Bridge tarp tent

[Gailainne]

I've just got back from a trip to Loch Sween which is on the west coast of the Kintyre peninsular with a few friends, it was a canoeing camping trip, but had to be cut short due to some pretty nasty weather. Linky

Anyway, this brings me to the subject matter, a new project. One of the main problems with the bridge is the suspension poles either end, its very difficult to enclose a tarp around them successfully, with the winds we had on the last 2 nights the doors on my supershelter weren't enough, the wind entered the tarp and turned it into a sail, on the 2nd night it broke one bungee one end and pulled a stake on the other, so at 03:30 in the middle of a snow/sleet storm I had to get up and fix it, not pleasant.

So I've come up with this;


My idea is to have at the head end a door with zips which will enclose the suspension line, a cone of midge net mat'l will seal it.
The foot end will be hard up against the tarp, I'll use press studs or more zips to attach the tarp to the skirt/foot of the hammock

The box shape attached to the hammock is a midge net.

Its still in its early stages, but I've ordered some lightweight silnylon ripstop to try it out, btw my bridge is my 2nd version of a Grizz inspired bridge, hopefully it will last longer than the last one No fault but my own I hasten to add, the new one which has webbing running up either side (supplied by Grizz) and Opies dynaglide suspension is really comfortable, its made from a lightweight cordura ripstop with ripstop nylon ends, more and hopefully piccies to follow.

Stephen

[BrianWillan]

Greetigns Stephen

Those are some first class drawings that you have produced there. What software did you use to do those?

Your drawing reminds me of the original "Smokehouse" shelter created by the user SmokeHouse on this site. Here is a youtube video to check it out. Obviously you could leave out the stove and stove jack.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeAYJsY394g

Another option would be to use a wedge tent design. Oldgringo showed one recently in this thread. Obviously this one is meant for winter camping as it is made from canvas. However one made from Silnylon would be equally as feasible.

Taking the wedge tent idea a little further, you could turn that into a small wall tent by adding vertical walls to each side in the range of 75 - 90 cm (30" - 36" for the metric challenged). Just make sure on whatever you do create, make sure it has enough tie out points and panel pulls to effectively hold its shape in high winds.

Good luck with your project and be sure to post pictures.

Cheers

Brian

[nik.martin]

Greetigns Stephen

Those are some first class drawings that you have produced there. What software did you use to do those?

...

Brian

Those appear to be drawn in Google SketchUp. It's really good software for free. I designed most of my DIY gear in it. 3D modeling has a learning curve, but once you get it, it's a blast.

[Gailainne]

It is indeed sketchup I used, its a nice simple system, and fairly easy to master. Brian, both the designs you listed are for gathered end hammocks, Brandons super shelter works well with those, the problem with a bridge as I said is the suspension, which is "Y" shaped, which means its very difficult to enclose. Anyway, I do appreciate the comments and I hope when I finish it the photos will make it clear my thinking, if it works

Stephen

[finskie]

You can pull this off with a a tarp that has panel pulls with the addition of a door kit... except the extended porch area. I too use a bridge (which I love) and am currently playing with tarp setups. Your idea looks awesome, and I can't wait to see the finished product. If you make it in cuben fiber you might have a customer next year around tax time I've also considered that the triangle section of the bridge suspension could be shortened in length to allow for a "storm pitch" with a a tarp with panel pulls; but I can only see it working by using amsteel for the triangle part of the suspension instead of webbing... just a thought.

[Gailainne]

........If you make it in cuben fiber you might have a customer next year around tax time I've also considered that the triangle section of the bridge suspension could be shortened in length to allow for a "storm pitch" with a a tarp with panel pulls; but I can only see it working by using amsteel for the triangle part of the suspension instead of webbing... just a thought.

My biggest problem with shortening the "Y" is that it becomes more unstable, ie it rocks more, and I don't like that, at all, I've been looking at making the suspension triangle smaller to fit inside the "tent" but its under 9' in length now.
I don't really do backpacking, most of my camping trips involve a canadian canoe or a sea kayak so weight isn't really a problem, so cuben at its price wasn't a consideration.

