68 inch wide tarp?

[lmoseley7]

I purchased some tarp material from the ebayfabricsupplier a while back. It is 68 inches wide. I normally hang my hammock where I am no more than 1 ft off the ground. If I can hem the edges and lose no more than 2 inches in my rolled hems, would a 66" wide tarp be enough in a hex shape? Since I'm so low to the ground I would think that I could pitch it low and wide and still have pretty good coverage. Obviously sideways rain would be an issue, but for the non-Biblical downpours, would this be wide enough for one person? I live in the SouthEast US. I've yet to be caught in a storm since converting to hammocks but have been caught in several heavy storms back when I was a tenter. Any thoughts?

[Catavarie]

Instead of a hex tarp, that would be a good size for a minimalist asym. You could also use it as a minimalist rectangular tarp, but I think you'd actually get better coverage with an asym pitch.

[lmoseley7]

Instead of a hex tarp, that would be a good size for a minimalist asym. You could also use it as a minimalist rectangular tarp, but I think you'd actually get better coverage with an asym pitch.

I'm must have some type of mental block when it comes to asym tarps. I just can't get into them. I had considered a rectangular so that I could pitch with doors but I didn't know if it would be enough to make a difference and just wasted weight. I may have to give the asym idea some further thought. I guess I'm just afraid that I'll get locked into sleeping one way or the other due to the way I pitched the tarp. I don't get out enough to have developed a pattern for sleeping left to right or right to left. Maybe if I saw an asymmetrical tarp in person it would make a difference. My main goal in this was to just not have a seam in the material that I would have to seal. An asymmetrical tarp fits that bullpen so I will have to give it further thought. Thanks

[vrg]

Could you use a light weight binding tape/grosgrain ribbon around the edges instead of heming, then you wouldn't loose any width or length?

[tammons]

There was a thread here a while back just what your describe.
A cat cut one piece hex tarp. If you look around you might find it and he had photos.

I was headed in that direction too with 66" fabric, but after my last post yesterday and seeing this link I am going long Asym which can also be used normally.

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...84&postcount=1

I hung over the holidays a lot with my 8x10 in asym, and I like it now. I was like you before.
One stake each side works for me.

Dont even think I will cat cut it as I want the width and a 13' long tarp like I am making can also be used like this if you go to the ground and it makes a nice shelter. 13' long makes a 10' long x 5' wide ground shelter with a 48" peak. You could add a beak and a 1# net tent for more protection.

For me right now though I will just add the appropriate stake outs for the ground.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IaYJBG7Puk

You can close a +- 10x12 tarp ends and it basically makes a tent with flap doors. Heavy unless its Cuben.

[MAD777]

Here's a link to the exact tarp you are considering. I made it a couple of years ago and it became my "fair weather" tarp. I packed a larger tarp if the weather forecast was bad.
http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=26489

[lmoseley7]

Could you use a light weight binding tape/grosgrain ribbon around the edges instead of heming, then you wouldn't loose any width or length?

On the first tarp I made I did exactly this. Using the you tube videos kreative kayt did on DIY bias tape, I made bias tape for the whole tarp. It definitely has the look I like but takes a lot more time and adds some weight to the tarp. I could buy some to save time, I haven't written that off yet. Thanks for the suggestion.

There was a thread here a while back just what your describe.
A cat cut one piece hex tarp. If you look around you might find it and he had photos.

I was headed in that direction too with 66" fabric, but after my last post yesterday and seeing this link I am going long Asym which can also be used normally.

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...84&postcount=1

I hung over the holidays a lot with my 8x10 in asym, and I like it now. I was like you before.
One stake each side works for me.

Dont even think I will cat cut it as I want the width and a 13' long tarp like I am making can also be used like this if you go to the ground and it makes a nice shelter. 13' long makes a 10' long x 5' wide ground shelter with a 48" peak. You could add a beak and a 1# net tent for more protection.

