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Thread: Tarp Size?

  1. #1
    New Member sparkysko's Avatar
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    Tarp Size?

    I managed to find another bundle of silnylon at wally world. Only problem is, it's 4 feet wide instead of the 5 1/2 feet wide stuff I had bought earlier (it's exactly the same fabric otherwise). I'm torn on what to do to make a tarp.

    I have 12 yards of the 4 feet wide stuff, and a 9 foot chunk and a 12 foot long chunk of the 5 1/2 foot wide stuff. (all the 5 1/2 foot stuff I hemmed for making a hammock, so i'd have to cut the hems off to make anything w/ them).

    I want to make a tarp, but since i live in the pacific northwest and it rains 2/3rds of the time, I want to make darn sure I make something more than adequate for rain coverage.

    What are your experiences with your tarp size and the coverage you get under your hammock?

    I can use the 5.5' chunk alongside a 4' chunk and make a nice wide tarp, but then my ridgeline on it will not be centered. I'm just really concerned about an 8 foot wide tarp being wide enough, I set up a mock setup inside my house, and i'm still wondering..

    Also would it be a good idea to put the tarp diagonal instead of rectangle. How much overlap do you have of your tarp over your hammock?

    Lastly, can anyone give me some tips on how the heck to get out of the hammock? I've set mine up sometimes so low that my back sometimes touches the ground, and I still have troubles getting out. I swing my feet over the edge, but I can't get my center of gravity leaned forward enough to get out. I've had to resort to pulling on a ridgeline, or pushing myself upright with me feet, both methods i've almost flipped myself over. I'm wondering if i should loosen the long edges of my hammock (i pulled them out about 4 inches when whipping), since the main hurdle seems to be getting over the 'lip' of the hammock.. Once I get this step figured out, I'd be confident to leave the safety of my backyard and start camping.

  2. #2
    Senior Member blackbishop351's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sparkysko View Post
    What are your experiences with your tarp size and the coverage you get under your hammock?

    Also would it be a good idea to put the tarp diagonal instead of rectangle. How much overlap do you have of your tarp over your hammock?
    My tarp - and the size I personally like - is a hex with 12' ridge, 11' wide. To me, that's good coverage. Using a square tarp on the diagonal will save weight (you can use a smaller piece of material) but you lose a lot of coverage on the ends - too much, IMO.

    Four feet each side can be enough, though. Barely, but enough. Just closer to the edge of comfort than I like


    Quote Originally Posted by sparkysko View Post
    Lastly, can anyone give me some tips on how the heck to get out of the hammock? I've set mine up sometimes so low that my back sometimes touches the ground, and I still have troubles getting out. I swing my feet over the edge, but I can't get my center of gravity leaned forward enough to get out. I've had to resort to pulling on a ridgeline, or pushing myself upright with me feet, both methods i've almost flipped myself over. I'm wondering if i should loosen the long edges of my hammock (i pulled them out about 4 inches when whipping), since the main hurdle seems to be getting over the 'lip' of the hammock.. Once I get this step figured out, I'd be confident to leave the safety of my backyard and start camping.
    Four inches of edge pull (on each end, I assume?) is probably way too much. I leave the head end alone and pull about 3" at the foot - that's plenty for me. The sides don't stay very high when I'm not in the hammock, but it's easy to get in and out, and I can sit in it to cook, change clothes, whatever.
    "Physics is the only true science. All else is stamp collecting." - J. J. Thompson

  3. #3
    slowhike's Avatar
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    ed speer makes all his tarps w/ the ridge line going "side to side" & i've never herd of a problem w/ that method.
    so w/ that in mind, you could still make the tarp any size you wanted... even if you put two "side to side" seams in it.
    and i guess you're sure you have silnylon & not just nylon w/ a DWR treatment. i haven't yet seen silnylon at walmart, but at least a couple people that i believe would know the difference, say they have found it there.
    not trying to doubt you, i would just hate to see someone spend all that time on a tarp & find out it's not going to be water proof... especially in in the north west<g>.
    as for getting out of the hammock, if i hang mine to low (just about touching) i have a hard time getting my feet under me.
    but when i'm a little higher, i can give my self a little push w/ my feet & swing so when i swing back, i can put my feet under me & stand up.
    I too will something make and joy in it's making

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    Here's an idea Jeff gave me when I had similar restraints on material size. Do a search on campmor.com for the kelty noah tarp. It is a design of a rectange pitched on the diagonal, kind of. It is more of a diamond shape tarp where you would cut the center piece out of your wide sil, then one piece on each side using the narrow sil. That would give you a lot of coverage on the sides.

    You could do this on a hex tarp too. Just have 2 seams instead of one. A little more work and a little heavy, but you can get the tarp you want with the material you want. Then again Ed Speer's sil is 6 feet wide and $4 a yard. But the engineer in me likes to make things using what I have at hand. A little challange is a good thing.
    Is that too much to ask? Girls with frikkin' lasers on their heads?
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    New Member sparkysko's Avatar
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    slowhike:

    Well, I did the rubber band + glass + cloth + water test for about an hour or two. Water doesn't go through it. If i wrap it REALLY tight around the kitchen faucet, and pump 100psi of water through the fabric, I can get pinhole leaks at any folds, or if i bend the fabric into a kind of bag shape, it'll hold water, but when I squeeze the bag really hard the water will squirt out through the fabric. I'm not sure if I can breathe through this fabric or not. I have something that looks similar, that I can *barely* breathe through that does not hold water and wets through when wet. By comparison, a t-shirt I can blow through easily. Maybe it is DWR, but if it can hold water like a bag, that's pretty good for me, we don't get hard driving rain, and I can't imagine how water would go through this if it was setup like a tarp :|.. How does DWR behave when you add water? This stuff just sheets off water, and refuses to wet if you pour water over it. If you dunk it, it'll wet, but quickly dries. But it's not 'crinkly', at least not anymore than my non waterproof stuff.

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    Try this, does the edges fray really easy? If it frays it is DWR, if not it is sil. The sil treatment goes all the way though the fabric making it not fray.
    Is that too much to ask? Girls with frikkin' lasers on their heads?
    The hanger formly known as "hammock engineer".

  7. #7
    New Member sparkysko's Avatar
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    the factory 4 foot width cuts don't fray at all. if i make a cut and mess with it, it will fray. I have to run my fingers along the cut 4-5 times and it'll start to fray, all the cuts after a while start to fray.

  8. #8
    Senior Member blackbishop351's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sparkysko View Post
    the factory 4 foot width cuts don't fray at all. if i make a cut and mess with it, it will fray. I have to run my fingers along the cut 4-5 times and it'll start to fray, all the cuts after a while start to fray.
    That's DWR then for sure. Sil is a lot like thin waxed paper - doesn't ever fray.
    "Physics is the only true science. All else is stamp collecting." - J. J. Thompson

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    In my opinion it is DWR. I have never had my sil fray no matter what I have done to it.
    Is that too much to ask? Girls with frikkin' lasers on their heads?
    The hanger formly known as "hammock engineer".

  10. #10
    Senior Member lvleph's Avatar
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    I have only had DWR fray. I mostly have used SilNylon. In fact, I have only used DWR once, and it was the only time I had fraying.

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