Vents, Shelters, Tarps and What-Not

I've followed a number of the threads on condensation, vapor barriers and so forth, and it occurred to me that the discussions on polycro tarps and shelters made the idea of improving ventilation worth investigating.

Surely someone must have tried to put vents of one sort or another in DIY tarps, shelters and tents. Has there been any success? Results vary?

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Originally Posted by tgbrowning

I've followed a number of the threads on condensation, vapor barriers and so forth, and it occurred to me that the discussions on polycro tarps and shelters made the idea of improving ventilation worth investigating.

Surely someone must have tried to put vents of one sort or another in DIY tarps, shelters and tents. Has there been any success? Results vary?

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Not that I've seen, but I've also not done a lot of research on venting tarps. Socks, yes; many threads here and there on condensation (and condensation prevention) with socks.

But, honestly, tarps don't seem to suffer as much from that particular issue; unless you have the tarp closed down to the ground with doors or Grizz Beaks on either end, the airflow you get through the tarp will keep you as dry as possible given the local humidity. Now, if you're sleeping in a fog bank, well...there isn't too much that's doable with that. But, if it's at all dry, you shouldn't have too much condensation until you hit very cold temperatures. (Hence Shug's breath catcher: a piece of fleece tied to his ridgeline and tucked into the front of his top quilt to prevent his breath from forming frost on the quilt during Minnesota winter trips.)

I would be interested in seeing what folks have come up with, but I'm not sure if it's an answer looking for a problem rather than the other way 'round.

I was thinking more along the lines of emergency shelters than anything else. My chief concern was moisture build up on sees from dew. I'll keep looking --but thanks for the reply.

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Originally Posted by tgbrowning

Surely someone must have tried to put vents of one sort or another in DIY tarps, shelters and tents. Has there been any success? Results vary?

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The Eureka Chrysalis uses a vent in the tarp. Hard to see in the picture, but its there. You can see the vent well here, at about the 1:15 mark.

I tried putting open vents under the beaks on my last tarp. I was hoping to get more flow with less condensation, but I found it wasn't much different. I will try to dig up some pictures, but I do feel like we'll figure out sleeker ways of venting tarps, its just tough with real waterproof materials.