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  1. #1
    Senior Member kitsapcowboy's Avatar
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    Cool The Cowboy Glasgow K.I.S.S. Tarp (Rectangular Wide Asym)

    The port city of Glasgow, the largest population center in all of Scotland, has built a reputation in modern times for being a hub of culture with thriving performing arts scene, nouveau architecture, and bustling metropolitan environs. Its people have a reputation for being friendly and outgoing, despite the city also having obtained infamy for being one of the UK's most notorious hotbeds of urban violence.

    Centuries before such developments occurred, Glasgow locals eked out a far more humble existence in a lonely rural burg nestled in a rugged, windswept valley carved out the West Central Lowlands by the River Clyde over the millennia, one which sees a rather appreciable three and a half feet of rain annually and experiences over 200 days per year with measurable precipitation. Long story short: it's blustery and wet the majority of the time there.

    Last week, following some impromptu discussions with Dutch, I made a new variant of my previous minimalist DIY rectangular asym tarp worthy of the fierce and changeable Glaswegian climate -- or that of my own rainy peninsula here in Western Washington -- built from his Xenon Wide silpoly waterproof fabric: the Glasgow K.I.S.S. ("Keep It Super Simple"). It should be mentioned that a "Glasgow kiss" is slang for a head butt sneak attack initiating personal combat (although within the city itself the terms "Corbals kiss" or "Crown Street kiss" are more commonly used). My new upsized Glasgow K.I.S.S. tarp incorporates specific features inspired by Dutch's original Wide Asym Tarp to combat brusque weather conditions with the same aggressive bent that its name implies.

    Take that, Mother Nature...

    Here was my result...




    Type: Ambidextrous rectangular asym hammock tarp with variable ridge line configuration and storm flaps
    Materials: Dutch Xenon Wide sipoly, 300D pack cloth, 1/2" poly grosgrain ribbon, 1/2" Beastee Dee rings, Mara 70 thread
    Ridge Line Length: 133" (with storm flaps) or 139" (standard configuration)
    Dimensions: 70" wide x 120" long (appoximately 6'x10')
    Enclosed Footprint ("doors" shut): 36 sq ft (6' x 6')
    Weight: 11.3 oz (321 grams)

    Like many aspects of hammock camping, the practical geometry involved in asymmetrical hammock tarps appears simple but is actually surprisingly complex and occasionally counter-intuitive. At first glance, using a simple flat rectangle of waterproof fabric with straight sides hung askew over the ridge line of a gathered-end hammock seems very basic, with a minimum of variables, without advantage over more sophisticated hex tarps and winter tarps and with only marginal improvements in performance of a (square) "diamond" tarp.

    In truth, a well-designed asym tarp made from quality silpoly waterproof fabric maintains light weight, packs down incredibly small, allows for a speedy set-up , and lets you cut the weight of your stakes and guy lines in half. A 6'x10' rectangular wide asym tarp provides about 80% of the coverage of a Warbonnet Minifly or a Hammock Gear Dyneema Standard Hex and can coverage efficiently by precisely targeting its protection where it provides the greatest benefit over a typical gathered-end hammock.

    Where the biggest predictors of performance and weather protection for two-panel tarp designs are its dimensions of length and width, an asym tarp derives its ridge line length and its effective width from its aspect ratio as well as raw quadrilateral dimensions; rectangular asym tarps can be deceptive in how their shape determines their effective coverage zone, and parallelogram asyms can be even more so.

    All asym tarps have to balance their protection of three coverage areas of a gathered-end with an occupant on a diagonal lay: the gathered-end overhang, the head/foot projections, and the long edges opposite the projections.

    With a standard-width parallelogram asym tarp, the full fabric width of about 60" is used to create a seamless diagonal ridge line with its length sized appropriately for the hammock's ridge line length. When the desired ridge line length is achieved, oblique cuts are made to trim the fabric down from the ridge line tie-outs to appropriately positioned lateral tie-outs that extend the coverage over the head and footbox, usually creating acute vertices around 75 degrees wide. Because the width of the run of fabric is fixed, you don't automatically get better coverage by making your parallelogram tarp super-long; you will have more overhang at the ends than necessary, but your angles at the ridge line will get very narrow, making alignment and centering of your tarp to avoid exposure to the elements more and more critical. The other problem one runs into with too-long asym tarps is running into the hammock suspension, which forces them to be pitched too high to be very effective and makes proper sizing of the tarp to the hammock that much more important.

    The right angles (90 degrees) of rectangular wide asym tarps can actually exacerbate this problem when they are improperly sized; a rectangle asym that is too long will have plenty of end coverage and good protection over most of the head and foot projections, but, for a given fabric width, the long edges provide increasingly poor coverage with every excess inch of end overhang beyond what is prudent as the tarp rotates to keep its diagonal centered over the hammock ridge line. Effective tarp width decreases, and the lateral tie-outs move further and further away from their ideal locations relative to (the tie-out locations on) the projections of the hammock at the head and foot.

