MYOG 5yds to SUL Tarp and Alacart Bivy Build

On the ever increasing desire to lighten my pack, I decided to embark on building a new tarp and bivy with all the options included for trips where I don't need to carry a 2 person tarptent. I almost made the tarp out of cuben fiber, but I decided that I need to start simple with cuben since supposedly sewing it excessively weakens the strong fabric. So I'll try a cuben shelter at a later date.

The Tarp:
For the tarp I decided on Spinntex .08oz a yd fabric. It's silicon impregnated like 1.1oz Silnylon except that it is silicon impregnated polyester. Supposedly it is a little louder, a little lighter and doesn't sag as much in wet and cold conditions. The plans came from the BPL 5yds to SUL project. The tarp came out to be 7.9oz with 48' of Aircore Nano guylines and quick adjusters, plus 2 oz of stakes... 9.9oz as carried. So at .8 oz for the guyline kit, the tarp by itself is roughly 7.1oz. The stuff sack weighs .15oz. This project gave me a ton of practice with felled seams and made me become fairly good at sewing felled seams...

Spinnaker stuff sack.


Tarp layed out for the beak attachment.


Playing around with trying to get a good taught pitch.




The hangline clips and hang line for wet gear.





Things to complement the tarp build:
I'll probably make a very lightweight and small bug bivy that will attach to the clothesline clips. It should allow more breathablity in hot weather and the ability to go lighter in good weather or below the tree line in buggy conditions.

The Bivy:
Well I wanted all the options but I didn't want to pay much over $70... MLD has some similar bivies in the $200 range... I wanted a side zip for easy entry, bug netting for skeeter season... It started out with an RS180 bivy pattern, I shortened the hood by 8", and widened the pattern by 3 inches in the shoulders and hips area to increase room for the neoair. I eliminated the velcro closure and stiff bill with an overlapping flap in favor of a full closure zipper with side zip and zippered skeeter netting. I also added tie out points for the bathtub floor at all 4 corners, so when the weather hits the fan I have the option of guying out the bivy to the tarp stakes to create a storm proof floor.



With a sleeping bag and Neoair inside the bivy.



In buggy season mode.


Side zip open for entering and exiting the bivy in bug mode.


Side zip open for entering and exiting in rainy conditions.


closed up for normal rain conditions.



The Combo, Tarp and Bivy in use in Spider Meadows.