Hammock Gear Mesh Tarp Sleeve

Hammock Gear's Mesh Tarp Sleeve is a light and durable tarp management solution. It allows for rapid deployment and recovery of most any UL tarp.

Hammock Gear makes a variety of great tarps, so it stands to reason they would make pretty good tarp accessories. Their Mesh Tarp Sleeve backs up that theory pretty well. This one has been used for three years and that might be a record for such devices in my hands. Not a lot of moving parts here so this will be a pretty quick review.

Specs:

• Length: 12'
• Material: Mesh .6 oz/sq.yd.
• Weight: 1.1oz/30.8g 

Function:

Mesh sleeve that slides out of the way when tarp is in use. When packing up the sleeve quickly slides over tarp making it easy to control. DCF tarps should be rolled first, but silnylon and silpoly tarps can just be left hanging as you pull the sleeve over them.

One advantage of the sleeve is how it helps control the tarp allowing it to be packed tightly, but not crammed.

The mesh allows moisture to escape. A wet tarp can be left in an outside pocket and dry a bit on trail, though the rolled DCF won't benefit much in this scenario. It also protects tarps from damage while in the pack by letting the mesh take the impact.

Testing:

The Mesh Tarp Sleeve has been hanging on my ridge line since I bought the HG Dyneema Tarp with Doors three years ago. It has been on trail for thousands of miles and hundreds of nights.

Conclusions:

I have had several of these sort of sleeves from different makers over the years. Several of them came from Dutchware and to be honest I can't recall where else I've bought them. This one has notably lasted longer than any of the others.

HG's Mesh Tarp Sleeve is one of those minor things that are quietly useful on trail. The longer I am out the more chances it has to do the things I bring it for.

When I come into camp wet on a drippy night the first thing is getting the tarp up. With the sleeve managing the tarp and lines it is easy enough to pull a ridge line from either end and wrap them around a couple of trees.

On a nice night I can set up the tarp, getting the stakes and their lines all set and then roll the tarp up into the sleeve. This lets me enjoy the stars without worry. If I hear dripping in the leaves over head I can leap out, slide the sleeve back and hook up the tie outs pretty darn fast.

When it is time to pack up I have a small washcloth I carry to wipe down excess moisture, but then it is a very quick process to roll up the tarp and pack it away. See the video above to get a clear idea of just how fast I mean.

Over all I have found HG's Mesh Tarp Sleeve to be one of the best I've used. It has held up longer than the others, though I did recently tear it near one end while putting  up the tarp in a hurry. It still is fully functional, but that may be a sign that the material is reaching its limits. The stitching has all held up just fine and I intend to get another year out of it.

Based on my experience I am comfortable giving this a pretty high rating. Dropped one star due to the tear, but if I had reviewed it sooner it would be 5 star. 

Background

This tarp sleeve has been in use for just over three years. I have been using tarp sleeves for about 8 years and have used several other brands.