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  1. #1
    Senior Member Dynamystic's Avatar
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    Behold, the DynaFly, 2018!

    Hi there,

    I’ve been teasing the forums recently with a promise to share a DIY design I’ve been working on that addresses some of the community’s desire for a hammock rain fly designed with side-by-side hanging in mind. I’m sorry it has taken so long. I’ve been accused of being a perfectionist and it might be true because I couldn’t bring myself to share the evolution of my project “until I knew I had something that worked,” which eventually became, “until I knew I had something that I was completely happy with.” It has been nearly 5 years spent learning how to sew and experimenting with countless variations since I made my first prototype. I am happy to say that over the last few months I think I’ve finally found the sweet spot. Whew!!!

    Behold, the DynaFly 2018!

    DynaFly Solo







    DynaFly Duo






    The DynaFly is a spacious 1-2 hammock fly with a center pole that creates ample headroom at the hammock center and offers a zipperless vestibule that rolls up into multiple configurations revealing an amazing view from the hammock while still offering coverage from sun or rain. It is incredibly dynamic, hence the name DynaFly. As part of its dynamics I have designed it to open up at either or both ends with an optional tent pole which provides room for side-by-side hammocks or for bridge hammock spreader poles while maintaining a streamlined (no extra material fluff) functionality. Check out this short video introducing some of her various configurations in both solo and duo mode. I didn’t add any dialogue because I find they make videos a little long winded at times. I’ve included a more detailed explanation of some of the DynaFly’s defining features below.



    Before I go on, I know you are going to ask so here they are:

    The Specs

    Build Info
    • 1.1oz ripstop polyester with interior PU and exterior sil
    • Flat felled seams reinforced with ⅜” grosgrain and basting tape.
    • Edge Binding - ¾” grosgrain
    • Ridge Tieout - ¾” Beastee D on ¾” webbing
    • Tent Pole Attachments - ½” Beastee D on ½” grosgrain
    • Tieouts - ½” Plastic D on ½” grosgrain
    • Tent Pole Clips - ½” plastic on ½” grosgrain
    • Vestibule Guy Lines - Zpack’s tent door hook on 275lb. Paracord w/ black Theraband tensioners
    • Corner and Wing Guy Lines - Plastic Line Lock Hook on 275lb. paracord


    56” Center Pole - Easton .380 (3.6oz) [.340 works but is less stable in heavy winds and requires more finesse when setting up]
    48” End Pole - Easton .340 (2.8oz)
    Weight ( w/out poles, guylines, and stuff sack) = 27.4oz
    Ridge Length - 11’
    Coverage - (These measurements are averages and vary with pitch preferences)
    • Center ridge straight line to vestibule tieout = 5’ (akin to a 10’ wide tarp)
    • Vestibule tieout to opposite vestibule tieout = 8.5’-9.5’
    • Corner tieout to same side corner tieout = 8.5’
    • Corner tieout to opposite corner tieout = 7’-8’



    Now for the fun part. From day one, the DynaFly was designed with 3 main objectives in mind: (1) I wanted easy access to the hammock center, even when hung over dense understory vegetation or pulled low and tight for heavy weather. (2) I wanted more headroom when active at the hammock center, and (3) I wanted to still be able to see my view from the hammock, even on a rainy day. I tried pole mods and porch modes with traditional tarps which worked fine, but they led me to the idea of a center pole supported vestibule and I’m so glad they did.

    Center Pole: The center pole opens up the DynaFly and creates nearly 50” of gently arched headroom at the hammock center which is wide enough to repel sun or light to moderate rain with the vestibule doors rolled up.

    Basically, the whole fly is designed around the center pole. Besides being the central structural member that allows for the vestibule, it also acts as a tension aid and shock absorber for the rest of the fly and its guylines. I’m sure that those with pole mods on their tarps can understand the dynamics here.

    Zipperless Vestibule: With one broken zipper after another over the years, I’ve always been a fan of zipperless options. When the vestibule zipper on my 2nd DynaFly prototype broke, I decided zipperless was the way to go but had no idea how I was going to do it. Inspired by Zpacks zipperless shelter designs, I eventually landed on a way to integrate an overlapping vestibule door. The overlap was quite the challenge. Working with a design that has so many force vectors involved and from such inconsistent variables as tree spacing, pitch preferences, etc., changing a little thing over here can have a strange effect on something over there. I found myself tweaking dimensions by the ¼” or ½” this way or that to find the best balance throughout a range of hanging possibilities. I could probably keep tweaking forever but I’m very happy with how she hangs at the moment.

