First Cuben Tarp

Tyler,

I made a flat 9×7 tarp from .74 cuben a couple years ago and it has held up fine. Catenary curves will help getting that taught pitch but it isn't necessary. (Does look good though!) My tarp has a 1in wide ridge line taped with 9485pc. With all that said, a catenary ridge line is not difficult. There are some how to threads here on BPL.

P.S. – I've used both Hysol and tape. Tape for the win. Sooooo much easier and faster.

Ryan

Ryan, thanks for sharing your experiences. The more I think about it, the less inclined I am to make a catenary ridge. Not only for a much simpler construction, but also due to the fact that I rarely camp in exposed sites.

My plan thus far is to construct something similar to an Oware CatTarp with a removable inner bug shelter w/ bathtub floor. I'll most likely construct my ridgeline using the same diagram I posted above so I can hang my bug shelter.

Also, I really like the idea of a beak to offer somewhat of a porch and the feeling of an enclosed shelter vs. tarp/bivy – especially with the bugs we can in the southeast. And I have a ZPacks cuben rain kilt that I'll modify to add on as a beak extender.

So here's three questions:

What angle(s) do most beaked tarps use? I'm able to visualize the pieces I need to cut in my head, but have no way of practically knowing what angles and lengths to use on the two triangular pieces that will become the beak.

With a beak, do I need to add a tie-out to the peak on the exterior side?

Do grosgrain tie-outs really bring with them a high chance of failure? Or is that only something to worry about in exposed sites where sustained winds pose a problem to most tarps anyway? I'm okay with learning to make cuben tie-outs. This is more a question based in curiosity rather than preference.