll find that little extra something you can handle. I find that often times people look at a weight spec and, comparing it to zero, go for the smallest/lightest without thought that they might be compromising something else. If instead, they look at the difference between two choices, then the little additional weight might more easily be seen to be offset by a comfort and safety level.
In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.
I use a 12' UGQ XL tarp that is like a castle. Especially when you need a place to hang with some friends out of the rain.
Some days I can't tell whether I found a rope or lost a horse...
I have a standard Cloudburst and a standard Thunderfly and they both work really well with the Ridgerunner. In the colder months, I tend to use the Spindrift sock and Thunderfly since I just need minimal coverage.
My understanding is that it can. Cheryl of Tensa Outdoor aka raftingtigger on the forum posted about one here.
https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...=1#post1972643
Further, the minimum span for a Ridgerunner is around 13' and that fits on the stand, so a 13' tarp should fit as well, especially with the tarp extensions that allow the tarp connection points to be not just higher but also farther apart. I don't actually own a 13' tarp to have checked this myself.
One potential problem is that to fit the RR on the stand requires splaying the ends of the stand apart pretty far, which means they're also lower to the ground. Without the tarp extensions, the ridgeline of the tarp would be pretty low to the ground, which would mean crouching quite a bit while under the tarp, until climbing in the hammock.
See my lengthy post here which touches on that in more detail.
https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...=1#post1979719
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