design inspiration in the form of camping
So I’m in the process of developing a prototype inspired from a camping trip the wife and I took the year before last. It rained almost the entire weekend so most of the time was spent under a tarp suspended from 4 trees. Being without ladders and such, the tarp could not be positioned high enough to give a decent enough slope to allow proper drainage and it began to fill with water. This problem was compounded by the wind which kept lifting the tarp like a big sail. Both issues were solved by suspending a rock at the middle of the long edge of the tarp. This seemed to work better than fastening it to the ground and using the rope like a downspout we also collected rain water which we used to wash our dishes. I thought this would be a great idea for a roof and so it goes.
Ideally, the same can be accomplished on the other three sides to increase the manageability with high winds. Your assumption, although a good one, looks at the conservative when the elements are practically at rest and moderate. The resolution should focus not necessarily on the extreme but certainly of adverse conditions. Can the flex in the uplift be minimized? Though trees are in abundance, what if they aren’t?
Can the prototype include a weighing mechanism that can vary, based on size and anchoring points of the tarp. While overhanging tarps, like tents, have served their uses well over the ages, but the absorption and/or non-reflecting properties with heat in hot/humid climates is undesirable under the oven like setting. And on…….continues the comments….:-)
Ideas become great when the unexpected happens.
Best of luck in your quest…
Thanks for the feedback Kerl though there was never an intent on a literal interpretation of the tarp. The product of the inspiration is the fundamental idea of a rain collection mechanism and the poetic’s of integrating it into a roof design. The thought at the moment is to use a butterfly style roof design which will funnel the water to a rain chain downspout. The chain will be anchored to a large rock at grade which will rest in a pool connected to a storage cistern. This image is a sketch of what it could be. I will post updates as the idea gets flushed out.