Thoughts on 9×9 tarp for hammock?

[Ian]

I previously used a 9×9 Noah'starp pitched as a diamond over a hammock which seemed to work reasonably well on a short three night trip in the Cascades. But all we were subjected to was a wind storm and I never had a chance to see how well/poorly this set up would work in the rain. The tarp is a bit heavier than what I would like so I'm in the market for a new one.

The 9×9 seems to be an ideal size for non hammock camping as well (eg establishing a group campsite cooking area).

As anyone here extensively used a 9×9 tarp for hammocking in inclement weather and what your thoughts?

[Kevin Babione]

I think the issue with the 9×9 is that you're carrying material that's in the wrong place for a storm. The 12' 8" ridgeline is good, especially if you have a long hammock (I prefer 11' hammocks), but with it reaches a point 4.5' from the ridgeline – which means you have a pretty steep angle near your head. In a blowing rain you'll get wet under the tarp at the top and bottom of the hammock.

I have an 11' x 8' hex tarp that I was using in PA on a trip in mid-November. We had snow and it was blowing in (and annoyingly on my face) from the end of the tarp. I was lucky – I was able to swap that tarp out for a winter tarp with doors for the other two nights of the trip.

If you're taking the 9×9 out and it looks like it's going to storm pitch it as close to your hammock as possible to minimize the rain blown in.

[Katherine .]

Buy that Hammock Gear cuben storm tarp in Gear Swap so that I'm not tempted by it.

[Ian]

Thanks Kevin! I was looking at this as a tarp I'd bring on trips where the forecast is calling for scattered showers and will probably get a hex w/ doors tarp later on for winter or stormier excursions. Zpacks Asymetrical tarps is really catching my eye right now at $175 so I may have to modify my query and search to something along those lines.

I saw that earlier but sorry I can't help you Katharine. Right now trying to figure out how to make it through Christmas without having to resort to eating cat food. I'll probably pay more attention to Greg's things vs experiences thread next year.

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