Tarp too wide? Tarp ridgeline too short?

[Snow Leopard]

Hi everybody,
I went out for a 5-day trip last month, and we experienced quite the deluge on the last couple of days. Supremely heavy rain, ground splash, some persistent mist; felt like the inside of a carwash. I know that you are all quite familiar with “tarping” in the rain (as am I), but I feel like I am still missing something here…

Miraculously, the crucial components of my shelter stayed fairly dry (the hammock body, sleeping bag, underquilt). However, the foot end of the hammock and the foot end draft collar of the underquilt were both damp, but thankfully head end was dry.

I did install 2-3 drip lines on both ends of the hammock suspension (polyester webbing tied with beckett hitch to continuous loops). But despite drip lines AND a makeshift trash bag “tarp beak” to seal the door gap at the foot end of tarp ridgeline, rainwater managed to find a way to travel down the hammock and UQ suspension at the foot end. Again, head end was dry.

I should add that there was at least 15-16” of tarp overhang at head end of hammock and 7-8” of overhang on foot end of hammock. Hammock is 11’, tarp is 11’x11.5’ (with doors at each end & two internal pole mods). I opted for more tarp overhang at head end of hammock so that upper body area of both hammock and myself remained dry.

Is 6-8” not enough tarp overhang for hammock ends? Should I opt for more? And how much more? Or is there something else that I am missing here?
Maybe I should have hung foot end of tarp at a lower angle, closer to hammock ridgeline? The wide tarp makes this difficult…

Also, the tarp is SO wide (138” total width), that it is difficult to close the doors fully; the door fabric practically touches the ground, which leaves gaps and floppy fabric, making it hard to pitch doors taut.
AND the wider walls seem to make it difficult to hang the tarp low closer to hammock ridgeline, leaving the tarp ends high and vulnerable to rain.

Maybe a longer tarp ridgeline for more overhang at hammock ends? People here often say that an 11 foot tarp provides more than adequate coverage over an 11 foot hammock, and I tend to agree, but it seems to leave very little room for margin of error, which leaves me to believe that I am doing something wrong…

Maybe less tarp width for a tighter pitch? 8-10’ in total?
Is there a “magic number” for tarp width and pitching it taut without touching ground?

Or will rain just find a way in eventually, no matter how well one’s shelter is set up?

For those that have experienced this, any insight you can offer is greatly appreciated and would help immensely.
Thank you!



TL;DR:
- Foot end of hammock and underquilt wet/damp because of less tarp overhang at foot end.

- Tarp is too wide which makes it more difficult to pitch lower to hammock ridgeline, thus creating more gap at tarp ends and doors.

- Tarp doors are too long and wide which leaves floppy fabric, making it more difficult to pitch taut and seal out rainwater and wind-blown rain.


Those are the perceived problems here, unless there is something that I am totally missing...

[gargoyle]

It sounds like you tried most things correct in prevention.
Tips to try-
When I deploy my wide tarps I keep the doors shut (zipped, tied, clipped, buttoned,whatever… I usually try to store them shut, which eases set up) Then you will know what height, width you need to guy out the sides, or if you need to raise the tarps ridge line. After some practice, you’ll basically know how high to set ridgeline. Ground contours can change that of course to some degree. You may need a stick or trek pole to place the rl high enough?

Yes you can trim the bottom of the doors at an angle to better achieve a “sealed door” effect. Or install an additional guy point, leaving some excess door fabric on the ground.

Add a few twist in suspension. It allows less surface area for rain, and gives gravity a chance to drip off the water at each turn.
A mechanical connection might help? A ‘biner will create an drip area. Not as “cool” as a hitch of the month club technique or as light weight…but it’s about staying dry. The garbage bag beak probably helped? A good seal onto webbing AND add a folded area for rain to drip from.

When it’s torrential rains and the level of moisture is prolonged, it can be near impossible to keep dry. 100% humidity is 100%. Dew and rain happens.

