“I think that when the lies are all told and forgot the truth will be there yet. It dont move about from place to place and it dont change from time to time. You cant corrupt it any more than you can salt salt.” - Cormac McCarthy
I can speak to winter wind, and know that closing the doors helps enormously. Because of the length of my hammock I could only seal off one end, but that gave me 3 sides of wind block, meaning solid protection against at least 180 degrees of wind direction. Can't get that without doors.
I fold my tarp, I did try making snake skins for it. I couldn't get it to wrap around a ridgeline cord. There is so much material there if I stuffed it into a bishop bag it would take up half my pack! Could compress of course, but you see the problem and get the point.
Grizz
The only probablem i see with " winter tarps" is that all they are is a slightly larger tarp..... nothing winter about them. They are nice to have added coverage but they do not solve the "winter" probablem. Most tarps are made of 1.1 oz sil nylon this is not a winter tarp material.... it sags under rain weight and even more under ice and snow. What would it take to break this material? Normaly when you get a four season piece of gear it is built with extra things to handle those conditions for a tarp this could be a more stretch resistant material or a better wind sheding design. One of the flaws with the JRB and SWT are that they dont have side tieouts? why not? its a winter tarp supposed to handle more extreme conditions. You cant just make a tarp bigger and not know that the bigger the area the more wind it will catch.Thats one thing to look for. also both tarps use even number tieouts on each side. This always forces you to pitch a broad side into the wind whice acts like a sail. Maybe using odd tiouts to give you a strong middle point to shed wind? Also in winter you have "Smart" rain in the form of spindrift snow it does just go down or sideways in can actually spin upwards too. Of course you could argue that you should not be in a hammock in these conditions but thats what four season camping is about.
Stopping spin drift is hard but not impossible I have heard that the jacks are working on a "tarp tent" but what i saw of it i dont think the roof is in anyway desinged to handle snow load or ice. I do hope that the jacks and speer take this advice and make true "winter" tarps because i cant sew worth two cense . Also the normal guy lines are fine till you have gloves on so maybe some sort of tesioner added to the tarp to give it more "winter" tarp credentials. Also tieouts from each end using two seperate lines give you a sagging roof under a tight pitch with such large tarps and with weight on them. Using a continous ridge line under the tarp with a strong enough cord under good tension will eliminate this which should be integrated into these tarps. A little idea of my own how about little pockets under the tarp behind each tieout to stow the cordage in cause who really wants to shank the cordage thats covered in ice?
Here's my .02...
When comparing the SWT and the JRB I think a lot of people see it as comparing apples in oranges, but IMHO it's more like comparing a Granny Smith apple and a Fiji apple; they look a little different, they taste a little different, but they are still just essentially apples. Same thing with these tarps. Both are a tarp that is 10' wide and 11' long, assuming they are pitched with the seam at the ridge line. They are both constructed of 1.1 silnylon, of the approximate same weight, and are both made very well made, high quality tarps.
SWT uses cantenary darts to help in forming the doors on the end of the tarp. It makes it look like it has flaps sewn on the end, but it's just 1 piece of fabric per side, just like the JRB. If you add tie outs to the center of the SWT, on the bottom edge, you could also pitch the SWT on the 10' ridge line, just like the JRB. I also think you could add 4 tie outs the the JRB tarp, a few inches behind the corner tie outs, and you could form doors on the end of the JRB tarp when it is pitched on the 11' ridge line, just like the SWT.
Also, both tarps give you ample coverage and weather protection in just about any condition. They can both me closed up to give the maximum protection from the elements, but you sacrifice space. I know the SWT I own gets narrow when the ends are closed, and from the pics I have seen, the JRB is about the same. Neither tarp completely closes up on the end.
I must confess that I broke down and bought a JRB tarp while they were on sale. I plan on doing a comparison between the 2 at some point.
“Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it." -Terry Pratchett
darn - I was planning on making skins and a sock this weekend, but Grizz had to remind me of my taxes. Thanks, Grizz. Now I won't have to file an extention, but I may not have a sock for my trip
hey guys, i just sent my superfly to a manufactuer to look at this week. should arrive there on monday then maybe i'll have some kind of time frame for production if all goes well. i had a good pic, but my fiancee erased the pics off the dig. camera.
anyways, if you saw the pics of the origional prototype, i added a small door to overlap the big one. this should give complete closure with a width of 75-85" across the bottom. i think this is a good deal more width than the jrb or the swt in full closure mode and since the doors overlap, it is full closure, except for a small opening near the top for the suspension to exit. it also has (2) panel pull outs per side. i found this was a must in any kind of wind. cannibal actually resorted to using grip clips on the origional prototype that he has. the 2 panel pull outs per side can easily be staked to a single stake and do a great job of keeping the sides away from the hammock even in heavy wind. i tested it in high winds a couple times and it performed great.
sorry i don't have a pic. hopefully it won't be too long before i have some for sale.
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