Pyramid Tarptent with Removable Floor

[J-L]

I've really been enjoying my SMD Lunar Solo. It's shown me that a pyramid-style tarptent can work just fine. The only downside is that I won't be able to use it in winter because:

1. It has a lot of mesh which is sewn in
2. I want something with a little more room in the winter for my dog and I

This brings me to the idea of using a normal pyramid tarp (something like the DuoMid). If you get the tarp with perimeter bug netting, you have bug protection in the summer but the mesh won't work in the winter. And if you get the inner net tent, you have removable bug protection, but it significantly reduces the interior volume of the tarp and ups the weight of your system quite a bit.

My idea is to make a bathtub floor with about 12-18 inches or so of netting sewn to the top of it – sort of like the bottom 1/4 of a net tent. This netting would then clip in to the inside of the pyramid tarp at maybe 8 or more different locations. So the shelter becomes a pyramid tarptent with an easily removable floor.

I think this would give me adequate protection from bugs and creepy-crawlies while still maintaining the interior volume of a pyramid tarp. It would also allow me to keep the flexibility of a pyramid tarp: I could leave the floor at home if I wanted and I could set up just the tarp whenever I wanted. I wouldn't have the versatility of just sleeping in the net tent, but I wouldn't have this anyway with perimeter netting sewn in.

Any input on this idea? Has any one tried this?

[James Cahill]

i too would be happy to see something like this, however, mosquitos ares sneaky bastards and seem to find their way in through the smallest of openings (i.e. where the net would clip to the tarp). I guess it would depend on how tight you could get the "seal"

[Jerry Adams]

I camped somewhere that had a lot of mosquitoes

My pyramid has a 2 inch gap at the bottom and no floor

For some reason, I got no bites inside

When I was walking around I had to constantly swat them

Maybe it depends on your atractiveness to mosquitoes, type of mosquitoe,…

But it seemed like the mosquitoes didn't want to fly under the tarp through the 2 inch gap

[Hiking Malto]

I am getting ready to make a new pyramid setup and have wrestled with many of the issues that you are facing. I am going the route of a separate net inner so I can use it standalone without the outer. The weight penalty is only a couple of ounces but the flexibility is greater. With this setup you can use just the inner as a ground sheet. Just the inner setup for just bug protection. Both for rain, with or without bugs. I also hope to use the outer with my bivy in the winter where bugs aren't an issue but having the bivy provides increased wind protection.

My plan is to make a 25×90 base offset peak (60/40) inner and as of today a six sided cuben outer. It would use two trekking poles tied together with a 12-16" strut giving more usable head room. One other feature will be the ability to setup with minimal effort. I tend to hike into the late evening hours and it is important to me to have simple setup. Most of the six sided tarps fail to meet my very tough criteria. The best seems to be the solomid since the four corners can be pulled tight and staked.

I had thought about attaching the bottom and netting to the outer but. I want a complete bug proof setup. I don't know how to do this without a full zipper which would weigh more than a full net inner which again is more flexible.

[Jordo _99]

You might try using velcro or snaps:

Could either run 1/4" of velcro around the perimeter of the netting and tent or just do spots like you would with snaps. I don't know how much snaps weigh, but putting on every 12-24" should give a near flush attachment if the netting doesn't sag between. Connecting around 15-20 snaps is going to be a pain, though you could probably pack the tarp with this attached.

[rmeurant]

Hah! You could emulate the Aussie outback hat, and hang corks around the perimeter, hanging down in the 2" gap…

[J-L]

Thanks for the input. I had envisioned just using mitten hooks with some elastic to make setup quick and flexible (which is a top priority), but using snaps or velcro might also work and would get a tighter seal; this might be the way to go. Packing the floor away with the tarp would certainly be nice. Ideally, the floor would be easy to add/remove once the tarp is pitched – something I think is would be more difficult with a separate inner net tent.

