Tarptent for 2 is done!

[Justin Chaussee]

Thanks to my AWESOME mom! My tarp-tent for 2 is done!!! Here are a few pics of it set up. I jumped the gun in pitching it seeing how my custom easton poles havn't arrived yet, so just picture it with a rear pole… ;-)” height=”413″ src=”https://dpcr19kltm61a.cloudfront.net/backpackinglight/user_uploads/1256861602_17456.jpg” width=”550″ />

[Justin Chaussee]

[Stephen Adamczyk]

Nice job, it really looks good. Thank your mother for helping.

[John Davis]

my sewing machine is on its way…. really looking forward to making stuff i already own that doesnt look as good but feels better!

[Justin Chaussee]

Thanks! I can't take much credit. My mom did all the sewing. I just helped with the planning and little things such as hammer the grommets in and set up the guylines and such. My mom did all the hard stuff. Not sure on an exact weight yet since I don't have a scale sensitive enough. I'm guessing it's somewhere around 18 oz including stakes and guyline. The poles I ordered will add another 3 oz total.

[>> Bender <<]

Justin,

What material did you end up using? I have been leaning towards owfinc SilNylon 2nds. I have been scouring the site for all MYOG tents because I plan on making one soon!

[Justin Chaussee]

Well, I had the opportunity to talk with Henry Shires as well as a few BPL staff members who all told me to steer clear of silnylon seconds for a number of reasons. That being said, I used SilNylon firsts (if that's the term). I did the "garden hose water test" to mine and no water got through any of the seems or anything. Water tight. According to everyone I talked to, the SilNylon seconds do not have the same waterproof abilities and will cause water to "mist" through the material. All in all, the whole thing was about 60 bucks total. All the fabric was purchased from thru-hiker.com. There are a few tips we discovered along the way:

1) instead of using pins to hold the fabric while sewing, we found a very cool water soluable "tape" like material that we used instead. WAY better and easier than using pins because it held the fabric together better without slipping at all. When finished sewing, the tape disolves completely with a little bit of water. No residue, nothing. It worked perfectly.

2) The 1/2 inch webbing for the pullouts is fine for the corner and side pullouts, but for the ridgeline pullouts, 3/4 or even 1 inch webbing works MUCH better; especially when installing the grommets.

[Jim Colten]

Nice! Are you considering putting beaks on one or both ends?

Tell us more about this tape … impressive stuff if it adheres to silnylon!

[>> Bender <<]

Justin where do you find such tape?

[Justin Chaussee]

Yes, I plan to put the beaks on a little later. They are cut out, just not attached yet.

The tape is made by Dritz and was purchased through Jo-Ann fabrics. It is 1/4 wide and double sided. It worked like a charm in keeping the slippery silnylon fabric in place while sewing. When you're done sewing the seam, the tape disolves with a little bit of water with NO residue or anything left. Like it wasn't even there to begin with. The double sided part is important! Works like a charm.

Also, we found it VERY helpful to use a laser level to help cut all the angles perfectly.

[>> Bender <<]

I just so happen to have Jo-Ann headquarters 1 town away from me. I'll have to check out the tape. It sounds perfect! Even pins don't like to keep Sil Nylon perfectly aligned and I don't like adding more holes.

[Justin Chaussee]

That tape was a godsend. It's worth its weight in gold, trust me.

[Mark McLauchlin]

Justin, the tarp looks great.

From the images it looks extremely low at the foot end, are you going to be able to ensure that your sleeping system doesnt touch the Sil?

Perhaps there is some height adjustment that can be made?

Cheers

[Justin Chaussee]

Yes, it is pitched VERY low in the pictures. My custom easton poles havn't arrived yet and I just wanted to roughly pitch it to check it out. The poles will be 40" for the front and 20" for the back. I do not have a rear pole in the picture, so it is very low. You just have to picture it 20" higher in the back. ;-) I will post more pics when my poles get here and I can set it up for real.

[Mark McLauchlin]

Thanks Justin,

Cheers

[Henry Blake]

Is the floor no-see-um mosquito netting or?

[Justin Chaussee]

I did not make it with a floor. I use a tyvek groundcloth that I made.

[Lucas Boyer]

Justin, did you buy the kit to press the grommets or did you craft a diy method?

I used those plastic grommets and the first outing saw one come apart and I lost one half, so now I'm without a grommet.

[Justin Chaussee]

I bought the #1 grommet kit from REI. Worked perfectly. I really hammered the grommet on very tightly so it's not going anywhere. They are brass, but with only 2 grommets, the weight is negligable.

[Andrew Preece]

Hi, Good job well done.
How did you use the level to get the edges straight?
thanks

[Justin Chaussee]

It's a level that I believe craftsman makes and I use it to hang pictures and stuff. It shoots a laser across the surface you set it on to make a continuous and straight line. We just put it on the fabric and set it at the angle we wanted and it made a very straight laser line on the fabric that we then cut. It worked very well. I think one costs around 20 bucks at home depot.

[>> Bender <<]

Justin was the #1 sized grommet a good pick for this? I was looking at grommet kits but I will likely go with #0 for attaching to standard tent poles. FYI mcmastercarr.com has aluminum grommets.

[Lance M]

Bender:

#0 grommets are advertised as having a .25" diameter hole. The pole tips I purchased from Quest Outfitters were larger than that. The plastic tip for .344" poles measured .26". The aluminum tip for the .430" poles measured .27". I use #1 grommets (.28125" hole) and they work fine.

Measure your pole tips before you commit to a grommet kit.

Good luck,

Lance

[Justin Chaussee]

Bender, I used the #1 grommets because they fit the easton tent poles with the grommet tips I use. The #0 grommets wouldn't have fit the poles. But maybe you could get a thinner pole/grommet tip that would work for you. I found the #1 grommets to work perfectly for me. As Lance pointed out, just measure your pole tips and make sure they will fit the grommet you plan on using before you commit to buying a kit.

[sean mccutcheon]

Justin good job on your tarptent. I've just recieved my my
materials today and cann't wait to get started. What size needles do you use. Also did you change any of the measurements?
~Sean

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