    In the early stages of the overlapping vestibule design I had tension issues and wind would consequently blow the flaps apart on occasion. So, I added a loop and toggle to secure them (also taken from Zpack designs). Now that I have found a nice balance with the vestibule tension, I hardly need the toggle anymore except in quite blustery conditions. I’ve also learned that by orienting the top flap on each side so that they face the same direction, I can point one end (usually my foot end) more to weather and have the wind blow right over top flaps of the vestibules.

    I love the fact that I can roll up one side of the vestibule and maintain coverage for hanging out or cooking under while still being able to look out at my surroundings. Simply unhook one side, roll it up, cinch toggle it off, and the Theraband tensioner keeps the other side taught. When I want more view, I simply unhook the other side and roll it up. Just like that, I get epic views from the hammock and the corner tieouts maintain stability, keeping the DynaFly hanging solid even in stiff breezes. When it gets hot out, I roll up both vestibules and let that breeze flow through while still keeping me in the shade. The best part about it is if I decide to leave camp for a bit or the weather turns sour, I can quickly roll the vestibules back down and close off the interior without moving stakes or adjusting guy lines.

    All in all, I can see this being a solution to a problem that many don’t feel they have (especially the traditionalists), but after experiencing the benefits of the vestibule in my first prototype, I’ve spent nearly 5 years and way too much money getting it just right and I don’t regret a thing. I love this feature and will probably never buy a traditional tarp again unless I have to. My only exception to this is that I love my HG cuben hex for being super ultralight, but I’m hoping to have an opportunity to experiment with a cuben version of the DynaFly in the near future. I don’t see any reason it wouldn’t work.

    Spacious Coverage: I have played around with different amounts of coverage in past DynaFly renditions hoping to find the sweet spot between weight and comfort through the widest range of conditions I could imagine finding myself in. I was honing in on a sleek little design for just me and my hammock when Dutch came out with his Double Hammock Whoopie Hooks. Suddenly, I found my lady wanting to hang with me under the same tarp when we’d go adventuring together and I sadly found my DynaFly left at home in favor of more spacious accommodations. You can imagine how stoked I was when one of my experiments yielded a result that I believed could be tweaked to accommodate Dutch’s new bling. By then, Dutch’s Chameleon hammocks had reached the stage and I knew I had to make it work.

    I am pleased to say that my lady and I (and our baby boy) all now share a Dutchware Chameleon and hang together under my DynaFly with great success. (I posted a couple pics here.) The Fly is quite spacious for one and still roomy enough for two. As you can see in the specs, the ground coverage is comparable to a 10’ wide hex with the added bonus of wings similar to the Warbonnet Thunderfly half doors. (I can’t call mine doors because the vestibule is my door.;-) The wings also allow for the use of another tent pole, opening up the end, and making room for a side-by-side hammock spreader pole while maintaining decent coverage. With an 11’ ridge length, I can hang my hammocks so that all of my hammock hardware falls outside of the fly. That way I don’t have to worry about metal titanium bling or spreader pole ends digging into my fabric. I get plenty of coverage against falling rain but as you can imagine, opening the end wide allows a decent path for wind driven rain to enter. So, I designed the storm deflector (a.k.a. beak) to give extra protection and so far so good.

    In the end, I’m very pleased to finally have a fly that I would happily take on a solo mission but could also setup for a solid duo hang. In the future I intend to play with a lighter more streamlined option for solo trips and potentially a wider version for when I know I’m taking the family. I must note that the family and I tend to avoid heavy weather these days so the duo setup hasn’t been put to a serious storm test. In the light to moderate weather we have experienced, she has performed wonderfully and on some of my solo adventures, the DynaFly has gotten hammered and I stayed nice and dry inside. I’m firmly convinced that my success was greatly aided by the DynaFly design’s aerodynamics.

