GT (Ground Tarp)

So, on an 11′ end-gathered style hammock, an 11′ ultralight tarp shelter will give more coverage down low than 13′ would. But on our Ridgerunner bridge hammock, there is no ridgeline, and the hammock is usually hung a little flatter, so you can get a 13′ ultralight tarp shelter to come down for sufficient side coverage. The 13′ also allows the doors to fully shut on the Ridgerunner, the shorter 11′ tarp is also appropriate for a Ridgerunner but the apex of the RR’s suspension triangle will poke out between the doors, creating a small opening. Bumping to a 13′ eliminates that issue, but is not necessary… the opening is a narrow vertical slot that is about 3 feet beyond the ends of the hammock fabric. There is a photo of the RR suspension triangle poking through the door slot in the gallery on the Thunderfly page for reference.

The MiniFly and ThunderFly are both good ultralight 3-season tarp shelter options. You also can add our Underquilt Protector to the bottom of your XLC/Eldorado and turn either of these tarps into a solid winter shelter. On their own, both provide good 3 season coverage. For someone looking to go minimal I would recommend the Thunderfly for a true 3 season tarp in the Rockies or Sierra/Cascades where you might actually encounter snow, freezing temps, and high wind in spring and fall, while the Minifly would be more than adequate as a 3-season ultralight tarp shelter in anyplace you don’t expect lots of cold wind. The ThunderFly is simply 12″ wider so offers more wind block (which is more important the colder it is)

The Superfly is our best-selling model because it is our “all season/all weather” tarp model. The main reason someone might select a different model tarp would be if they want to save pack weight in the warmer months when the Superfly coverage is overkill for the conditions and weight savings is more desirable. Other than a little extra weight, there is no real downside to using the Superfly in warmer conditions. For information on choosing the right ultralight tarp shelter for you, see our Tarps 101 page.

The 30D Silnylon is slightly more durable than the 20D Silpoly.

In general, nylon has a higher tear and tensile(breaking) strength than the same-weight polyester simply because nylon is all-around stronger pound for pound than polyester is. Poly will stretch less (when soaked or otherwise) and it will absorb less water weight. Poly still stretches some, just not as much as nylon. The extra stretch of nylon adds to its strength though, in that it acts as a built-in shock absorber during a heavy wind gust, so with poly stretching less in that situation, in theory, the nylon ultralight tarp shelter would have a lower wind load due to extra stretch.

We’ve had excellent long-term durability results from our 30d Silnylon.

Poly is said to have better UV resistance, but don’t think you can treat your ultralight tarp shelter any differently than before, we tested a polyester tarp outside for about 2 months and the fabric lost ALOT of strength from the sun exposure, so you still want to avoid things like that regardless of whether your tarp is poly or nylon.

Our 11-foot hammocks have a ridgeline length of 112″ (the body fabric hangs in an arc) so with an 11′ (132″) tarp this gives you 10″ of tarp overlap at each end of the hammock. If the ultralight tarp shelter has doors, then those doors will be able to shut or overlap enclosing you all the way around. How far down does the tarp come? This depends on tarp width but also how high you hang it up above the hammock, hang it higher and it doesn’t come down as far. Your hammock suspension runs uphill at an angle and the tarp is longer than the hammock, so you can only pitch the ultralight tarp shelter so low that it contacts the hammock suspension. So, the longer the tarp length the higher you have to pitch it above the ridgeline of the hammock and the more coverage you lose down low. Generally, go for the 11′ Fly series tarp with any of our 10′ or 11′ end gathered models like the Blackbird, XLC, and Eldorado. This will give max wind block down low near the bottom of the hammock.

All of our ultralight tarp shelter models come with a single-ended stuff sack included. Recommended items are listed on each tarp page.