View Full Version : How do you lower your tarp?
In those times of horizontal rain/wet snow blowing in, what secrets do you have to protect your hammock from getting wet? It seems size of the tarp is a factor, but you can only lower your tarp at the point the ropes meet the hammock hanging straps. The hammock looks good and high until you get in, then there is a big opening between you and the tarp. The smaller tarps can snug in closer to you, but then you dont have the side protection.:-?
Just Jeff
01-13-2006, 12:12
Site selection - location, location, location. Pitch perpendicular to the wind, find good windblocks, etc.
Tie to the trees, not the hammock ropes.
Ray Garlinton made a tarp with split ends, so the rope goes "inside" the tarp's ends and the tarp provides protection almost all the way to the tree. Great idea.
Tie the whole setup (hammock and tarp) closer to the ground so there's less space (opportunity) for the wind to come underneath.
Change the angle of pitch. It doesn't have to be the same on both sides, either. Pull the windward side down low and prop the windblock-protected side up higher, for example. Or snug them both down low.
location first... if you can get into a thicket or sheltered by a hillside or stand of trees, the wind stops being so much a factor, and the rain drips straight down from the canopy above. you don't even really need to worry about wind blowing sideways then...
i've not had a problem with rain blowing in, even under some pretty rough wind conditions, using the small stock tarp. i think the secret, if there is one, is to keep it tied to the hammock's hanging ropes and clipped to the side tieouts, which must be staked into the ground.... this pulls the sides of the hammock up too, making it really hard for water to get in... seems counter-intuitive, but i've tried larger tarps too, and the small one works fine....
peter_pan
01-13-2006, 14:42
Learn to tie to the trees 6-8 inches below the point that the hammock suspension ties to the tree...Before you get in this will put the tarp down on the ridgeline, if you have one....once you get in the hammock the sag will take it to 4-6 inches below the tarp..close enough for gret protection...high enough to avoid condensation....
You can take a tarps side nearly straight down if necessary... any hammock tie outs can also go steeper down or even be ignored, they are not necessary, for function, just to create interior volume... BTW, not staking these points out will be warmer in the cold as the sides and whatever insulating wing pads or under quilt will be held against you reather than out and away from you...
Pan
Right now I tie mine like Peter Pan described. But I do like the tarp hoods that Ray came up with also.
The tarp I am working on right now is based on one of Youngblood's tarps, the huge tarp/tent shelter, but with a twist.
It is going to be a tarp and a travel pod (a la Risk) all in one. It will function like a regular para. tarp, then, when needed, fold around my hammock like the travel pod/Garlington taco.
I guess it will be called the Traveling-Risk-Garlington-Taco-Youngblood-ubber-huge-tarp-shelter-convertable-all-weather-shield:D . Or Franken-Tarp for short:) .
I am just waiting on my thread to arrive...
Just Jeff
01-13-2006, 22:21
hog,
I've been thinking hammock bivies that almost do what you're talking about (but not quite), but haven't really gotten a solution that I feel good enough to prototype. I always get hung up on one thing - How are you going to vent your breath in your uber-tarp? Or are you just going to deal with the condensation?
I didn't have any noticeable condensation on my Hammock Sock, but I could definitely feel the difference in humidity when I opened it. I assume some of that moisture affected my down quilts, but I don't know how much. For that reason, I want to find a way to keep the weather protection while venting my breath.
I was in a wicked storm last night in Shenandoah. Really strong winds and rain all night. I was pitched broadside into it with my stock HH ULB tarp and underquilt. I was sure I was going to get soaked, but ended up being dry and warm all night.
I always tie my tarp to the trees, about six inches below my tree huggers. You can get the tarp as low as you want that way. Last night I had to adjust my hammock once or twice after sitting on it so it would settle in. After that, it was 6-8 inches below the tarp and did me well.
Regarding the side tie-outs, I like them always on. They keep the netting away from my face, but don't interfere with my underquilt when it's set up in the colder mode, where the ends are clipped together high and the whole quilt wraps snugly around me.
If you look at Youngblood's pictures in the Yahoo Group Photo Section you will see his two designs for tarp/tent combinations. Basically the ends are closed off from the ground to about 2/3 rd of the way up. The very top is left open to vent moist air and avoid condensation buil-up.
As much as I hat to use hook and loop fastener, I think there isn't a better choice. I don't think a lightweight zipper (nylon) would hold up with the stresses on the ends. The other alternative is to sew webbing loops and lace it up with para cord but that seems a little overkill just to avoid Velcro.
I would think in your situation, bivy or sock style weathershield, you could incorporate a vent like a rainjacket has on the back of it, or pit zips for that matter, up near the top/ends or right over your head somehow. The size of the sock would work to the advantage of such a system as well by acting as a bellows to purge air whenever you move around. Everytime you rollover you would pump out humid air, maybe put one on top and one on bottom to make the transfer of entering and exiting air easier. Hot air would pump out of the top and cooler air would enter through the bottom. If you suspend it from the ridge-line, like you sometimes do, I thnk it would work great like this. You could even make the vents directional based on how you sew the flap on.
peter_pan
01-15-2006, 08:57
As much as I hat to use hook and loop fastener, I think there isn't a better choice. I don't think a lightweight zipper (nylon) would hold up with the stresses on the ends. The other alternative is to sew webbing loops and lace it up with para cord but that seems a little overkill just to avoid Velcro.
Think omni-tape not regular velco....
Pan