Tarp camping!!

New to tarp camping here! But love sleeping out in the fresh air!! Have yet to experience extreeme weather.

Please guys and gals post pics of your tarp camps!! And feel free to let everyone learn from any bad experiences you've had..

Thanks and Happy holidays!!

When the ground is soft it's nice.

My first lesson was: when the weatherman is predicting a Nor'easter, you had best believe him.

My second lesson, derived from lesson number one was: do not pitch the open end of the tarp into the prevailing wind . . .

Other than that, I love using a tarp.

I've just started using a tarp/bivy combo.
Make sure you have a good pack cover, and that you have the pack covered with the cover when it starts raining!

When I'm inside my warm bag, it's also nice.

I notice you have a bivy sack under your tarp. Is it waterproof? Breathable? Homemade? If not what brand and are you happy with it? Thanks, great picture.

Great picture. Now let's see one in the rain! I used tarps as shelters when I started serious backpacking many years ago and they worked well, even here in the Pacific Northwest. I can't remember why I later traded it in on a 5 lb tent! JIM

a rainy day:

Phat, Did you pack those 2"X6" boards to your campsite?

Nope, part of numa creek campground in kootenay national park.

Here is one at Enchanted Rock in Texas. That ground was hard to put any stakes into, so I had to tie a couple of lines to rocks.

Breathable. Homemade. Very happy with it. Silnylon floor, Momentum 90 top, and a huge mesh area over the chest and face. 8 ounces including the stuff sack. Hat tip to my lovely wife for her sewing skills. Here's a better photo of the sack (with the seamstress inside in my winter bag):

The best tarp for camping is the Warbonnet Superfly, made by a guy named Brandon! It's primarily used for hammock camping in severe weather, but would be great for all you "ground dwellers". Here's a link:
http://www.warbonnetoutdoors.net/

I can't say enough good things about this guy and his products. He made hammocks so good, Tom Hennessy tried to sue him last year. I am very pleased with my Superfly and will use it year round!

BF

Balsa wood ;-) (And aren't they really 2x10s? My butt doesn't fit very well on a 2x6.)

That's a neat concept, and beautifully made. Kudos to the seamstress and designer!

I love the photos of the different setups. Keepem coming. I have decided that a tarp is what I want for my next Grand Canyon trip. Last time we slept under the stars but had to get in the hot tent one night when it threatened to rain. Beside the weight advantages, They look open and airy. I like the looks of the GG White Lightening. Anybody have any experience with it?

I used it a few years ago and was quite pleased with it (except that they hadn't come out with the Haven yet, so I eventually replaced it with a mesh-inner double-wall tent which was more appropriate for the bug-infested midwest summers (and springs and falls.)

I liked the design of the tarp a lot, particularly the use of webbing tie-downs along the side. I never found it necessary to use cord tie-outs on the sides (though I still needed a cord from the pole at each end, naturally.) The use of webbing eliminated the usual tangle of guylines that accompanies all the other tarps I've used - though the webbing adds an ounce or two to the total weight. The webbing pole-holders at each end were a nice touch, too.

I usually used a bivy sack with it (ID Salathe was my favorite, because of the waist-length mesh panel; I never tried a full mesh bug-bivy because I couldn't overcome my concern that someday, somehow, rain would blow in the end. It never did; I was just funny about it.) The combo, at just a few ounces over 3 pounds, was a weight-efficient alternative to a full tent until the Hubba and Seedhouse SL1 (and everything from Henry Shires) came out.

It's not the lightest silnylon tarp out there, but it's a very good plain-vanilla tarp. If you want a shaped tarp, check out the Silshelter from ID - I've used it successfully, too.

Thanks for the review. On the last trip, we had zero bugs in GC except a few ants during the day. I know there are some creepy crawlies at night but we never had an issue. Tried to set up away from cliffs or rocks where they may reside and shake out everything first. If the stars are out, I will probably sleep out from under the tarp and use it for a staging area and emergency shelter in case of rain.

Well...

I didn't take a picture, but the next night it rained! Tarp was wet, bivy (and its contents) was DRY :-)

Extreme weather?
You bet. On several occasions, Frito and I have been comfortable and secure under our tarp while various high tech tents buckled, folded, collapsed and cartwheeled due to monsoon rains, very high winds or snow load. That includes "expedition" tents.

Could you tell us more about what pitch you used for your tarp in extreme weather? Most of my tarping has been done in summer with a hammock so only one pitch is appropriate. But in winter I'm on the ground and I've been wondering what the best pitch would be for extreme weather (I'm thinking especially about wind).

Also mention what size of tarp you are using and whether it was a flat tarp or a "shaped" tarp.

Here's a winter tarp setup:



Poncho tarp over an ultralight bivy, in late winter/early spring near Donner Pass in California. We had a mix of light snow and freezing rain overnight - I was safe and dry and happy (but wouldn't have put this up against a real winter storm; would have dug a snow trench and covered it with the poncho tarp instead).

Here's my tarp in action.
Mountain Laurel Design - catenary curve with the foot down into the wind and the head wide open. (It's so nice.) I think in this picture we were on a sand bar in a creek area. It was nice to bed down, but messy on that sil nylon.

MLD Tarp

(someone tell me if this picture posts correctly or not)

It worked for me. OldScout

I received my GG White Lightening tarp last week and gave it a test run in the front yard today. I was pleased with the easy setup and think it will serve my purpose well. My question is; do you try to fold them neatly to put them in their stuff sack or just stuff them in randomly? This one has the stuff sack sewn onto the tarp and the silnylon is pretty slick stuff. I had a heck of a time trying to keep it neat as I folded it to put it in the stuff sack and that was with two of us working on it. It kept wanting to squirt out every direction.

Random stuffing is my choice.

I've heard it both ways. Some say that just craming it all int he sack is fine. Other say that it damages the fabric. I've heard that repeated folding in the same places will break down the fabric in those spots.

Personally, I fold over and then roll my tarp because I like to be able to unroll it quickly by standing at the head and flinging it towards the foot. I also like that this storage technique keeps all the guy lines in check.

I generally stuff rain flys and tents.

I've heard it both ways. Some say that just craming it all int he sack is fine. Other say that it damages the fabric. I've heard that repeated folding in the same places will break down the fabric in those spots.

Your right JP. For my Hammock I use homemade snake skins. I then fold that up and wrap the hanging rope around that. For my Fly, I loosly fold it and then roll it up and put it in a stuff sack. I have the material to sew snake skins for the Fly. If I have the guy line attached permently, I can do the same for the Fly. Setup will be much faster that trying to fight the wind with a large flapping piece of material.

It is probably better just to stuff it in the bag the best way that it will go. I have had tarps many years ago and I always wanted then to be folded nice and neat but over time that nice and neat fold started to wear and tear on the areas that were folded in the same place all the time. Also if you do "stuff" it back in there you may find that it will stuff in the sack pretty easily and there may even end up being a little more room in the stuff sack than originally planned. Always nice to have more room than not enough huh???? sabre11004....

The first step that you take will one of those that get you there!!!!!