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#157763 - 11/23/11 01:07 AM tent and tarp hybrid
Jimshaw Offline
member

Registered: 10/22/03
Posts: 3983
Loc: Bend, Oregon
Backpackers like nice expensive tightly cut gear all fancy and new, grin but its not required to have shiny new gear. blush Many homeless people who live in tents, separate the inner tent from the outer tent anyway. That is - they choose the space and area desired and get an inner tent that does that [ its much cheaper than a whole tent], then they cover the tent with several layers of blankets for insulation and finally cover it with a tarp or more often, multipe tarps.

I have a REI screen tent that I got from one of my homeless friends for $10. It has a nice intact inner tent and a torn cover that smells like a cat used it... It'll probably be thrown away. crazy Anyway I have an ultralight silnylon tarp that I can pitch over the inner tent making a useful and flexible combination thats bugproof, light, and has some wind blocking ability. cool
Jim smile
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These are my own opinions based on wisdom earned through many wrong decisions. Your mileage may vary.

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#157771 - 11/23/11 01:08 PM Re: tent and tarp hybrid [Re: Jimshaw]
Glenn Offline
member

Registered: 03/08/06
Posts: 2617
Loc: Ohio
"...its not required to have shiny new gear..."

WHAT???? Now my life has no meaning! smile

Actually, what you describe is a trick I used in my early, broke days of backpacking (when I had to outfit my son and myself with whatever was left over after the house, the car, food, etc.) My first shelter was the Green Poly Tarp, but then I found a $10 one-person pup tent (about 24" high) that was a single wall. One night, I found out why the expensive tents had rainflys and, incidentally, why they call them "bathtub" floors. So, I invested in a $20 nylon tarp (the prefix "sil" had not been invented yet) and pitched it over the tent as a fly. It worked fine - though I quickly discovered that a Visqueen groundcloth was lighter than the tent and that the tarp worked just as well without the tent.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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#157772 - 11/23/11 02:13 PM Re: tent and tarp hybrid [Re: Jimshaw]
billstephenson Offline
Moderator

Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
Jim, I'm amazed that you bring this up now because lately I've been thinking a lot about this very sort of thing. Of course, you amaze me a lot wink

But, what you're talking about is probably true for all of us. I want/need more flexibility in my shelter/sleep system.

Right now I'm working on designing a sort of modular system that allows me to "Mix and Match" according to conditions. So far I'm using 3M's blue masking tape (it is easily removed) and visqueen to mock it up. I have a long way to go before I'm ready to start sewing silnylon and bug screen.

I think the concept has promise, though I'm not too sure there is much of a market for it. Modular designs potentially do many things good, but none of them exceptionally great. Still, it's really no surprise that you see the concept in use already by your homeless friends. They are motivated by need, and necessity is indeed the mother of invention.

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#157783 - 11/23/11 09:48 PM Re: tent and tarp hybrid [Re: billstephenson]
Jimshaw Offline
member

Registered: 10/22/03
Posts: 3983
Loc: Bend, Oregon
I wonder how much of our camping style and lore is really equipment based? What if all of your gear came from a pile and nothing cost over $10.? smile How much would that change say:
how you pack
what you take
how you use it
For instance I always try to take a half of a micro fiber "hair towel" which is very soft and absorbant. Its the only "sacrificial" piece of gear I have besides toilet paper. It becomes a hot pad, handkerchief, cooking towel, tent spill mopper upper, etc, etc smile I have several so I don't care if its destroyed, it almost acts like a fuse.

Would it make it any different if that sleeping bag cost $10, or your backpack? Would this lend its self to a different style? Of course I'm talking about my homeless buddies, but now I can tents sleepings packs or coats for next to nothing. All of this stuff is heavier than my fine gear, BUT maybe I'd enjoy myself more with it?
Jim
Jim smile
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These are my own opinions based on wisdom earned through many wrong decisions. Your mileage may vary.

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#157786 - 11/24/11 12:00 AM Re: tent and tarp hybrid [Re: Jimshaw]
Glenn Offline
member

Registered: 03/08/06
Posts: 2617
Loc: Ohio
Would my style change with that gear? Absolutely. At those prices, there would be compromised quality (as you discussed with the opening post on tents.) So, I'd be a lot more particular about site selection if, for example, I was using a no-name tent, or a tarp. With my good gear, I can cheat having a windbreak or being certain to get the best-drained spot, picking a not-quite-perfect site to take advantage of a view. With a closed cell pad, I'd be more selective about the surface I was camping on, and more likely to spend extra time moving twigs and such. I'd be more careful about pushing the temperature limits of that cheap bag, and so forth.

Would I enjoy myself more? Probably not - but I wouldn't enjoy myself any less, either. I started out (and used, for about the first 5 - 10 years) that kind of gear, and I was very happy. Nowadays (and Carole King was right: "These ARE the good old days.") I have the blessing of good gear, and I'm very happy with it, too. But, in the end, the gear is only a means to that end, and I still find that the enjoyment and pleasure of being out and away isn't really connected to the particular gear I'm using.

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#157814 - 11/25/11 12:17 PM Re: tent and tarp hybrid [Re: Jimshaw]
oppomix13 Offline
newbie

Registered: 11/25/11
Posts: 2

Hello everyone I am new to this forum.

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#157834 - 11/26/11 01:19 AM Re: tent and tarp hybrid [Re: oppomix13]
balzaccom Online   content
member

Registered: 04/06/09
Posts: 2232
Loc: Napa, CA
Yes you are...and you posted that in a message board about tarps!

So first of all, welcome! We're a nice bunch of people here, and we look forward to hearing more from you!

And second of all, make another post under the heading "New to these boards"

and you will get a lot more response!
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#157850 - 11/26/11 03:33 PM Re: tent and tarp hybrid [Re: Jimshaw]
billstephenson Offline
Moderator

Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
Originally Posted By Jimshaw
Would it make it any different if that sleeping bag cost $10, or your backpack? Would this lend its self to a different style?


I've actually been trending towards cheaper gear over the past few years. The main reasons for this are a desire to go lighter, and a realization that I can't justify spending big bucks for gear. I can incorporate a lot of handed down info on how to go lighter on the cheap. So that's what I've done. All in all, what I have now a pretty "Hobo" set up, but it's lighter than what I had and it works better.

But I think you're right, cheap gear does lend itself to a different style of getting out there. Before I had my own "real" backpacking gear I used to do way more car camping than backpacking. I could afford sleeping bags and tents to go car camping and day hiking.

I still do this. Now I have a little 4x4 and I can drive NF roads way off the paved highways and car camp wherever I want. I love doing day hikes like this, and it's really nice to come back to a camp that has some real luxuries after a day of bushwhacking and exploring.

Car camping is pretty cool once you figure it out. My little Suzuki Samurai is about the perfect vehicle to go car camping with. Once you get the right car it's darn sweet, and cheap camping gear works great.

But... It doesn't scratch the backpacking itch. For that you need to go backpacking.

If I had to, I could probably manage with gear that mostly costs $10 or less. I'd have to scrounge a lot, and probably beg a bit, but it wouldn't take that long to gather up what would work well enough. And when I did I go right back to where I've always gone, off the trail and into the forest wink
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