A really large tarp with end flaps you can close. With the flaps shut it becomes almost a small tent around the hammock. When the weather is kind you fold them away and have an ordinary large tarp with an open view both ways.
We call it a winter tarp, but I suspect it will earn its keep in the autumn storms. That is when the rain comes sideways and blows straight in under an ordinary tarp, and that is exactly what the flaps are for.
How to use it: pitch the tarp from your ridgeline as usual and stake out the side guylines. If it blows, close the end flaps. If you want to keep the view in one direction, close only one end — that is usually enough, since the wind comes from one side.
About the aluminised inner
The inside carries a silver layer, the same kind used in the tarps usually sold as thermo tarps. It reflects radiant heat back instead of letting it out, and in sunshine it works the other way and keeps it cooler underneath. It also shields the fabric from UV.
I will not promise you degrees. In a hammock most of the heat leaves downwards through the fabric you lie on, and that is the underquilt's job. Next comes the draught, and that is where the flaps do real work. The aluminised inner comes on top of that. What you do notice immediately is that it is much brighter under the tarp.
Two long guylines, eight short ones and eight aluminium pegs are included, so nothing needs adding. The pegs are the simpler sort — fine in forest soil, but on hard or stony ground you will want your own.
Specifications
- Size: 310 cm centre, 440 cm at the flaps, approx. 280 cm wide
- Packed size: 25 × 17 × 5 cm
- Weight: 825 g (tarp only), 1110 g complete with stuff sack, guylines and pegs
- Material: 210T polyester with PU coating, 3000 mm water column. Aluminised inner. PFAS-free.
- Included: Tarp, stuff sack, 2 guylines à 4 m, 8 guylines à 2 m (3 mm nylon), 8 aluminium pegs