    Fortunately, wide 70"+ waterproof fabric creates some latitude to explore rectangular tarp shapes hung asym style, and take advantage of some of the benefits of a symmetrical shape with right angles, foremost of which is the ability to add multiple tie-out locations to vary the ridge line length or to create additional functionality, like the extended-coverage storm flaps on Dutch's Wide Aym or the multiple ground pitch options on my K.I.S.S. 2.0.

    To build the Glasgow K.I.S.S. tarp I used the following components from Dutchware Gear:

    4 yards Xenon Wide 75" 1.3 oz coated ripstop polyester
    3 yards 1/2" grosgrain ribbon (for corner tie-outs)
    8 Beastee Dee 1/2" D-rings (for corner tie-outs)
    1/2 yard 300D pack cloth (for corner reinforcements)
    Mara 70 Thread




    At 120" long and 70" wide, the 139" diagonal ridge line length on the Glasgow is comparable to that of most standard-width parallelogram asym tarps ridge line sits about 30 degrees off the line of the long edges.

    Using the inboard tie-outs (6" in from each corner on the short edges), the Glasgow has a shorter diagonal ridge line length of 133", comparable to the RL length on my original K.I.S.S. tarps. These secondary RL tie-outs are set at a reduced 25-degree angle relative to the long edges, respecting their position. The effective width is about the same as a standard-width parallelogram tarp, but the extra material forms two minimalist storm flaps that can be angle down to protect the normally vulnerable long edges of the tarp from blown precipitation and wind. Using the shorter ridge line diagonal also allows one to pitch the Glasgow 3.5" closer to the hammock ridge line, significantly increasing its effectiveness in "storm mode".




    Total cost of materials is about $45 including thread, and you'll have enough leftover components to make a stuff sack and reduce the cost of your next three Glasgow tarps to about $37 each. Build time was just over half a day, including prototyping the fairly complex beveled corner patches, owing to the eight tie-out locations that demand very precise measurement of their attachment angles. I'm sure I could shave at least an hour off of the next build now that I have a clue what I am doing...

    Additional photos and construction details to come...

    Thanks for reading this project report.

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    Last edited by kitsapcowboy; 03-26-2018 at 07:13.
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  2. #2
    Senior Member cmoulder's Avatar
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    Now that is a beaut!

    It's fun watching the evolution. That little skew makes all the difference in coverage; finally an assym I can love.
    Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
    “If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton

  3. #3
    Senior Member kitsapcowboy's Avatar
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    Exclamation DISCLAIMER

    This DIY project report was submitted to this forum for ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. Use any methods, ideas, or inspirations contained herein strictly AT YOUR OWN RISK. I accept no responsibility whatsoever for any injury or harm that befalls others owing to information presented here, and I accept no responsibility for any errors the post contains.

    I do not in any way advocate that others should do anything I have presented here; this thread is strictly DOCUMENTATION OF FACT. Readers beware.

    There is a lot of great information on Hammock Forums available from members with much more substantial experience, better ideas, and better methods than mine. SEEK IT OUT.

    Thank you for your attention.
    Smart graphic design for all your needs by BGD

  4. #4
    Senior Member kitsapcowboy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cmoulder View Post
    Now that is a beaut!

    It's fun watching the evolution. That little skew makes all the difference in coverage; finally an assym I can love.
    Thank you for your kind words. I am glad the design resonates with you as much it does with me.

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    Last edited by kitsapcowboy; 03-26-2018 at 07:15.
    Smart graphic design for all your needs by BGD

  5. #5
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    Genius! I have the materials to make a wide asym and I like the added functionality your design incorporates.

  6. #6
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    Looks great.
    "For these things your heart shall yearn
    for these things your soul shall burn
    and in the end my friend you too shall learn
    that to these things you must return"

  7. #7
    Senior Member kitsapcowboy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Marnoc View Post
    Looks great.
    I appreciate that.

    Quote Originally Posted by geneaut View Post
    Genius! I have the materials to make a wide asym and I like the added functionality your design incorporates.
    Thank you very much.

    All credit goes to Dutch, really. First, I'm grateful for him bringing his excellent Xenon Wide fabric to market, making a variety of tarp concepts much more feasible, Second, I never would have considered the possibilities of variable ridge line lengths and storm flaps without his example. I just used his products and techniques with a little creativity to dial in this concept to my own particular hanging style.
    Last edited by kitsapcowboy; 03-26-2018 at 13:16.
    Smart graphic design for all your needs by BGD

  8. #8
    Senior Member West michigan's Avatar
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    You sir are the tarp ninja
    Dutches asym wide kit was my first tarp build
    As is it kept me very dry last fall
    This gives me the itch to build one for my son also with your mods

  9. #9
    Senior Member kitsapcowboy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by West michigan View Post
    You sir are the tarp ninja
    Dutches asym wide kit was my first tarp build
    As is it kept me very dry last fall
    This gives me the itch to build one for my son also with your mods
    LOL Many thanks, sir; I'll be psyched to see your results.
    Smart graphic design for all your needs by BGD

  10. #10
    Senior Member
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    Nice job here I am still waiting for a good wide fabric for my all year asym. Something like xenon .9 wide ...

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