I have an 11' Dream Hammock Darien hammock and I have two 11' tarps. One is a dyneema with doors and the other is a sil poly without doors. I am considering a 12' tarp. Do you experienced guys think I would prefer the 12' tarp?
Thanks.
I have an 11' Dream Hammock Darien hammock and I have two 11' tarps. One is a dyneema with doors and the other is a sil poly without doors. I am considering a 12' tarp. Do you experienced guys think I would prefer the 12' tarp?
Thanks.
An extra 6 inches on each end adds a bit of a sense of more security from the elements. With doors even more. Small weight penalty as well. Mine is a bit over 13 feet.
If you prepare for failure you will probably succeed.
Extra length gives peace of mind for many so go with what gives you that. Personally I've never had a problem with 11" tarps with 11" hammocks. Just make sire to center and pitch well.
Carry forth.......
Shug
Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven
The main disadvantage I see to going with a longer tarp is that you will have less hanging spots to choose from. Often on hiking trips I’ve wound up hanging between trees that are just barely far enough apart to work with my 11 foot tarp...maybe only 11 1/2 or 12 feet apart, which would’ve been too close together for a 12 foot tarp. Also, in 8 years of frequently camping in all manner of weather, including one trip that was three days of solid thunderstorms, I have never wound up with a damp hammock...never. All my tarps are 11 foot (as are all my hammocks). Some have doors (my SuperFly), some have wings (my MiniFly and my ThunderFly) and some are very minimal (my Edge). I’ve been caught in the rain with all of them and the snow with some of them. Never yet had a bad experience with any of them. ONCE when testing in my yard during rain, I did get a few drops on my hammock but it was because I’d run the ridgeline UNDER the tarp and the rain was tracking down the ridgeline...that was quickly fixed that day by adding drip lines at each end but thereafter I just always ran my ridgelines above the tarp instead. Personally, I wouldn’t want a 12 foot tarp because I don’t need the extra foot to stay dry and it would limit where I could hang.
Thanks guys. I guess I'll stick with the 11' tarps I have.
Here is my 11' hammock and 11' tarp for reference.
Having a ridgeline on the 11' hammock helps.
Shug
New Warbonnet XLC 11 foot Hammock by Sean Emery, on Flickr
New Warbonnet XLC 11 foot Hammock by Sean Emery, on Flickr
Showing end spacing under my 11 foot DIY Blackcrow tarp by Sean Emery, on Flickr
Showing end spacing under my 11 foot DIY Blackcrow tarp by Sean Emery, on Flickr
Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven
I debated on making my wife's palace a 12' length, but ended up sticking with an 11' because I got a great deal on discounted one from HG. We have been out for 5 nights since receiving it and I am glad we stuck with the 11'. Three of those five nights we had some struggles with tree selection because we were staying in reservable backcountry sites. I've been forced to be creative by removing ridgelines and kept thinking, if this was a 12' we would be in trouble and wouldn't really want to wrap the tarp around the tree.
Not sure if this is value to anyone, but I drew up the differences on vertical coverage a 11'-12'-13' tarps have based on its horizontal length using a 30 degree angle (quick and dirty comparison not accounting for hammock ridgeline length). It wasn't a deciding factor to me, but it is brought up often.
120733425_416645825985571_2125281534411110596_n (1).jpg
Last edited by Billcole; 10-04-2020 at 07:40.
You will LOVE your 12 footer until you get in a spot where the perfect two trees would have easily accommodated your 11 footer but not the 12 and there just seems to be no other good spot out there at the moment.I like my 12 but almost always take the 11 for that reason.
I have both 11' and 12' tarps, and I like them both, and both always keep me dry. The 11' can be used in slightly tighter spots- although I've never had an issue finding a place to string up my 12' tarp. I guess it could possibly be an issue depending on where you live, or where you choose to camp.
One nice thing about the 12' tarp is that it provides enough extra covered space on the ends of my hammock that I can easily hang my backpack off the head-end of the hammock, and it too is fully protected from the rain and off the ground.
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Longer tarp means heavier tarp, but if weight is not an issue for you, go for it.
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Ralph Waldo Emerson
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