How high is your tarp?

[lostinthewuds]

Hello all! I was messing around today with the hammock and decided to hang the trap. (ok, I'll be honest it's a sad excuse for a trap but I wanted to get a feel for size, fit, height, etc.



This is just an old silver tarp that I've used a few times in the woods to block the wind while sitting around a camp fire.

This got me to thinking, how high do you usually hang your tarp? Seems like most of the pictures that I see on the forum the tarp seems to be just about right on top of the hammock.

I measured the set up in the picture and the hammock empty was about 24" off the ground and the tarp was about 55" high. I could stand bent over under the trap and sit up in the hammock and not hit my head on the tarp. Is this probably about right? Is there a general rule of thumb? I know that how it is set up will be in account of weather etc, but didn't know if there was something general to keep in mind.

Thanks,
lost

[BullFrog]

Depends on the weather. If I don't expect much wind or rain, I pitch it fairly high away from my hammock. I pitch right on top of my hammock ridgeline if it's foul outside.

[JasonJones]

Like BullDawg said, if its decent weather I like to pitch it higher up so I can get a bit of a view out of it. But any signs of rain, and pitch it close so you get good side coverage, rain doesn't always fall straight down. Also the hammock is going to sag lower than its pitched when you get in it, so the tarp wont be right on top of you anyways once in it.

[kayak karl]

i agree with the others. sometimes i will lift one side up for a view, but i always block the camp view so Kaia don't bark at every movement.
if under trees i put up tarp. stops egg-corns, branches and leaves from landing on me.

[JayB]

I had the same problem when I first started, everyones tarp was so close to the hammock, but mine never was, and then someone said it "The tarp ridgeline ties to the tree BELOW the treehuggers". OOOOOOHHHH, ok, now I can pitch my tarp nice and low on the hammock when I want. Just didn't ever notice that in the pics, and it took someone saying it outright for it to click with me.
Otherwise if the tarp attaches above the huggers (like in your pics), you will always have the tarp riding high.

[Hooch]

It's so high that it said to Tommy Chong, "What are you doing down there?".

Ok, not really.

Seriously, like most here, it's all weather dependent. Bad weather=lower pitch. Good weather=higher pitch. Or, in some instances, no tarp at all.

[Shewie]

I have my tarp (Superfly) high enough that I can stand up straight when I'm inside, if it's baltic outside and the wind is howling then I might drop it down lower.

My hammock is always at the same height though, low enough that I can sit up in it sideways with my feet on the floor.

I guess with my normal setup the tarp is two feet or so higher than my hammock risgeline

[te-wa]

in that diamond config. you'd be best suited to pitch the tarp really low.. to block wind.

[lazy river road]

I use a winter tarp in all four seasons. It also really depends on the weather and the tarp yo are using. In the winter I pitch it pretty low down and close to my hammock cause it want it to block wind from underneath me as much as possible. But in warmer months and nice weather I like to pitch it in either porch mode or high enough that I can stand up underneath with out ducking.

[spaceweaseal]

If it's nice weather and I just want shade, then I hang it high. In bad weather I hang the tarp as low and close to the hammock as possible, and my tarp lines will actually be lower than the hammocks tree straps... Even if it's nice you can hang it low and flip one side over the top. That way if it does get windy or nasty out, all you have to do is flip it back over and stake it down..


I like my hammock 18-20" off the ground, (chair height for me).