Five months pass...framing gear acquired, shakedown done, pictures taken...
I'm back with results and photos. Thank you everyone for chiming in and sharing.
Refresher: I'm thru-biking the GDMBR this summer, hoping for 70/30 hang/ground ratio, using 8x10 tarp for both scenarios.
- Biking also means I don't have hiking poles for tarp ground setup. So I got the zpacks carbon poles for ground support. They're light, and pack down well.
- I have an older WBBB, which I converted to whoopie slings over the straps. It will also serve as bivy when grounded.
- I played with both over & under ridgeline setup for the tarp, as you'll see in pictures below, and discovered it really doesn't matter either way. I generally throw a tarp over the ridgeline as habit, will probably continue this.
- This was also my first experience playing with a DCF tarp...wow it captures the wind fast (not surprising given it's history), got some practice setting up in the wind during shakedown, need to think ahead.
Discovered a few things about the tarp that I was puzzling over when I first started this thread...
- 8x10 tarps really do have so many configuration options available, that you basically need to understand your go-to setups before optimizing and exploring options. This particular tarp has 10 pull outs with line locks, another two pull outs on each side, and two more up top. So...many...options. And seems like the default cord provided is for ground, so I had to sort through what's needed for hanging and what I needed to work with the tarp poles and grounded storm mode. So...many...options.
- About the 8x10 size...it's going to fine. When hanging...I have 6in clearance on both ends in straight A frame mode, and a foot on each end when deployed asym. Love the asym pitch actually. The tarp comes down nice and tight, and I'll have plenty of coverage for typical drizzle and rain outside of a sideways wind with torrential rain. Yeah, it's not an 11ft tarp with storm doors, NBD. The 8x10 size is absolutely palatial when on the ground, even in storm mode.
- There are a bunch more setups I played with when grounded, but, well, this is a hammock forum, so I'll spare groans from the audience and not go deep there. The TLDR edition: the 'A frame' setup works best when using the hammock as a bivy because I can easily latch both ends with support, as well as tie into pull outs on the other side of the tarp of the tarp. When using other setup variations, I need to move or add cord on different line locks and futz around to get everything taut.
On with the visuals...
Typical setup, tarp over ridgeline
Typical setup, tarp under ridgeline
Under clearance during typical pitch
Asym tarp setup, tarp under ridgeline
Asym setup, view of bottom clearance. Also discovered I get another inch or two when laying in the hammock and create the sag
'A-frame' set up on ground. Plenty of room for two underneath.
Happy to chat more, answer questions, entertain suggestions, ignore naysayers, etc.
Bookmarks