Plans for a tarp – Beaks + tapered profile

[Brent Mahan]

I included this in a post elsewhere about a sleep system, but I figured I'd share it here as well for anyone that is interested.

I wanted a tarp and didn't want to spent a lot on buying one. I decided to design my own and have my sister make it for me as a birthday gift (awesome!). I wanted something fairly simple, but it had to be spacious (big enough for me and my dog or my spouse if they came along), fairly versatile, and protect me fairly well from inclement weather. I liked Ray Jardine's RayWay tarp, but it just seemed a little bulky and the beaks weren't quite the way I wanted them.

Attached below are pics of a scale model I built out of paper and a sheet with fabric dimensions and some details. It isn't anything revolutionary or super unique, but I thought I'd share in case it would help someone else with their design or project.

Model:
*NOTE: Dimensions are fabric cut dimensions. Final size will obviously be smaller once the seams and hems are sewn in.

Fabric dimensions and some notes:

My sister will probably start making it soon. I'll post pictures of it in action once it is sewn up.

[David Drake]

Like your model and sketches. When I did my shaped tarp I also made a full-scale mockup which helped dial in the size.

You might want to consider catenary curves for the ridgeline and beaks (and maybe edges)–makes for a more taut pitch.

Here's a longish thread that helped me a lot (esp. Jerry Adam's comments): http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=49480

[Author]

Posts