Custom Tarp?

[Bobo1234]

Hammock forums member Squidbilly built my 12x12 with doors and tons of custom options for a fantastic price. I'd highly recommend shooting him a PM. BTW its the fella from Alabama (just in case of any confusion with similar names).

[brohawk]

Maybe Paul and Missy from UGQ would do a custom size.

[SilvrSurfr]

How high are you planning to pitch it? With a 16 foot width, those doors would be huge. Can I ask what the application is that would require such a huge tarp?

I also wonder what you're going to do with a 16 ft. wide tarp. In the past you've posted about a 2-person setup for WB Ridgerunners, as well as about combining tarps for a 2-person setup. I know there are folks that are fond of a 2-person setup, but a 16 ft. wide tarp just complicates matters and opens up a whole new can of worms.

I'm not even sure that it's geometrically possible to get effective doors on a 12 x 16 tarp. You would have to pitch the tarp so wide that the doors would be a very weird shape. Also, have you thought about how hard it will be to find two trees that will accommodate a 16 ft. wide tarp? Trees just don't grow in that configuration. You're going to be spending a lot of time trying to find the perfect two trees, which pretty much eliminates any campsite requiring reservations (because how will you know if your campsite can accommodate a 16 ft. wide tarp?). I can think of very few campsites I've visited in the last eight years, even on the AT or in the Adirondacks where reservations aren't required, that would have two trees suitable for such a wide tarp.

In the Adirondacks, you don't have to camp at the campsites, as long as you're 100 or 200 yards from water or a road, but you're not allowed to have a campfire. However, if you're not in a campsite, then you're in the backcountry, and cutting down trees and brush to accommodate your 16 ft. wide tarp is expressly prohibited (as it is everywhere).

And as michigandave mentioned, I also think you'd have to pitch the tarp very high, so high that a person of average height might need a ladder to hang the ridgeline.

I'm also surprised that the first company you contacted was HG - were you looking for a 12' x 16' cuben fiber tarp? Cuben fiber tarps are favored by hikers due to their light weight, but a 12' x 16' cuben fiber tarp isn't going to be that lightweight.

[SilvrSurfr]

Also, I'm guessing that you have done some reading and found that there are limitations to a two-person setup using a standard 11 x 10 tarp like the Superfly, and your solution is to go with 12 x 16 to overcome those limitations. However, I'm not that confident that a 12 x 16 tarp will eliminate those limitations. You're still going to have problems with blowing precipitation, because you'll have to pitch the tarp high enough to clear two hammocks (possibly two bridge hammocks, as you've previously considered). I don't see any way around it - pitch the tarp excessively high, or end up with the same problems an 11 x 10 tarp presents for a two-person setup.

If you pitch a 12 x 16 tarp at normal height (say 5 or 6 ft up the tree) now the 16' width is just moving the coverage out three feet on each side. It doesn't get your tarp any lower to the ground (it's still not a winter tarp because of the two hammocks). Will an additional three feet on each side reduce being exposed to blowing precipitation? It will probably help, but not like pitching an 11 x 10 tarp low over a single hammock. I also think a 12 x 16 tarp that cannot be pitched low (because there are two hammocks underneath it) is going to be a giant windsail. You're probably going to need panel pullouts and more guyline tie-outs than one would normally need with an 11 x 10 tarp. An 11 x 10 tarp has 110 feet of square footage, but a 12 x 16 tarp will have 192 ft. of square footage. So you'll basically have 33% more square footage to manage in high winds.

Finding the right trees for a two-hammock setup is hard enough: finding the right trees for a two-hammock setup with a 12 x 16 tarp will be even harder.

[questionmike]

How high are you planning to pitch it? With a 16 foot width, those doors would be huge. Can I ask what the application is that would require such a huge tarp?

Im looking to make a extra large hammock hot shelter with a good amount of head room. Im 5'7 so id be able to pitch my tarp about 6.5-7ft. Also the walls wouldnt go straight out 8ft but instead come down on an angle (through the means of panel pulls). Shaped kind like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Seugt5RZKm4

[SilvrSurfr]

Im looking to make a extra large hammock hot shelter with a good amount of head room.

Well if that's the case, and you're not going to make your hammock hot tent even more complicated by trying a two-person hot shelter, I'd just contact Smokehouse and see what he recommends. He's made a few hot-tents for people (though I can't recall ever seeing a 12 x 16). I don't think any other tarp vendor would take on a hot-tent design, so Smokehouse is probably your best bet. Since he's made more hot tents than you, I'd probably take his recommendations on appropriate size, rather than telling him you want a 12 x 16 and having him say no.

[questionmike]

Well if that's the case, and you're not going to make your hammock hot tent even more complicated by trying a two-person hot shelter, I'd just contact Smokehouse and see what he recommends. He's made a few hot-tents for people (though I can't recall ever seeing a 12 x 16). I don't think any other tarp vendor would take on a hot-tent design, so Smokehouse is probably your best bet. Since he's made more hot tents than you, I'd probably take his recommendations on appropriate size, rather than telling him you want a 12 x 16 and having him say no.

Thanks for the advice. And just for clarification its not a 2 person shelter. The goal is to not have to hunch over all the time when inside.

[SilvrSurfr]

Thanks for the advice. And just for clarification its not a 2 person shelter. The goal is to not have to hunch over all the time when inside.

I don't know how he does business - only thing I found was [email protected]. It doesn't look like he's posted on HF in about a year, and I can't find any website or Facebook page.

Here in Jersey, the only person I recall with a hot tent is fallkniven, but I don't know where he got it. Njredneck also has a military surplus hot tent, but that tent probably weighs a couple of hundred lbs.

[OutandBack]

Several years back I had a custom 12x14 tarp built but the guy (OES) is no longer in business.





A 12 x 16 should work great. You are basicly making a tent that you can use a hammock with.

Any custom tarp maker should be able to do it you will just have two seams that will need to be sealed.

[questionmike]

Several years back I had a custom 12x14 tarp built but the guy (OES) is no longer in business.





A 12 x 16 should work great. You are basicly making a tent that you can use a hammock with.

Any custom tarp maker should be able to do it you will just have two seams that will need to be sealed.

That is beautiful! And ive asked multiple vendors and all of them have declined, saying that it is too wide for them to do .