Which tarp style to choose?

[Cory Hess]

I recently made an 11' silpoly hex tarp without the cat cuts. It worked fine through a storm I hung through a couple weeks ago. It doesn't hang quite as tight as my tarps with cat cuts, but it's not enough of a difference for me to worry about.



As for length, I strongly prefer an 11' tarp for an 11' hammock, especially with a hex tarp. The height thing isn't so much about the length on the sides, it's about the coverage on the ends. With the tarp coming to a point at the ends there isn't much coverage at all at those points. Raising the tarp a couple of inches there can make a difference, especially if the wind kicks up. My next tarp will have partial doors to mitigate this. I've never had a problem in a hex tarp, but there have been some storms where I didn't have the peace of mind that I'd prefer.

[gooless]

I do internal poles (344 Easton) on both my 12' hex and 11' DW winter tarp hung with a continuous ridgeline above the tarp. I recommend using an adjustable full second ridgeline under the tarp in zingit to affix your poles. You can fine tune it to be the structural component and run it tight while letting the actual tarp ridgeline be a bit looser and not have to endure the stress while the overall rigging is taut.

A couple of tactical toggles on the internal ridgeline provide moveable attachment points for the center of the poles using a short piece of 3/16 shockcord looped and larksheaded onto the poles. The system is simple, flexible and strong and doesn't stress the tarp.

[Bob-W]

I do internal poles (344 Easton) on both my 12' hex and 11' DW winter tarp hung with a continuous ridgeline above the tarp. I recommend using an adjustable full second ridgeline under the tarp in zingit to affix your poles. You can fine tune it to be the structural component and run it tight while letting the actual tarp ridgeline be a bit looser and not have to endure the stress while the overall rigging is taut.

A couple of tactical toggles on the internal ridgeline provide moveable attachment points for the center of the poles using a short piece of 3/16 shockcord looped and larksheaded onto the poles. The system is simple, flexible and strong and doesn't stress the tarp.

Interesting. One idea I had was to fix Linelok3s to the "inner" end of the grosgrain that the ridgeline D-rings will be attached to. Basically a Grosgrain dog-bone with the D-ring at one end and the Linelok at the other then sew that to the reinforcement patch at the end of the tarp ridgeline. (hope I've described that correctly)

[Bob-W]

OK, update to my choice list (yes, I'm still waiting for the sewing machine to be repaired!)

1. Hex tarp 3.3m (11ft) ridgeline. Make a pair of Grizz Beaks with remaining material.
2. The Cowboy Badlander. Again a 3.3m ridgeline. If my figures are correct I've just enough material from the 9yds I have to make one Grizz Beak but it will have 8" at the ridge and for the overlap rather than 12". Thinking about how the Grizz Beaks "stick" to the main tarp, possibly static and/or the Venturi effect when dry and surface tension of water when wet. Because of the extra material on the beak on the Badlander it should still work.
3. A Cowboy Badlander but with longer doors, more like the Thunderfly. If I do that then I won't have enough material for Grizz Beaks.

The beaks on the Badlander add about 66g of material to that of the basic hex but looking at the various reviews and comments on here concerning the Mini/Thunder/Mountain Fly it seems like they provide a lot of bang for the buck.