I started with a single piece of fabric, roughly 5' x 8.5', hung on the diagonal as an improvement on the original tiny HH diamond tarp. It was a big improvement. Have also used a DIY poncho (Roy Robinson design) hung the same way. That ratio of width to length is a good match for an asym hammock, such that I just tie the hammock side pullouts to the tarp side guylines where they leave the tarp. (By now we're talking about my own asym DIY hammocks, not HH.) Later I started adding triangular pieces to all four edges of the same size rectangle to give side coverage. They formed "beaks" on the ends, but instead of sticking out along the hammock support ropes, the beak "ridgelines" are vertical; they're guyed down to the ground. The latest version did a pretty good job of shedding the snow at Mt. Rogers and didn't flap at all in the winds Saturday night.