Doors on Speer WinterTarp

[Youngblood]

For those of you that have the Speer WinterTarp, how have the 'doors' worked out for you?

(For those not familiar with it, the approach I used tries to keep the 'doors' from dragging the ground while allowing for a taut pitch over a wide range of pitch options. I ended up with a 10 sided tarp with 10 catenary cuts and 4 catenary darts to try and get that so I want to see if all that design work was worth it.)

[headchange4u]

Dave,

I've had the Speer Winter Tarp (SWT) for a while and I have used it about 4 times. I really like how you did the canterary darts. I like to leave my gear hanging from the head end of the hammock and I will close that end to protect everything from the weather. All you have to do is reach through the slit to access everything. I will leave the foot end wide open to get in and out during the day and I will close that end off at night when i go to sleep.


The doors work great, but they could have been a little bit bigger/wider IMHO. The only complaint that I have about the SWT is that it becomes very narrow under the tarp when both ends are closed. When I go diagonal in my hammock my shoulder area and sometimes my foot area come in contact with the tarp. If I have condensation under the tarp that means that my under quilt or hammock will get wet where it comes in contact with the tarp. A couple of well placed Grip Clips usually solves that problem, but larger doors would allow for a wider pitch.

One other small issue that I noticed is that when closing the ends you have to actually cross the guy lines (see pic below). When I first used it I tried putting a stake through tie outs and staking them directly to the ground, but when you pushed the slit open to get in and out, it would pull the stake out of the ground.

[Take-a-knee]

To those who have used the SWT, does its added protection reduce the need for a hammock sock in sub freezing conditions?

[headchange4u]

To those who have used the SWT, does its added protection reduce the need for a hammock sock in sub freezing conditions?

Not in my experience. Although the SWT does an excellent job in blocking wind and cold air, it doesn't "warm up" like a hammock sock does. A sock is a much smaller area to warm up than the entire area under a tarp, plus a sock can be completely closed up.

[warbonnetguy]

can someone explain the caternary darts? where are they located? what is a caternary dart?

[Youngblood]

can someone explain the caternary darts? where are they located? what is a caternary dart?

The catenary darts are a technique I came up with to help tighten the tarp whether it is pitched in a conventional A-frame or with the corners of the tarp angled inward to help block wind coming through the ends of the tarp. They form somewhat of a hinge for the corners of the tarp and are shown as the dashed lines in the drawing on this page for the WinterTarp- http://www.speerhammocks.com/Products/Tarps.htm .

[smithobx]

"One other small issue that I noticed is that when closing the ends you have to actually cross the guy lines (see pic below). When I first used it I tried putting a stake through tie outs and staking them directly to the ground, but when you pushed the slit open to get in and out, it would pull the stake out of the ground." On the door end I use for acess, I use either a long rock or log about 2ft. long and tie both of the the door tieouts to the log. I can then open or close the door by moving the log and reversing it. The attached picture shows this method using a rock. --John

[headchange4u]

The SWT is all one piece of material although there is a seam that forms the doors/beaks. That seam is created by folding the tarp and then sewing an arch from the ridge line seam down to the bottom edge of the tarp that creates the cat curve. It's sorta like a huge pleat or dart. It kinda hard to explain without seeing it. Maybe Youngblood can posts some pics or I will dig my SWT tarp out and take some pics tomorrow.

[NCPatrick]

Sorry, I can't see the picture very well. What's happening in this picture? I see someone sitting on the ground in the snow.

[slowhike]

i think john may have posted the wrong picture.
i saw what he's describing at mt rogers & i thought it was a pretty cool idea!
maybe he has another picture of it.