For me right now though I will just add the appropriate stake outs for the ground.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IaYJBG7Puk

You can close a +- 10x12 tarp ends and it basically makes a tent with flap doors. Heavy unless its Cuben.

Thanks for the input. Looks like MAD777 stepped up with the link. I'm glad to hear from an asym convert. It's definitely still in consideration if for no reason other than the one stake per side feature.

Here's a link to the exact tarp you are considering. I made it a couple of years ago and it became my "fair weather" tarp. I packed a larger tarp if the weather forecast was bad.
http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=26489

I'll be giving this a close look, thanks.

[tammons]

Originally Posted by tammons View Post
http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...84&postcount=1
I hung over the holidays a lot with my 8x10 in asym, and I like it now. I was like you before.
One stake each side works for me.
For me right now though I will just add the appropriate stake outs for the ground.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IaYJBG7Puk
Thanks for the input. Looks like MAD777 stepped up with the link. I'm glad to hear from an asym convert. It's definitely still in consideration if for no reason other than the one stake per side feature.

The tarp I asym'd over Tday was a normal 8x10 tarp and the seam was running crossways and it still worked well.

It is not cat cut so it dipped a bit and I had the wings pitched pretty high. Started raining and some water was trapped, so I just placed a heavy broken branch on the guylines each side and that did it. So far it is very simple with just one guyline each side.

All that said this new one is narrow and no seam so it should pitch tighter.

I am thinking about putting a poncho hood in it and roll up the loose ends for double duty. I do already have a 5x9 campmor poncho tarp, but its too short for my hammocks. I tried shorter and wider hammocks, but it just does not cut it for me.
This will be sort of my SUL hammock tarp for now.

I do plan to build or buy an 8.8x12' cuben tarp with doors for winter. It helps a lot
to keep the wind off.

You could also do Sil triangles thingys or other at the hammock ends for more protection.

Still I tend to go back and look at Loner2012AT videos of his Eq a lot. Like it because its simple. He just finished his thru on the AT with a SUL hammock setup. His Eq is explained in vids 20 and 58. 9# pack without poles and very simple. Has a sub 1# pack, wilderness logics tadpole tarp, WL 3/4 quilt, summerlite bag, nano hammock. The nano is way to small for me though.

[FLRider]

I've gone over to using an asym tarp for most of my trips these days, when the temps aren't going to drop below freezing. I've tested it in pouring rain, both straight down and with 20 MPH sustained winds. The trick that I've found is to use my poncho as an undercover; it prevents windblown rain from entering the hammock at the sides of the tarp. Also, some sort of drip block is needed for the ends of the hammock, since the suspension tends to edge out from under the tarp more than with a larger tarp.

A couple of photos of my set-up:

(It's the one on the far right in this photo)


(A close-up)


I also show it off at about 8:10 in this video:


Hope it helps!

[lmoseley7]

I've gone over to using an asym tarp for most of my trips these days, when the temps aren't going to drop below freezing. I've tested it in pouring rain, both straight down and with 20 MPH sustained winds. The trick that I've found is to use my poncho as an undercover; it prevents windblown rain from entering the hammock at the sides of the tarp. Also, some sort of drip block is needed for the ends of the hammock, since the suspension tends to edge out from under the tarp more than with a larger tarp.

A couple of photos of my set-up:

(It's the one on the far right in this photo)


(A close-up)


I also show it off at about 8:10 in this video:


Hope it helps!

Thanks for the response. I noticed in the video that you mentioned making your tarp from the instructions on DIYGearSupply.com. I couldn't tell from the photos or video, is your tarp one piece of material or is there a seam? I haven't looked up those instructions yet, so that might answer my question. Did you follow the instructions exactly as to size of the tarp?

Regardless of the shape of the tarp I make, if it ends up being only one width of fabric I may take some leftovers to make an underprotector and while I'm at it I might put a hood in it to make a poncho as well. This will help with my concerns over fog and dew as well as side blown wind and ground splash. Thanks for the idea.