Had the opportunity to test out my just finished 8x7ish flat tarp. I made his out of Lawson's .74oz banana cuben.

Hysol is much more difficult to work with than I anticipated. If you have a nice big well-light and well-ventilated space to set out a massive jig then it'd be fine, but I do not and it was a struggle. So the construction was a bit sloppy, but it turned out fine and seemed to weather the probably 20 mph gusts last night.

Also got to test the John West/Borah Gear bivy, older Golite quilt and ridgerest combo down to the mid-20s at the City of Rock, Idaho.



Not sure what to call this pitch but I've used it a couple times now and it's solid. Obviously, pitch the low end into the wind. If the tarp has a mid-panel tieout all the better to pull it away from your feet.

Good looking tarp man. Did you use Hysol only, or sewing as well?

Nice work, looks good

"Hysol is much more difficult to work with than I anticipated..."

Maybe it would be better to use tape? Even though it isn't as strong?

Maybe Hysol is better for smaller areas like reinforcement patches

So I used Hysol along the ridgeline and for the reinforcement patches. I sewed/hemmed the edges and sewed on the tie-outs. The corners have linlocs.

I would say yes, Hysol for the patches because it's no problem on the small areas. I did the whole ridgeline and clamped it. I left the boards clamped too long and it left particle board behind. Ugly.

I almost forgot, this thing weighs 5.5 oz without guylines. Kind of heavy for a cuben tarp but pretty much what I expected given that it's enormous and pretty beefy with the .74 oz cuben. You could fit two people under there too.