    The Most Aerodynamic Hammock Rain Fly Ever? Don’t take this the wrong way, I’m one of the most humble people you will ever meet. (hehe, get it?) Seriously though, I’m not usually one to make grandiose or boastful claims but the more I play with the DynaFly the more and more convinced I become that her aerodynamics are second to none. When hanging solo, I have pitched her in heavy winds with gusts up to 25-30mph. Its a real pain in the butt to get any tarp pitched in those conditions but once that center pole of the DynaFly is in place and the vestibule guy lines are deployed, she stiffens up and becomes a very stable structure that tends to bob up and down in the wind instead of getting smashed sideways like the big solid walls of a traditional tarp tend to. I’ve found that its this sideways smashing of traditional tarps against the hammock or insufficient coverage in general that causes much of the dreaded splash up which leads many to incorporate an UQP. I don’t use an UQP and by keeping things low and tight in heavy weather, splash up problems have been mostly non existent. I don’t need extra guy lines to stabilize her and even in heavy winds, the sides never come into contact with my hammock when hanging solo. Thank you .380 center pole.

    Reinforced Seams: As Captain Obvious would say, the DynaFly has more seams than a traditional tarp. It certainly adds extra work to the build process but the DynaFly is more of a rain fly than a traditional tarp and I’ve come to rely on these seams in order to achieve the balance that I’ve repeatedly mentioned above and to achieve smooth transitions between the various setup modes. By adding slight curves to the seam allowance on certain panels (combined with an appropriate fabric bias orientation), I have been able to pull fabric into the seam where it was needed to maintain good tension and a smooth fabric lay throughout the Fly. In doing so, I wrestled with sewing on the curve (with varying bias stretch issues) for years until I realized how amazing it is to use a basting tape on a pu coated fabric. As I began experimenting with basting tape, I also started to experiment on reinforcing the seams with grosgrain. I was hesitant to do this because of the extra weight but the results are worth the few extra ounces, IMHO. The reinforced seams not only make them look much more professional, they also add some surprising benefits to the design:
    (1) Ease of Pitch: The reinforced seams act as a tension guide when staking and guying the DynaFly. By starting with the vestibule guylines, the seams that form the “V” make it very easy to find the overall tension sweet spot before working on the corners and wings. The end result is a consistent even pitch with minimal fiddle factor and is especially helpful when setting up in the wind as I mentioned.
    (2) Added Durability: The limiter effect of the seams when pitching the Fly helps prevent over or under tensioning of the fabric. This is especially important with poly material because an over-tensioned poly is a tear waiting to happen. While the DynaFly overall looks smooth and tight, each panel is actually held at an optimal amount of stretch by the structure which the reinforced seams provide. Think of the seams like a frame and the fabric a skin. You can stress the frame without stressing the skin.
    (3) Added Water Resistance: Each seam is reinforced with grosgrain sandwiched between two layers of basting tape. This sounds overkill and like a lot of unnecessary weight but, also to my surprise, by doing this my seams are nearly watertight without adding extra seam sealer. I still do add a thin layer of sealer to the interior for safety sake but despite all the extra seams, I have not had any leak issues once I started reinforcing them.

    Dynamite Modes for Dynamic Situations: The DynaFly is truly dynamic and if you watch the intro video above you will notice a number of various setup configurations for both solo and duo hangs. Think of it this way, the DynaFly consists of 4 quadrants and each quadrant acts relatively independently from the other 3. This means that whatever configuration you can make work with one quadrant will also work with others. I won’t go into each of the modes specifically at this time, instead I think the video paints the best picture of what types of things can be done. I’m still experimenting with these also, including a ground mode that didn’t make it into the video. Aside from the standard vestibule door rolling, the wing-on-wing (a.k.a porch mode) is probably my favorite. Just 2 trekking poles opens the DynaFly up to a very stable structure with cavernous coverage. I keep discovering new things the DynaFly can do and I promise to keep you all posted as they emerge.

    Well, I think that is enough for now. I’ve waited a long time to finally share this obsession of mine and I appreciate any and all feedback with one caveat. I plan to write a separate post on the history of the DynaFly complete with pics of prior prototypes and some of my failed experiments. That said, please try to refrain from asking about the history of my process until that thread is posted. Many of your questions will be answered there. I would like to keep this thread focused on how she hangs now and where she could go in the future. Thank you for honoring this, but more importantly…

    THANK YOU HAMMOCK FORUMS AND ALL OF ITS FINE MEMBERS!!! This project wouldn’t exist if it weren't for all of you brave souls taking thread injectors where they have never gone before. Without you, I probably never would have braved the world of DIY and I certainly wouldn’t have had a fraction of the creative inspiration. You will find design features in the DynaFly that resemble other creations here on HF. It has been such a long road, I don’t even know where to begin giving credit where credit is due. You know who you are and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

    Sincerely,
    DynaMystic
    Last edited by Dynamystic; 08-26-2018 at 03:22.
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  2. #2
    New Member Hackap's Avatar
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    Dynamystic,

    Your tarp looks killer, and really professional. I almost want to try and make myself one, but this may just be above my pay grade haha. Keep up the innovation!

