LiteAF tarp

**Clisbyclark** · 06-23-2020, 07:01

Originally Posted by howardny

I emailed the LiteAF people since the tarp section is offline on their site. They responded by saying they're not carrying tarps anymore. So I guess it's HG or zpacs for dyneema tarps!

Did they give any reason why? This strikes me as very odd that a fairly young company would gear up to make a new product, produce a run or two, get glowing reviews then just quit making the product anymore. I know there was the small matter of a worldwide pandemic and everything thrown in just to spice things up, but still an odd story, IMO.

**Bothwell Voyageur** · 06-23-2020, 07:07

Originally Posted by howardny

I emailed the LiteAF people since the tarp section is offline on their site. They responded by saying they're not carrying tarps anymore. So I guess it's HG or zpacs for dyneema tarps!

Mountain Laurel Designs also make DCF hammock tarps

**Dvankirk** · 06-23-2020, 07:35

Originally Posted by Bothwell Voyageur

Mountain Laurel Designs also make DCF hammock tarps

As does Dutch.

**Shrewd** · 06-29-2020, 11:36

I would guess that, being a mostly one person show, Lite AF is trying to stay afloat during the pandemic

Small business too a big hit

**rweb82** · 06-29-2020, 11:56

Originally Posted by Clisbyclark

Did they give any reason why? This strikes me as very odd that a fairly young company would gear up to make a new product, produce a run or two, get glowing reviews then just quit making the product anymore. I know there was the small matter of a worldwide pandemic and everything thrown in just to spice things up, but still an odd story, IMO.

If I had to guess, it would be that the margin just isn't there for a DCF hammock tarp. It takes a lot more DCF to make a tarp than a backpack- yet they sell for about the same price. Considering his business was built on making DCF packs, the vast majority of his sales comes from making packs. And being a one-man shop, if his profit margin is higher for packs, then it makes sense why he would (temporarily?) discontinue making tarps, so he can keep up with the demand of a product that yields a higher profit- especially if that product is in higher demand.

I could be wrong; but that makes the most sense to me.

**Mr. Gillam** · 06-29-2020, 18:10

Originally Posted by rweb82

If I had to guess, it would be that the margin just isn't there for a DCF hammock tarp. It takes a lot more DCF to make a tarp than a backpack- yet they sell for about the same price. Considering his business was built on making DCF packs, the vast majority of his sales comes from making packs. And being a one-man shop, if his profit margin is higher for packs, then it makes sense why he would (temporarily?) discontinue making tarps, so he can keep up with the demand of a product that yields a higher profit- especially if that product is in higher demand.

I could be wrong; but that makes the most sense to me.

The world needs Chris to focus on packs. Lol

**DarkbeerGuy** · 06-30-2020, 16:09

I'm bummed. I missed the first run. Hopefully they will make more some day. I like the design and supporting Chris.

**TrailSlug** · 07-01-2020, 10:24

Yea it makes me wonder about a company that makes a tarp run like this and then nothing again. They obviously didn't make enough profit on these.

**cmoulder** · 07-01-2020, 10:30

Tough business.

Appalachian Ultralight showed promise and seemed to fill the void left by Zpacks going corporate but unfortunately didn't last too long.

**TrailSlug** · 07-01-2020, 12:29

Originally Posted by cmoulder

Tough business.

Appalachian Ultralight showed promise and seemed to fill the void left by Zpacks going corporate but unfortunately didn't last too long.

Yes, especially right now and it's most likely to not get any easier for a while.