Dome Tarp: a bit of fun that may turn out to be practical

[Neumo]

There was a thread on here, that I cant now find, about using sticks with your tarp to make another type of shelter with, where the sticks made a frame. That got me thinking so as I had a bit of time on my hands I got to work & this is what I came up with.

I had seen some abandoned/broken tents in a couple of woods I go to so I took the fibreglass elastic poles out of them to use on this project. After a bit of cleaning up, threading them togeather to make the right size & testing I ended up with 2 collapsable pole sets that I planned to attach ro my tarp to male a tent like structure for ground sleeping or to use as a fancy domed tarp at meets. I know that I can get a tent that would be about the same weight, would be stronger, better made etc.. before anyone mentions it but this setup cost me the princely sum of 60p for 4 split ring at the local hardware shop & you dont get many 'tents' for that kind of money.

After I had cut the poles to length I put the 4 pins I had also recycled on the split rings & then sewed the insidee loop of each corner to the fabric about 1" from each corner, so that the tubes would be level with the tarp edge when in place. After trying in the front room I took it down the beach yesterday evening to try it out. It needs a bit more work to stop the poles sliding around & make them stay in the middle but it seems to work OK.

The tarp is some kind of Army tarp about 2.5mx1.8m that I bought from a mate who does airsoft & it was already paineted up like this when I got it. It cost me £15 & is one of my favorites for lightweight hiking & day trips. As I said it's a bit of fun & may not be practical in the long term but I enjoyed doing it & when I get it trimmed right I will have a go to see if the idea will work when suspended in the air or on poles.

Anyway. here are a few pictures.

 

[Andy2112]

Brilliant idea !!!! maybe use a couple of basha poles or sticks to prop up the front and some guy lines for stability in the wind and you're sorted. Nice one mate, i think its a great idea.

 

[Twodogs]

Nice one
Twodogs

 

[MartinK9]

Nice idea with the low profile.

 

[Neumo]

Thanks for the comments. I got underneath it and it is just about big enough to sleep under on the diagonal as you loose a bit of length & height where the dome goes up. I may give it a go once I get hold of a thermarest or similar. I will try some poles to prop up the down wind end & a few guys sounds like a good idea. If I take it out I would have the usual ridgeline rope & guys with me so you could probably make it quite sturdy when it was properly pegged down.

 

[Buckshot]

If you use walking poles you could hang the raised side from them
Nice idea, shame the standard size tarps aren't slightly bigger to allow this and still sleep under without being afraid of rolling out during the night!
I dare say this wasn't high on the priority list when it was being designed

Mark

 

[TJRoots]

good idea, i imagine with one of the larger tarps it would be more comfortable leaving you with more space, but that all comes down to wether or not you want to carry a larger tarp and longer poles which would all increase weight.

nice work,
ATB
TJ

 

[Dave Budd]

Great idea, dunno why nobody has done that before!

one further modification that might help with head room would be to add a third (shorter) pole across the front; creating an arch over one end. Or re-arrange 3 or 4 shorter poles across like a tunnel tent, though it would need to be guyed out.

 

[redneck]

Been doing exactly that with a desert tarp for quite a long time, the idea has been on you tube for some time now..

 

[Neumo]

Been doing exactly that with a desert tarp for quite a long time, the idea has been on you tube for some time now..

I am not surprised that someone has done it before & never said it was an origial idea; just something that people on here might find useful.

I have a 3x3 DD tarp which I may give it a go with, if I have enough poles, which should give you enough room inside to strectch out more. That is a square tarp so it would be wider than this one along one side, which should make all the difference when inside it. Still, I like the current setup as it is low prodile & the cammo pattern blends in surprisingly well in a wide variety of places. I shall contintue to tinker.

I have been thinking that I may have problems with condensation or use up all the air inside it if I dont prop the downwind end up but I suppose I wont find that out until I try it.

 

[1972]

Nice post Neumo, It looks like a good option if you're going to be camping in a treeless environment like that and want to use a tarp.

Although, If you use that particular tarp someone walking their dog would probably step on you!

 

[Hetzen]

I've been doing something similar with a DD 3x3 for a while now. I have ransacked an old dome tent and made one length of poles 5.2m (off top of my head) which I thread down one diagonal and arch. One end corner of the tarp is staked into the ground, the other is held up with a walking pole. To stop the tent poles digging into the ground, I've taken the feet off two old walking poles that the tent poles fit into, which have a downward flange stoping the poles from disappeering into the ground.

Works pretty damned well with plenty of room inside to sleep two with kit. You could also lose the walking pole on the front corner, and stake that down too, giving you a pretty weatherproof shelter.

 

[Neumo]

Hetzen, I like your thinking there. That would give you an expanded half pyramid configuration (the one with a pole at the front) and the option to close the front door as well. I will be trying that at the weekend with my DD. Good idea about the walking pole (ski pole) type ends placed where the poles meet the ground. Thanks

 

[Asa Samuel]

I started a thread about this seeing if it would be possible to do with a 58' pattern poncho, I still like the idea but I may have to try it with my 3x3 tarp and guy it out strongly.

 

[Neumo]

Yes I think it was your thread that inspired me to start trying this out. I am off to try the 1 pole accross the diagonal later today & a few other things I have thought of with my DD & the above camo tarp. I like the fact that the pins are on split rings so can be moved about or put on another tarp quite easyly. As you say it would need tohave some guy lines on it to strengthen things up & I will use a few more pegs this time.