Need First Tarp

[Dogdoc]

Debating between treated polyester(Kelty Noah) or Silnylon(many)! What do I need to know between these two products to make a decision on a tarp. I don't want to buy a small and work up. Just want to buy ONCE. Weight not a factor but money is. Need the best bang for my buck. Need a bigger tarp than just to cover my hammock. Thanks for everyone that gives me advice. Happy 4th!!

[flatline]

Welcome Dogdoc,
I'm not qualified to speak to the diff between poly and sil, I don't know.
I've always used silnylon. Back when I started using hammocks, I wanted and found my "end all" tarp here.
The Oldman Winter has doors that will allow me to close off the outside world or I can open them up and have a hex shaped tarp to view the glory of nature.
I now own a smaller hex tarp and a large rectangular tarp.
But my "go to" tarp is still my OMW. It is big enough and small enough, all at once.

I hope this was slightly helpful.

[bghiker]

I recently bought a warbonnet superfly and I love it. It is much lighter that my previous Hennessey hex and works great. I have only had it out a couple times, once in the back yard and once in the Trapper Creek Wilderness in WA state the last few days. It was super easy to setup and the built in doors came in really handy when an unexpected windstorm kicked up in the middle of the night Tuesday. I had to rapidly go from "porch mode" to "doors latched mode at about 3 in the morning but it performed flawlessly. I bought this tarp after several recommendations from fellow hammock forums members and have no regrets.

Good Luck,
Eric

[southern9]

Welcome to the forum. Lighter is usually more expensive. There are a number of great tarp makers in the vender section. Decide if you want tarp doors or not. If you are in Texas, you may like no doors. Describe your desired camping climates and you'll get more help. You cant go wrong with a tarp from wilderness logics or warbonnet. Silnylon is nice.

[DeRozea]

I have small and large tarps. the largest was the cheapest. kelty noah 16 x 16 was under 80$. warbonnet makes good light tarps(I have edge, girlfriend has mamajamba) and their tarps are only 11 feet long. my old man winter from wilderness logics has 12' ridgeline. Personally for my 11' hammocks I am not comfortable with my 11' tarp. my buckle or whoopee hook is not covered therefore can transfer water to hammock. and even the small edge(love it for my small hammocks(switchback and eno dn) was a bit more expensive than the 16x16 noah. if it is car camping or any way you don't need to worry about carrying it(canoe or kayak) it will be great.
pic of my 16x16 with 2 dreamhammocks under it.
P1040031.JPG

[yooz85]

As others have said, all the vendors that sell tarps do excellent work. When ever this question comes up i always suggest the Wilderness logics Tadpole tarp. It has excellent coverage a low weight, and also you can customize it down the road with add on doors. If you feel you need more tarp than the tadpole you can always put it up on the for sale section and someone will snatch it up real quick.

Good luck with you decision and happy hanging!

[rexberger]

Hi there for sure no doubt about it go for the War Bonnet Super FLy. Great tarp for all seasons. Plenty of room, and adjustability. Hope you pick a good one.

Rex

[pgibson]

Welcome to the forums.

Polyurethane coated fabric is generally a little more affordable from the manufactures that work with it. It is extremely waterproof. That is due to the way in which the fabric is coated and the thickness of the coating that goes on to make it waterproof. For the most part it will be watertight, however to get that sort of rating the shear volume of polyurethane that goes on the the fabric and the need for a reasonably stout fabric for it to hold to means you will have a fairly heavy and bulky tarp.

Silicone coatings are substantially lighter weight in nature and as such less bulky but under extreme weather conditions they are not as waterproof....some folks believe they have had misting come through the tarp. The difference here is the way the coating is put on the tarp material. Polyurethane is layer on the finished fabric (once it's woven) in a spay...thing house painting. Sil is done a few different ways. The main way is that the actually fabric threads are run through a bath coating the threads before they are woven. The silicone grabs onto the thread and bonds well to it, but once dried then woven the individual strands of sil thread do not bond to each other solidly and if the fabric is pulled extremely tight the pores can open up letting moisture mist through. The cure is to not go totally crazy cranking your tarp so tight that you stretch every thread to the total extreme.


Now here is the real trade offs. PU fabric is a little cheaper and easier to sew, hence a lower cost to manufacture. However your looking at 2-4 times the weight depending on size and at least 3-4 times the bulk. A good sil tarp like the ones we produce are about the size of a energy drink can when folded and rolled, for a PU tarp think more like a 1/2 gallon milk jug when rolled and folded similarly.

Hope that helps some.

[cdnunn01]

I am personally in love with my $68 DD Hammock 3m x 3m tarp. Excellent quality, pretty lightweight, lots of tie down points (19), lightening fast free shipping, and superior customer service. I'm a fan for life. 😃

[hattywaiverwireguru]

Superfly and don't look back