DIY Poncho Tarp Pattern

[Brian R]

Hi Folks, I am looking for a DIY Poncho Tarp pattern…mostly for the hood.  I have seen some links on BPL to some patterns, but the referenced sites are now down.  Thanks!

[Lance M]

Hi Brian,

This is the pattern I settled on for myself after making a dozen prototypes:

Download the full size pattern

-Lance

[Mario Caceres]

Have you considered a hood-less poncho?.   My DIY tarp-poncho has a zippered slit (much easier to construct that a hood).  The slit also allows me to quickly dump some steam when it gets a bit too hot and to re-position the poncho so more  or less fabric is in front of me.  (i.e when I’m in easy/flat terrain I want more coverage in front, but when I need to take higher steps I want my poncho at knee level).   A wide brim hat provides plenty of protection for your head.

[Mario Caceres]

Here my DYI tarp-poncho in the Peruvian highlands before we started the Ausangate Trek working as a windblock.  I really like the versatility of tarps.

 

 

[Richard May]

@mariocaceres, I really dig that idea of hoodless. I may have to try it.

[Brian R]

Thanks for your thoughts.  I have been leaning toward a hooded version as I prefer a visor or baseball cap on my hikes.

John – Thanks for the pattern, I’ll try and print that out. A couple questions for you:

1. Did you set the hood offset from the center line of the tarp?
2.  Did you use a catenary cut on the tarp? Was that affected by the hood hole?

Thanks,

Brian

 

[Lance M]

Brian,

Sorry, I can’t help you with the poncho tarp questions.  The hood I designed went on a wide (enough to cover my arms) and oval (so the corners don’t drag in the mud)  rain poncho, not a poncho tarp.

-Lance

[Brian R]

No worries, Lance.  Thanks all for the info!

[William N]

This is a variation on Lance M’s hood design. I made several paper variations (trying each of them on–which was fun),  arriving at this one, which looks like Lance Ms, except it seems to be wider but shorter. I’ve sewn it in Silnylon and it seems to be okay, but have not yet incorporated it into a full poncho.

[William N]

That hood was a bit too big.  The back notch. It seemed to work with the first hood I made and attached to the tarp. This is wearing it, with my backpack-seeming to hang a bit farther back and a tad higher than my head. When I made a smaller, tighter hood, it seemed not to work at all. So nix the notch.

The basic idea of converting a hex-tarp into a poncho with the tarp folded in on each side seems solid.

The tarp is 100″ long front to back, and 106″ wide long point to long points. These folded about 23″ from the points underneath and fastened to velcro patches about 4″ long-sewn to the silnylon. This seems solid. There’s a bit of fussing with any drape poncho (no arm sleeves) and there is with this as well, but not bad at all.

Looking at my hood pattern, it’s now closer to Lance M.’s  and I can’t find the pattern I cut it from, so Ill keep looking. My Intended use is as a poncho, obviously, but also as a rainfly over my bivy sack, and backpack; as an alternative to setting up my tent. (At some point these functions will merge and this will incorporate a bug net and floor. Meanwhile here is the Poncho Hex-Tarp:

[William N]

Field Test report. Poncho Hex Tarp. My hood worked okay, but it could be a lot better. The tarp however works great. I extended the bottom so I could make a ‘tent’ on all sides and cover the bottom of my bivy sack. That worked well. The folded in and velco sides also work. There’s no reason anyone has to limit the size of the tarp they sleep under. It was a bit fussy but I’ve sorted that out.

I found that it is almost impossible to correctly drape a poncho over a backpack higher than you head and behind you. It seems like it shouldn’t be an issue… but. So I tied the high point of my backpack to the tarp and added two lines to the corners. Tied to the highpoint, I can just remove the hood and push it all behind my head (I saw this in a photo, here I think). I can gather the strings and tie them across my waist–so now the back of my tarp is secure. If it starts raining or getting really cold I can tie these lines out side the front flap.

Looking at the Z-packs two person tent. There’s really no reason it couldn’t have a hood and you’d just wear it through one of the doors.

My next step with this project is to figure out the best shape for a tarp tent, and then work this back into a poncho shape. Color coding the corners should solve a lot of the confusion of what goes where.

[William N]

I forgot to mention the details of the field test: Dorset England Wessex Ridgeway Trail, 5 days four nights. Some rain. Used my trekking poles for support.

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