Just made my first major goof in my hammock project. Anybody want a nice piece of coated ripstop: 5' x 18'? As a rain fly, it just doesn't seem to cut it. Way too narrow, I think. OTOH the 18' x 11' el-cheapo plastic tarp that I use to cover my car during snowstorms seems to be just the right size. It's sort of noisy when crinkled, has a noticible weave of something-or-other, doesn't seem to stretch, comes in any color you want as long as it's blue. Sews ok - I attached a few strips of doubled-over nylon webbing to use as attachment points for the lines that secure it. *Seems* waterproof....it's a contiguous sheet - no seams... However I know in my heart that when I'm laying out there in a downpour with the rain blowing sideways and the wind gusting to 20+, there will be new things to learn about any solution, no matter how good it looked in my back yard on a clear fall evening. Can anybody with experience comment on the suitablity of the plastic tarp material? Weight and bulk are not a consideration. ----------------------- Pete Cresswell *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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 *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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