Snowy OMW

[DeRozea]

I have only tried the outside pole mods through one drop of snow, and it (snow)did eventually slide off. I have played with old tent poles for an inside mod, which worked great for a "barrel" effect. not so great for snow. waiting to order poles with a 90* peak as well as one at 125* for the main door side. it would have 3 poles as well. the only "complaint" (not really a concern but a wish of luxury) is the height of the sidewalls. I am 6' and don't like my tarp low but to keep the snow from blowing in....

[OutandBack]

Tough to make the call on all the extra fabric for a more tent like winter structure. Tarp buyers tend to be weight conscious backpackers I would think. Sure CF offers the weight savings needed to go with the longer side walls but the cost is still a major factor in me not going that route.

I only brought it up since you were talking about making knee walls to extend your sides to the ground.
Something I have been thinking about for a couple years.

If you think about it the only difference between a 12 x 10 with doors vs a 12 x 14 with doors is the extra 1.2 sylnylon fabric.

IMO most folks that needs a true winter tarp won't mind the trade between better coverage vs a few extra ozs.
Just like we take a heavier stove in winter.

Anyway I hope you do look into moding your tarp with knee skirts.

[Ratdog]

I think you are right on the money, for a winter tarp the weight penalty isn't bad considering the bonus coverage.

Removable knee walls adds only the weight of zippers which is far less than I had realized.

What the knee walls really gives you is that wind break that can be brutal to underquilt performance and a real factor in cold weather camping.

I am working on my diy winter sock over the next couple weeks, all the materials are now in house. After that, the knee walls. The more I think about it, the more i will probably just run a straight edge underneath and just inside the cat cuts. This will provide a slight overhang for rain runoff. I will be able to zip on silnylon or mesh mosquito netting.

[Ratdog]

About 12" of snow on the OMW last night.
20-30mph winds, 15 degrees before windchill.

More high winds today.
Old Man Winter standing strong.

Had to tap the tarp to encourage the snow to fall off while using the spreader bars.
The snow did make a nice knee wall for the cave housing the WBBB XLC.

10 months of hanging under the OMW and very pleased with the configuration, quality and robust tie out points.

[OutandBack]

I can never get enough picts/reports like this. Thanks ratdog for the update.
Your home away from home looks fantastic.
A good strong tarp in winter really makes the hang enjoyable.

[Redpath]

Hey Ratdog, nice report. I just got an OMW and like your idea about the shockcord on the corners. What length did you use or recommend? I was thinking of doing the shockcords and line tensioners on the rest of the guylines as well, but am worried about cinching it tight enough. Thoughts?
Thanks

[Ratdog]

Hey Ratdog, nice report. I just got an OMW and like your idea about the shockcord on the corners. What length did you use or recommend? I was thinking of doing the shockcords and line tensioners on the rest of the guylines as well, but am worried about cinching it tight enough. Thoughts?
Thanks

Long enough to reach the stake on the opposite corner and still retain tension. The actual length depends on how you like to stake your tarp.

On average I like to be able to stand under the tarp and the corner stakes will be 2-3 off the corner. When hunkering down, the stakes are maybe 1ft away.

I probably have about 6ft of shock cord on the door corners with a loop on the end.

[Ratdog]

The OMW is taking a beating again.

7" of fresh heavy wet snow, followed by sleet, freezing rain, then rain all day, then more sleet freezing rain and snow tonight. All topped off with 20-30 mph winds.

The tarp shed the snow overnight but needed some attention to get the slush off this morning, 4x.

Pole mods hanging in there. Stress testing tie out points, so far so good.



Here is a shot of the sleet/freezing rain. I had just cleaned off the tarp, it was an inch thick prior to this. Seams all good.

[OutandBack]

Thanks for the report.
All that ice frozen on the tarp can really be heavy.
Are you using an under the tarp RL to help with support?

[Ratdog]

Thanks for the report.
All that ice frozen on the tarp can really be heavy.
Are you using an under the tarp RL to help with support?

Yeah it is definitely loading up.

When the snow was shedding overnight, it would wake me up out of a sound sleep. Happened 3 different times.

I am not using a ridge line underneath, yet.

Try to avoid them, in my experience they bring rain water into the protected space and can drip onto the hammock. But with loads like this, it is an awful lot of strain on the peak tie outs. Will keep an eye on it, have a ridge line ready to go just in case.

Had this been all snow, no rain, I would have done it. 2ft of the heavy white stuff would be too much.

I will say I was pretty happy with the snow shedding off even with the pole mod in place. Wasn't expecting it to work as well as it did.