[Snow Leopard]

It sounds like you tried most things correct in prevention.
Tips to try-
When I deploy my wide tarps I keep the doors shut (zipped, tied, clipped, buttoned,whatever… I usually try to store them shut, which eases set up) Then you will know what height, width you need to guy out the sides, or if you need to raise the tarps ridge line. After some practice, you’ll basically know how high to set ridgeline. Ground contours can change that of course to some degree. You may need a stick or trek pole to place the rl high enough?

Yes you can trim the bottom of the doors at an angle to better achieve a “sealed door” effect. Or install an additional guy point, leaving some excess door fabric on the ground.

Add a few twist in suspension. It allows less surface area for rain, and gives gravity a chance to drip off the water at each turn.
A mechanical connection might help? A ‘biner will create an drip area. Not as “cool” as a hitch of the month club technique or as light weight…but it’s about staying dry. The garbage bag beak probably helped? A good seal onto webbing AND add a folded area for rain to drip from.

When it’s torrential rains and the level of moisture is prolonged, it can be near impossible to keep dry. 100% humidity is 100%. Dew and rain happens.

Yes that’s very true, I have noticed that natural earth contours can affect the “seal” of the tarp on the ground.

Sometimes when I pitch the walls/corner tie-outs of the tarp as close to the ground as possible, it leaves the ridgeline of the tarp too high, which makes the hammock ends more vulnerable to rainwater. From what I have learned, the higher the tarp ridgeline is relative to hammock ridgeline, the more exposed you are. If I could pitch tarp lower and closer to hammock ridgeline, it would offer more protection, right?

Which leads me to believe that I should use a tarp with less overall width for a tighter pitch…
Maybe I am over-analyzing this, since most things stayed relatively dry, but I keep hearing of people who claim to stay “bone dry” in torrential rainstorms in their 4-season tarps with doors.

And yes, trash bag “beak” did help somewhat. But runoff droplets still managed to find their way onto hammock and underquilt suspension. I guess that I will work on drip lines more.

Thank you for swift reply, also.

[Derch]

With that much overhang, unless the rain was side ways you should of been dry. How high was your tarp over your hammock? I typically drop my Ridgeline a bit so it's closer if it's going to rain hard.

[cougarmeat]

You didn't specify the brand name of the tarp. I've never heard of a tarp that is wider than it is long. Maybe it needed to be turned 90° Even if was oriented as designed - ridgeline on the shorter dimension - if it had a guy loop at midpoint on the side (or you could fashion one with a smooth pebble and some cord), you might have been able to turn it so the longer dimension would give you more overhang.

6 -8 inch overhang might be find for "normal" rain, but not for anything blowing somewhat sideways. If I didn't have a tarp with doors, I'd have a UQP. But remember, that's a quilt protector, not a hammock protector. Without doors and a short overhang, I'd expect some wetness on the end with the shorter coverage. But My UQ/TQ would still be dry - which yours were - and that's most important.

[Phantom Grappler]

Maybe you can tie bottom corners of doors together and then either have cord staked down directly below tarp, or tie doors together and tie that line to bottom of tree you are using to hang.

I’m guessing here, and just now got a tarp with doors. I have made pretend doors with oversized rectangular tarps.

Might look into adding some sort of beak to cover door gaps…like the old Grizz Beaks.
And or you can go with a longer tarp, a 12 foot ridgeline instead of an 11 foot ridgeline.

Your tarp can probably be lowered to have tarp ridgeline or tarp ridge closer to hammock ridgeline

I’ve woke up in morning after rain that night, and notice both ends of my hammock were damp-wet
But it did not affect my sleep and dried out during the day

During hard rains, you might try temporarily shortening hammock ridgeline by wrapping around a carabiner. Might have to raise hammock height.

I have snapped a poncho over each end of hammock
All snaps are snapped on side of poncho nearest tree. Only one bottom and top snap snapped on other side of poncho

You aren’t the only one that’s got a splash of rain
Just do asbestos you can

[Snow Leopard]

With that much overhang, unless the rain was side ways you should of been dry. How high was your tarp over your hammock? I typically drop my Ridgeline a bit so it's closer if it's going to rain hard.

While I was laying in hammock, tarp was maybe about 8-10" above hammock ridgeline. I tried to raise hammock closer to tarp ridgeline, but I found that more challenging. I feel that a narrower tarp would be easier to lower and pitch tighter in rainy situations.