If the design works I'll certainly post up the final dimensions and seam allowances.

BTW my suspension is dynaglide 1.8 - 2mm dia that Opie made for me, works really well with tree straps and a marlin spike hitch. I made a set of soft shackles from amsteel to attach the dynaglide to my hammock, which so far have worked really well.

I've ordered 14 metres of dark green silnylon from extremtextil in Europe, this is not only enough for the roof and side walls, but also a floor, (not sure if that will be included yet) I can always add it later.

Anyway, I think the biggest problem will be cutting and sewing this up, so that it ends up even, I think a big surface, OSB or similar with right angles might help layout and cutting.

Stephen

[Shewie]

I'm not sure how it would stand up to the kind of winds you're talking about mate, I think any big structure is gonna turn into a sail no matter how much you peg it down. It's a tough one.

I think the way to go is to avoid those vertical walls and take the sheet right down to the ground as one big slope. You could still incorporate the closed ends and the entrance but maybe go about it slightly differently. I think when you start to get so big and you don't have the support of tent poles then you're asking for trouble in bad weather. Using the panel pullouts and making it XL is the way to go I reckon.

Great project though mate, look forward to seeing the prototype one day.

PS
I've emailed Brandon to see of he'll make me up a 1.1 Black BB with midge netting instead of the no-seeum.

[Gailainne]

I'm not sure how it would stand up to the kind of winds you're talking about mate, I think any big structure is gonna turn into a sail no matter how much you peg it down. It's a tough one.

I think the way to go is to avoid those vertical walls and take the sheet right down to the ground as one big slope. You could still incorporate the closed ends and the entrance but maybe go about it slightly differently. I think when you start to get so big and you don't have the support of tent poles then you're asking for trouble in bad weather. Using the panel pullouts and making it XL is the way to go I reckon.

Great project though mate, look forward to seeing the prototype one day.

PS
I've emailed Brandon to see of he'll make me up a 1.1 Black BB with midge netting instead of the no-seeum.

My initial design was like that Rich, but it was huge. Using my existing setup the hitchcrafts on the ridge line make that ping tight, the dyneema I use is over 1000kg breaking strain, so no worries there. I think I will use small poles at the front on the edge of the verticals (688mm) and guy from the top of them.
The super shelter did handle the weather, its just not designed to enclose a bridge.

The only other option (in the weather we had) is to go to ground in a tent, which I can handle, but far prefer a solution that lets me use my bridge.

Shrug, its a fun project, either way.

Cool on the anti-midge version of the blackbird, if he says aye let me know.

[BrianWillan]

It is indeed sketchup I used, its a nice simple system, and fairly easy to master. Brian, both the designs you listed are for gathered end hammocks, Brandons super shelter works well with those, the problem with a bridge as I said is the suspension, which is "Y" shaped, which means its very difficult to enclose. Anyway, I do appreciate the comments and I hope when I finish it the photos will make it clear my thinking, if it works

Stephen

Hey Stephen

Both of the items I linked to have flat and vertical doors (ie they don't slant back under the hammock) on the ends and a ridgeline length longer than the hammock itself. So think of the length of your bridge hammock as the length of the fabric body plus the length of each triangle in the suspension. As long as your tarp enclosure is longer than that by 15cm on each end then you are only dealing with a single line at that point going to each tree through the doors. The main challenge is making sure that you tarp enclosure is wide enough to accommodate the spreader bars of your bridge hammock.

Cheers

Brian

[gargoyle]

I've noticed with the vertical walls the wind really gets trapped. Shewie's statement holds true, you'll need a lot of extra tie outs to keep that tarp in place.

Here's a pic I had from a tarp with 4 tie outs on the bottom hem and two panel pulls. As you can see the wind is creating havok. Gusts were 20+ mph that day.
brit and bri dresses, dads tarp for haiti 011.JPG

Grizz has a pic in his gallery of a similar design to yours. Perhaps he can chime in with some experience with his design? (he does like to chat about bridges)

Picking a location out of the wind is always best, but not always available. Maybe using your canoe as a wind block?

That being said, I like your design.
Condensation will be an issue with a fully enclosed set up. Something to consider.