Sharing a tarp? One tarp - Two Hammocks?

**laghang** · 04-07-2016, 10:04

I'm trying to find the "right" hammock solution for me and my husband. I think sharing a tarp might be nice so we're not so far away from one another when camping. I also like the idea of saving a little money while we figure out our preferences versus needs. I like the idea of hanging side-by-side rather than bunking.

I found some links to people sharing a tarp and using a 25" spreader bar at the head end to separate the hammocks and rigging up the tree straps on far ends of a large tree. Would I need to get a larger tarp to accommodate both of us rather than a hex?

Do you share a tarp? Any advice?

**joefbtg28** · 04-07-2016, 10:13

Guess I should start with, I have not tried this, but have contemplated it a lot. Minus the no cuddling factor, haha, I think this is better than ground sleeping for a couple. As far as hanging the hammocks go, I think finding three trees properly spaced would be the way to go. You could share one tree at the head end, so you could be close enough to pass things back and forth, and chat. Use separate trees on the foot end to have proper hanging space. You could get a tarp with doors, like the Simply Light Designs Winter Haven or Warbonnet Superfly. You could pitch it as a large rectangular tarp to get more coverage over both of you. You could take your ridgeline cord around both foot end trees. This would put the ridgeline over the center of you two. That is just how I envisioned it.

**mab0852** · 04-07-2016, 10:46

It's tight quarters under a 10x12 so a hex would be pretty small for good coverage. I would opt for a wide head end tree or a smaller split trunk tree instead of the spreader bar. That way you have a standard 2 tree setup and you know the tree is big enough to support double the load. You can quickly overload too small of a tree if you have the spreader as a crutch. Just set one strap off the left side and one off the right. If you are doing it right, your tree straps should never be coming off the center of the tree anyway.

**Brewguy** · 04-07-2016, 10:47

If you have 2 decently big trees you can do it. You'll be close, no spreader bar needed. I imagine a spreader bar would be like a see saw, when hubby gets in you'll go for a ride.

A single tarp will cover you both, but needs to be pitched a little high and won't be as storm proof.

I tried it a couple weeks ago and works well, the trees where about as big as I could hug. Aligned one strap on each side of the tree.

**sqidmark** · 04-07-2016, 11:12

My wife and I have a spreader bar. I made a 10x12 DIY winter tarp with panel pull-outs near the center and near the head end doors for poles to open things up a bit. We've done some preliminary setup tests in the backyard, but haven't given it the acid test yet. I think we're going to be ok. Our hammocks are 11'6"+ so getting the tarp close to the ground may prove to be challenging. Well, ya gotta start somewhere and we'll adjust as we learn.

Search these forums for the "honeymoon suite". It's a 3 panel tarp designed for this purpose.

**GreatBigDave** · 04-07-2016, 11:23

My son and I have shared a SuperFly using Dutch Double Whoopie Hooks and a 28" spreader bar. The boy is pretty mobile at night, I got kicked a few times but no real problem.20150920_091320.jpg DoubleDutchHang.jpg

**SilvrSurfr** · 04-07-2016, 11:43

It's a fair-weather solution at best, only good for straight down rain. As long as those are the conditions you're going to limit yourself to, then two hammocks, one tarp will work.

As you can see in GreatBigDave's picture above, you're not going to have much coverage against blowing precipitation. I skipped the two hammocks, one tarp idea because I was already having problems with keeping dry with one hammock one tarp. I knew that one miserable night of getting wet would ruin it for my kids and didn't want to go there.

GreatBigDave is using an 11 x 10 Superfly, which is great for one person because it has doors to give you excellent 4-season protection. However, there is no commercially available two-person, 4-season tarp, and I think even a custom job would prove non-viable. Even if you increased the width, I think you'd have a hard time shutting the doors due to the dual hammock suspension.

**GreatBigDave** · 04-07-2016, 11:52

SS is right about the storm cover. I would not do this in a blowing storm or if the forecast called for one.

**pgibson** · 04-07-2016, 11:56

The thing about sharing the most critical pice of gear is this.... In the event that the two of you should get separated only one of you has a shelter. For hammock campers the tarp is your protection from rain, wind, snow, and so on as well as being your best piece of gear to mark your location for a search party or your hiking partners should you get lost. So for my and my family, my kids and wife each have their own tarps and know how to set them up. For the kids we do blaze orange tarps. If for some reason we get separated and they are supposed to stop and set up their tarp where they are.

If we end up hanging next to each other to be close we can overlap the tarps and get creative in how to set up near by each other to be able to still talk and all but we then have enough shelter to go around, block rain and wind as needed but not be apart. Or if weather turns really bad then we can each batten down the hatches as needed to be fully protected. Sharing a cooking set up, a common bathroom kit, possibly water filtration and first aid supplies can be a little easier to overlap between 2 or 3 in a trip but shelters in my opinion should be individual.

Back in my retail days pimping tents out, when a couple wanted to split the weight of a shelter we recommended that one take the tent and one take the tent fly. The floor of the tent is waterproof as is the fly and in a separated situation the tent could be turned over and strung up like a tarp so again each person packed at least a moderate level of shelter.....better than nothing sort of deal.

Me and one of the boys set ups, the other was just to the right of his brother.

**alifeoutdoors** · 04-07-2016, 12:29

Originally Posted by SilvrSurfr

It's a fair-weather solution at best, only good for straight down rain. As long as those are the conditions you're going to limit yourself to, then two hammocks, one tarp will work.

As you can see in GreatBigDave's picture above, you're not going to have much coverage against blowing precipitation. I skipped the two hammocks, one tarp idea because I was already having problems with keeping dry with one hammock one tarp. I knew that one miserable night of getting wet would ruin it for my kids and didn't want to go there.

GreatBigDave is using an 11 x 10 Superfly, which is great for one person because it has doors to give you excellent 4-season protection. However, there is no commercially available two-person, 4-season tarp, and I think even a custom job would prove non-viable. Even if you increased the width, I think you'd have a hard time shutting the doors due to the dual hammock suspension.

Pretty much exactly this. I've tried to get this to work and basically since the wife doesn't want to run separate rigs, I'm just doomed to go to ground when we're out backpacking together. Just no way to get a really weather proof seal all the way around. The "honeymoon suite" I've seen by smokehouse is about the only viable solution and that's just not something I want to fiddle with.