[Snow Leopard]

You didn't specify the brand name of the tarp. I've never heard of a tarp that is wider than it is long. Maybe it needed to be turned 90° Even if was oriented as designed - ridgeline on the shorter dimension - if it had a guy loop at midpoint on the side (or you could fashion one with a smooth pebble and some cord), you might have been able to turn it so the longer dimension would give you more overhang.

6 -8 inch overhang might be find for "normal" rain, but not for anything blowing somewhat sideways. If I didn't have a tarp with doors, I'd have a UQP. But remember, that's a quilt protector, not a hammock protector. Without doors and a short overhang, I'd expect some wetness on the end with the shorter coverage. But My UQ/TQ would still be dry - which yours were - and that's most important.

Oh yeah, the tarp in question is a Dutchware Xenon WIDE winter tarp with 11 foot ridgeline. Dimensions are 11'x11.5'.
Now that I see the dimensions, it seems "wider than it is long" haha.

It is in fact a 4-season tarp with doors on both ends, and it only have four corner tie-outs (no center tie-outs), so rotating it would not work in that case.


So 6-8" overhang should be sufficient for rain? I remember that one time I hung my wide tarp too high and it drastically decreased the overhang at both hammock ends. Both my hammock and underquilt were soaked!


But you are right, some dampness is to be expected, as long as TQ & UQ remain dry (or relatively so). I guess that I just wondering how some people stay completely "bone dry" in such conditions...

[Snow Leopard]

Maybe you can tie bottom corners of doors together and than either have cord staked down directly below tarp, or tie doors together and tie that line to bottom of tree you are using to hang.

I’m guessing here, and just now got a tarp with doors. I have made pretend doors with oversized rectangular tarps.

Might look into adding some sort of beak to cover door gaps…like the old Grizz Beaks.
And or you can go with a longer tarp, a 12 foot ridgeline instead of an 11 foot ridgeline.

Your tarp can probably be lowered to have tarp ridgeline or tarp ridge closer to hammock ridgeline

I’ve woke up in morning after rain that night, and notice both ends of my hammock were damp-wet
But it did not affect my sleep and dried out during the day

During hard rains, you might try temporarily shortening hammock ridgeline by wrapping around a carabiner. Might have to raise hammock height.

I have snapped a poncho over each end of hammock
All snaps are snapped on side of poncho nearest tree. Only one bottom and top snap snapped on other side of poncho

You aren’t the only one that’s got a splash of rain
Just do asbestos you can

The tarp does in fact have doors, yes. The problem is that they do not seem to close tightly due to width of tarp. There is some floppy fabric because I cannot stretch them further to tighten the pitch and seal the doors fully. I wonder if a narrower tarp would alleviate this.


I don't mind if things are a little bit damp, as long as crucial components remain dry (or relatively so based on humidity). I am really just wondering if there is a consistently reliable method to create a taut pitch and a tight seal in adverse conditions.
And I am wondering what ideal tarp dimensions would be to achieve this.

You aren’t the only one that’s got a splash of rain

You are very correct. We have all experienced adverse weather and creeping rainwater.



Thank you all for your replies and information

[KBr00ks]

In heavy weather, I have pitched my tarp to be as close as 1"-3" above my hammock ridgeline. The tarp only sticks out about 6"-8" past my hammock (have not accurately measured) but having it vertically closer does the trick. It's a PITA to get in and out this way but it's better than getting wet. My tarp does not have doors, though.

I'm thinking there's got to be another way, a missing piece, etc. You don't say, but it seems like you did not use the sideways poles (pole mod)? The extra width of this tarp may make it more suited to using poles than not?

Also slightly mystified by the driplines not doing their job. Were they right up against the hammock ends or further out?

If it's really storming, some misting/splashing/etc. is inevitable. It's also much harder to make adjustments in rain without getting drenched, other than maybe pulling the corner guylines tighter. I have also hung my rain jacket over the hammock ridgeline at the head end to provide a bit more protection from wind-blown rain (and to make it handy to grab in case I need to exit the hammock).