Re: [Paddlewise] Hardware Store Plastic Tarp As Rain Fly?

RE/
>Hi, Pete.  This is Sandy Kramer, catching up on old mail.  I had mentioned 
>the $30 jungle tent in The Sportsman's Guide.  My "thing" is that I'd like a 
>hammock that could be a free-standing tent if there aren't any trees 
>available.

Thanks for the tent offer, but I'm kind of off on my own tangent now.

I've had a fly made out of the el-cheapo stuff up for a week now, through four
days of fairly heavy rain and some decent wind with no problems.....it even has
a few spots where it's been worn through from covering my car.....I lined the
hammock with newspaper to make spotting wet spots easier, and found none after
three days.

I did, however, find that over time water wicks down the ropes and into the
material at each end of the hammock where the ropes pass though a sleeve.

My solution to that has been a 3" steel ring that joins a short rope through the
end to the long rope....The ring will break the wick and I'm hoping any water
that runs down the rope will drip off the bottom of the ring.

The fly weighs "only" six pounds, but the lightest ones weigh around three...and
I'm not backpacking....so I'm gonna go with it.


But now I'm coming to appreciate your 'thing'.....   This monster wants two
trees that are at least 15' apart and is happier with 20' to accomodate some
rain fly overhang.

My first cut at freestanding has been a tripod of six-foot tubes at each end
with a windsurfer mast (which I'll always have handy when using the hammock).

Two of each tripod's poles act as support for the hammock/occupant and lean
inwards transfering their load to the ridge pole while the third leg of each
tripod just serves to keep the whole thing from collapsing.
-----------------------
Pete Cresswell
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