    -Hackap


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  3. #3
    HandyRandy's Avatar
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    Oh I want one! Shut up and take my money! Lol. Cowboy is gonna LOVE this post. Beautiful job. Keep up the good work.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Redoleary's Avatar
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    Dang, that thing i sweet!! Great job.
    Good luck,
    RED

    My Youtube Channel

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  5. #5
    Senior Member FJRpilot's Avatar
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    Very impressive engineering and exactingly executed. Well done!


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  6. #6
    Senior Member
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    It's sure purdy but that's a lot of seams...

  7. #7
    all secure in sector 7 Shug's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TominMN View Post
    It's sure purdy but that's a lot of seams...
    I thought the same but then read this:

    (3) Added Water Resistance: Each seam is reinforced with grosgrain sandwiched between two layers of basting tape. This sounds overkill and like a lot of unnecessary weight but, also to my surprise, by doing this my seams are nearly watertight without adding extra seam sealer. I still do add a thin layer of sealer to the interior for safety sake but despite all the extra seams, I have not had any leak issues once I started reinforcing them.


    Anything that makes for less ducking get in and out interests me.
    Shug...Duke of Less-Ducking
    Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven

  8. #8
    Senior Member Flash Grundelore's Avatar
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    Best of luck with this... Like the others, I'm droolin'.
    Aerodynamics and great good looks is a pretty fine combo, and I'm a big fan of a nice view.

    If you want someone to take an unbiased look at one of your prototypes, I do just that on my blog [link below], and could drag it along to the Lighthouse and Lobster Hang Sept 7-9 here in Maine for some other folks to see and opinionate on. I'll even return it and only reveal what you want about construction deetz, etc.
    >> Onward thru the fog...>>
    Find me on my blog Moosenut Falls https://moosenutfalls.wordpress.com/

  9. #9
    Senior Member Dynamystic's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hackap View Post
    Dynamystic,

    Your tarp looks killer, and really professional. I almost want to try and make myself one, but this may just be above my pay grade haha. Keep up the innovation!

    -Hackap


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Quote Originally Posted by HandyRandy View Post
    Oh I want one! Shut up and take my money! Lol. Cowboy is gonna LOVE this post. Beautiful job. Keep up the good work.
    Quote Originally Posted by Redoleary View Post
    Dang, that thing i sweet!! Great job.
    Quote Originally Posted by FJRpilot View Post
    Very impressive engineering and exactingly executed. Well done!
    Quote Originally Posted by TominMN View Post
    It's sure purdy but that's a lot of seams...
    Thank you very much! I am soooo happy to finally be sharing this. Your positive feedback is both uplifting and reassuring. Good to know I didn't waste all of that free time and expendable income these past 5 years... ;-)

    Quote Originally Posted by Shug View Post
    Anything that makes for less ducking get in and out interests me.
    Shug...Duke of Less-Ducking
    Heck yeah! I'm not a big fan of ducking either.

    Quote Originally Posted by Flash Grundelore View Post
    Best of luck with this... Like the others, I'm droolin'.
    Aerodynamics and great good looks is a pretty fine combo, and I'm a big fan of a nice view.

    If you want someone to take an unbiased look at one of your prototypes, I do just that on my blog [link below], and could drag it along to the Lighthouse and Lobster Hang Sept 7-9 here in Maine for some other folks to see and opinionate on. I'll even return it and only reveal what you want about construction deetz, etc.
    Thanks Flash! I appreciate the review offer. I might be able to make this work. I'll shoot you a PM later.
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  10. #10
    alifeoutdoors's Avatar
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    Wow, that's a really well thought out multi config tarp and some good diy engineering. A bit above my weight range for solo backpacking but this could easily be the perfect duo hangers tarp solution. So I'm eager to see what you can bring the weight down to in your future tinkering with different fabrics etc. I've been a little cynical lately about new hammock products as many new comers seem to be just copying the cheap to get into eno design and for some reason trying to pass it off as "re-inventing the hammock world". However you've truly got something special here I think, taking a lot of different hammock mods and combining it into one simple "swiss army" of a tarp. Really well done. Between this and Warbonnet my faith has been restored that innovation and hard work do still exist It's been a good year for the tarp.
    Once you're lost in twilight's blue, you don't find your way, the way finds you.

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