My experience so far mirrors Jerry's. I've used a Hex 3, which when pitched close to the ground, let in very few bugs. Any that did fly in congregated near the peak.

@ Hiking Malto: how big is your six-sided cuben tarp going to be? Sounds nice :)

[Jerry Adams]

"Any that did fly in congregated near the peak"

+1 to that

maybe you could have a cone shape that lets bugs out but not in, like yellow jacket traps

but they just flit around up there so I guess it doesn't matter. I feel bad for the poor doomed bugs.

[Hiking Malto]

I am sizing it small to minimize both weight and to minimize the wind impact and site requirements. The inner will be 90x25x41"(peak). The outer will be about 105" long with 25" ends and the sides will go out to 48". It will be about the same footprint as the solomid. I don't anticipate using the outer much since I sleep under the stars as much as possible. But I had to address the bugs in the east when it is hot. No more choosing between sweating in a bivy or getting eaten alive. I have a pretty cool spreadsheet that allows you to input in the dimensions of the inner and it does all the math of the angles and gives you a material weight. It also allows you to overlay an outer shell using a few assumptions but it only handles a four sided tarp. Pm me an email and I can send you a copy.

[Fitz Travels]

I tried this experiment, and within 10 minutes had 2 bees find their way in somehow. Granted, i didnt have the net and floor attached by any means, but i had them as flat and connected as i could. Even had heavy sticks to weight down the floor on top of the netting. Perhaps i couold of done better, but i quickly realized i did not want to take an aftermoon nap in this thing in thenshade. I also had a bunch of really small flying bugs find their way in. A lot. It really frustrated me at the time because the setup was so lite, but i had to succumb to just having a floored bug shelter. If you can get this to work, i would be really intersted in pictures and explanation of setup.

[Michael Ray]

If using velcro, I'd sew the loop part on the mesh so it won't snag all the time when you pack it up separately.

[Jared Baker]

The "Snag-Free" Omnitape by velcro works pretty well for use around no-see-um netting. And it's nice that you don't have to figure out which side is which as it is all interchangeable.

[J-L]

Okay, I finally bought a sewing machine and learned how to sew. I've made a few stuff sacks, practiced a few long flat-felled seams, and I feel I'm ready to take on this project now.

The pyramid tarp I'll be using is a GoLite SL2.

I think I have three options:

1. Sew about a foot of netting to the floor and make the whole thing attach to the tarp. This would possibly be the easiest and most versatile option (i.e. I could leave the floor at home, make another floor with a breathable material instead of mesh for winter, etc), but possibly the least bug-proof.

2. Sew about a foot of netting directly to the tarp and make the netting attach to the floor. I think attaching the netting to the floor would make for a tighter seal. This is similar to what most perimeter netting on mids looks like now.

3. Sew a few inches of netting to the tarp and about a foot of netting to the floor. This would be the heaviest option, but it would give me an overlap of netting to create a good seal.

Any opinions?

I have bought some omni tape to use for connecting the floor to the tarp. I was planning on using tulle or similar from Joanns for the netting and I have some silnylon for the floor.

[alex hansen]

Since mosquitoes tend to fly to the top of netting, instead of putting snaps on the outer and connecting your net to that, why not sew the few inches of netting to the outer and attach the snaps between the bath tub and the netting. A few little grosgrain loops with a snap could tie the netting up if you don't want it to hang when you have no floor attached

[J-L]

Yes, that's why I am thinking of going with option 2 or 3 above.

[Franco Darioli]

Fitz
"within 10 minutes had 2 bees find their way in somehow"
was that shelter yellow?
Yesterday walking around here with a bark green top I had flies all over me, mostly stuck on my back, my wife wearing a darkish blue top was almost fly free.
Usually she attracts more insects than me.

[Micki]

John,

Did you ever get to complete this project?  What option did you go with?  How did it turn out?

 

I am finalizing my mid build using Jerry’s article but am working out a way to keep the snakes/scorpions out!

[Author]

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