I'm enamoured of the idea of a hammock tarp that can be used as a ground shelter. I think a flat tarp of cuben would be the best option in terms of weight and flexibility, but in the meantime I've been looking at the gatewood cape, which is a heckuva lot more affordable.

1. Has anyone tried rigging it as a tarp? How did it go?
2. What's it like as a ground shelter? With proper pitching, is it sturdy enough for winter use?
3. Is this a harebrained idea or have you thought about it too?

While the Gatewood Cape makes a nice ground shelter (for those short enough to fit well), I don't think its shape would work with a hammock.

I have used my golite poncho/tarp with a hammock a few times, and it was barely big enough. I would want more protection in any kind of storm, but in the drizzles I've had it in it worked ok. Probably any full-sized hammock tarp can be rigged into a ground shelter that would be better than the poncho options, but I do like the weight savings of using a poncho/tarp in mild weather.

Yeah, I'm trying to work out the right balance of simplicity of gear and simplicity of use. A completely adaptable system would have the fewest parts, but if the fiddle factor (FF) is too high it doesn't really gain me anything (IMO--everyone has different priorities with these things). A shaped shelter is a bit simpler on the ground, bit trickier (if even possible) as a fly, while a flat tarp is the opposite. A single size for all seasons would be great...unless it were too heavy in summer and not enough coverage in winter. I expect the flat tarp is the best overall option, provided I put the time into practicing different pitches so the FF is minimized when ground camping. I've tried pitching my hex tarp but the shape and lack of extra tiedowns makes it a pain. I'll try a rectangular tarp and see how that goes. Thanks for your reply!

Edited by spelt on 07/16/2012 10:55:17 MDT.

With some practice I find pitching a flat tarp to be pretty easy, so give it a shot!

Just curious what the problem is with the hex tarp? It seems like pitching for ground sleeping is going to be basically the same, but lower. If l lack of tie outs is the only problem, they're one of the easiest things to sew and you could add a few.

I would go with a warbonnet superfly for dual use -
http://www.warbonnetoutdoors.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=142

I am a huge fan of shaped tarps like the Gatewood and Hexamid for ground sleeping. They are the wrong shape and not long enough for a hammock tarp. Get a flat cuben, spinnaker, or silnylon tarp for a hammock. For dual use ground sleeping, I think rectangular or hex with or without "doors" are best.

At one time I was thinking about this as well...

I was going to have Ron at MLD take his Hexagon Hammock Tarp and make a poncho out of it with some strategically placed snaps to shorten it to appropriate lengths in the front and back (as well as some side snaps to hold it together in poncho mode.

Look at what he's done with his poncho tarp and I'm sure you'll be able to figure out where I was going. He's very innovative and would do a nice job for you in either silnylon or cuben if you really want to go that route. He's got a great closure system for the poncho hood while it's in "tarp" mode that should be adaptable to the hex hammock tarp.

I do have a Gatewood Cape and the shaped pitch of it would not lend itself to a hammock at all.

Within the past week, at either BPL Gear Swap or Hammock Forum, someone sold a cuben hammock tarp with a add-on hood. I think it was a Zpack.