Asym Tarp - Storm Stories

[Slackdaddy]

12+ years now, 5 hennesy's (original, Expo, explorer, ULBP) all with the original "1/4" to spare" Asym tarps.
about 3-5 trips a year with my complete cast of HH's filled with kids, for over 10 years.

One time, and one time only did any ever get wet, my then 13 year old brought a friend. When we pulled off the river they set up their hammocks, my son put his friends asym tarp on backwards, it rained, he got wet.

now it is typ just me and my now 16 year old son, 5-6 times a season,, we have gone to large hex tarps, just because. weight is not an issue (kayaks) so why not? like the idea of all my gear under it and staying dry even in porch mode.

[MiteyF]

I have never used an asym, but after a few nasty, night-long storms with a 12' hex, I can guarantee I will never go any smaller.

[SilvrSurfr]

Well, one thing I can say for the HH Exped Asym postage-stamp tarp, is that it got me through the heaviest rainfall I have ever seen and it was my first night in a hammock! We got five inches of rain that night, and you couldn't leave anything on the ground unless you wanted it to wash away, never to be found again.

Of course, this was in a heavily wooded section of the Adirondacks, with absolutely no wind. My ground-pounding friend slept in an Adirondack shelter. Not only did he get wet, but he had rodents running across his sleeping bag all night long and couldn't get any sleep.

The overnight rainfall was so heavy that, when we went to our next campsite the following morning (Lake Lila), we had to offload ALL equipment (and we had 800 lbs. of equipment, including canoe) from my 1994 Cadillac El Dorado in order to get the clearance to go through some of the flooding (squishy suspension). You know the flooding is bad when you have to walk out into it, then measure on your legs whether the engine will clear it.

What would normally be a 1-hour trip took us three hours - unpacking and packing equipment from the Cadillac as we crossed flooded areas. At least we had a canoe to paddle the gear across!

[Slackdaddy]

This is all I see reading your story,,

moe and joe.jpg

Well, one thing I can say for the HH Exped Asym postage-stamp tarp, is that it got me through the heaviest rainfall I have ever seen and it was my first night in a hammock! We got five inches of rain that night, and you couldn't leave anything on the ground unless you wanted it to wash away, never to be found again.

Of course, this was in a heavily wooded section of the Adirondacks, with absolutely no wind. My ground-pounding friend slept in an Adirondack shelter. Not only did he get wet, but he had rodents running across his sleeping bag all night long and couldn't get any sleep.

The overnight rainfall was so heavy that, when we went to our next campsite the following morning (Lake Lila), we had to offload ALL equipment (and we had 800 lbs. of equipment, including canoe) from my 1994 Cadillac El Dorado in order to get the clearance to go through some of the flooding (squishy suspension). You know the flooding is bad when you have to walk out into it, then measure on your legs whether the engine will clear it.

What would normally be a 1-hour trip took us three hours - unpacking and packing equipment from the Cadillac as we crossed flooded areas. At least we had a canoe to paddle the gear across!

[SilvrSurfr]

This is all I see reading your story,,

moe and joe.jpg

Actually, my mistake - it was a 1994 Cadillac Sedan DeVille!

sedandeville.jpg

[drtolo]

Wow, thanks to everyone for all the great replies! I'm so sorry, I'm new to this forum & didn't get any notifications & assumed my thread just wasn't getting any love! haha.

Some individual replies to follow.

[drtolo]

Nice work kitsapcowboy! I've never done any MYOG DCF, so this is a little intimidating to me, but it may be time to do some research & take the plunge! It appears no one is making .51 ASYM tarps currently.

I know some of you think I'm bonkers, but 1) I live on the West Coast so tarps to some extent are a formality & 2) I would never risk my safety to go light, only my comfort, & IMO, a miserable night here & there is good for the soul

[JTaylor]

I just got back from 6 months in Alaska. My wife and I have Asym and rectangular tarps (12x10). Asyms are great on mild days/nights, but we quickly dumped them for the 12x10 rectangular tarps. We could fold up the ends for doors in a hurry, but usually we would just close the end pointed into the weather. We even had to go to ground (yes, heresy!) more than once. Really loving the bigger tarps for versatility.

JT

[BillyBob58]

Somewhere in the deep dark archives is a tale told by Sgt. Rock of weathering the tail end of a hurricane in his Hennessy hammock with its very small asym tarp.

Yes, he inspired me early on! I never could comprehend how mine was going to keep me dry in any kind of blowing rain unless I had a wonderfully sheltered site. But it did, even in exposed spots, with some major cheating, see below.

I got wet under my HH Expedition Asym tarp one night.Once was enough.Hex tarps for me in warmer weather,HG Winter Palace in cold weather.Asyms work for some people but they are definitely above my paygrade.Site Selection?Honestly,I'm doing good to find two trees the right distance apart that do not look too hazardous to hang from......

One thing I like to do is drink down some of my water and eat the heaviest food items first.I have always liked the idea of an asym though and had good results until it got windy one night.Glad I learned that lesson in the backyard!

Though I mostly use big tarps because I love the luxury of living space when not actually in the hammock, and enjoy having the neighbors over for a visit without them having to stand out in the rain, still when I have put my asym HH Explorer tarp to the test, I think it has performed better than any large tarp I have used. At least when I am in the hammock(not much living space outside the hammock). It has 100% blocked both high winds and a deluge of wind driven rain. I don't think my larger tarps could do any better, and possibly not even as good(if in the hammock, obviously not as much covered space outside the hammock)

No, I am not hallucinating. It is just that I am a major cheat. I have never used this tarp without it being part of the HH Super Shelter(HHSS). This adds about 5 oz to the 11 oz tarp, the additional weight of a larger tarp though maybe not quite the total of a large tarp with doors. Although, that added weight is also part of the under insulation system.

This means I have a wind proof, water proof sil-nylon(aka tarp) undercover. This is like a non breathable UQP, except custom fit to the hammock, coming to a gathered end around the gathered ends of the hammock and coming up significantly above the edges of the hammock. Plus it can be rotated a bit, to the point where it is actually in contact with the tarp or very close, if needed on the windward side.

One night, my only choice of hanging spot was anything but sheltered. I had 2 small pine trees, and that is all, unless I chose to leave the rest of my group. The tarp's foot opening faced north to Big Sandy Lake about 10 ft away, and a strong wind blew all night into the foot of my tarp, though direction probably changed at some point during the night. The wind bounced my hammock around in a scary fashion. If I had just had an UQ with no UQP or a tarp with doors that I could close, I would have been hypothermic by morning. But after finally falling asleep in all the wind noise, I slept like a baby, nice and warm. At least that wind blowing over the top of me made sure there would be no condensation.

But I guess that is apples to oranges, since that little asym tarp would have been way more challenged without that 5 oz UC. I could not have kept the wind from freezing me, I don't believe. Also, some folks use UQPs even with larger tarps.