Backpacking with a tarp instead of a tent

Sesoku

Sesoku

Joined
Oct 19, 1998
Messages
498
I am thinking about getting a silicone coated nylon tarp instead of (or maybe just in addition to) a backpacking tent. I have had some experience with making shelters from larger tarps, but I was wondering if anyone here has hiked with only a 8X12' tarp as their primary shelter. The main reason it interests me is weight, at around 1 lb. I read Ray Jardines book called Beyond Backpacking in which he list some other advantages, such as being able to cook under it, better ventilation, not cutting yourself off from nature, etc. The only major negative I am concerned about are insects such as mosquitoes and flies, but I figured I could just get a small sleeping no see um net. I am considering the Golite Cave or the Integral design siltarp.
 
I'm all for that. the military has been doing it for years, and it's much lighter.
 
Ya hit the nail on the nose with the skeeters. I have no tent worthy of keeping me dry in a situation I think I'd need a tent. I prefer no shelter unless I need it to protect me from something. While in alaska, for summertime camping, I found a 'sleep screen' that looks reminiscent of those little mesh umbrellas you put over food at a picnic. keeps the bugs off your head, weighs about 10 oz or so.

If it's only flying bugs you have to worry about, ditch the tent, get a net something (a little mosquito hat works too, I've used one to sleep in) If there's crawly things out too, then ponder the tent again. Or go with a hammock-shelter.

Stryver
 
but I was wondering if anyone here has hiked with only a 8X12' tarp as their primary shelter.
Click to expand...

There is no need to go that way. Modern tents are lighter than most tarps and pack into very small packages.

n2s
 
I worked in a youth correctional program in Utah that used only 5'x7' flimsy blue tarps for shelters. Usually just a little A frame type shelter was put up, but it was a lot of fun watching those kids come up with designs for shelters. You'd be amazed what a bunch of street kids can do with a tarp. The drawbacks I see are the bugs, just like you said, and when it rains, you get your backside all wet.
 
I prefer tarps by far over tents, and yes, I have used 8X12 on several occasions. I'm not sure if I'll be able to describe very well what I have done, but I'll try.

I like to lay the tarp out, stake down one 8' side, then anchor at the first grommets on the opposite 12' sides, then pull the rest of the tarp up an over in a lean-to fashion. This gives me an 8X4' section to lay my bag and some gear on without having to lay it on the dirt, plus an 8' lean-to ceiling to keep me nice and dry. I don't carry poles, as it is usually very easy to find sticks that are around 4' tall to prop up the corners. In wet weather I usually drop one open end of the lean-to to close it in on two sides and give a bit more protection.

Another variation is to stake down all along one 12' side, then use a stick to prop up the middle of the opposing side. By raising the "gable" you will pull the two 8' sides in at an angle. Stake down the two remaining free corners, pulling them as tight as you can without tearing the grommet out of you tarp where you have it held open with the stick. Continue staking down all free grommets along the grounded sides and leave the open side as it is. Cover the interior floor with pine or fir boughs and you'll sleep like a babe whilst your fire crackles just outsided your cozy shelter.

Another good thing about tarp camping is that when you have your wife along it makes the perfect romantic setting, what with the firelight, the stars, the breeze, etc. ;)
 
I just jumped on here to ask about any major differences between the Equinox and the Integral Designs siltarps.

THe Equinox is a bit less ($59), but I was jsut wondering if there is any reason to buy ID over the Equinox.

Mike, does the poncho work out o.k.? I was scoping them also.

Thanks,
Mike
 
Mike,

I stumbed across the Equinox variety when trying to keep up with the HooDoo's. I don't have any experience with the ID, but the Equinox is working well for me. The XL silponcho has plenty of tie down loops to make a decent one man emergency shelter, although I haven't used it as such - yet. In as far as rain protection goes, so far it's kept me dry as a bone in some nasty downpours. Seems we're making up for a light snowfall with plenty of downpours here.

M
 
Check out Oware before you buy a Silicone impregnated nylon tarp. They make a lot of stuff for outdoor schools like NOLS. Great construction, great customer service and great value. They will add custom features for a reasonable price--I asked them for a 9' square tarp with Velcro edges a la the Integral's Guide's SilTarp 2. I don't remember the exact quote, but if I recall correctly it was less than Integral's offering.

I use tarps a lot. Lighter and more versatile than any tent. I just use a large silicone impregnated poncho from Campmor (I'm pretty sure it's an Equinox) in the summer if there is no rain in the forecast. Even with the pegs, groundcloth and guylines it is lighter than my Gore-Tex bivy, and just as protective if pitched properly.
 
For sil-tarps or for anything sil-nylon such as bags or daypacks etc OWARE is the best and his prices are great!
Try a Hennessy Hammock for a lightweight bugproof shelter. The Hennessy is great until you hit about 35 degrees then it is hard to keep your backside warm.
Bill
 
I have slept under a tarp off and on while backpacking for over 30 years. I came back to tarps permanently about 10 years ago or so. I can't see much use in tents except for car camping or long term camping. Tarps are much lighter than tents and can be easily set up to be roomier. I've never had a problem with bugs, even sleeping next to a subalpine swamp. I use a headnet with hoops in it to deal with the bugs when I have to. I've also bought a little mosquito net thingy that consists of one coiled hoop and will cover you down to the waist. I haven't tried it out yet because so far this year, I haven't had any bug problems in the backcountry. It weights 8 ounces.

I've tried a bivy and they are ok if you don't mind being confined and can't move around. After a two-week trek with one, I said no mas.

This is a pic of a 10x10 Campmor tarp that I used for many years. Still looks like new and still waterproof. It's standard weight nylon and still weighs less than half of what my Northface Tadpole weighs or the Sierra Design Flashlight pitched in the background.

pr3.jpg


Here's a pic of a sil tarp from Campmor I've been using for a couple years. Amazing how well they shed wind and rain. And unlike urethane coated nylon, which is coated on one side only, they don't absorb water, so they don't stretch like ordinary coated nylon.
tarp1.jpg


And here's a couple pics of a tarp I used on my last outing, the Integral Designs Sil Shelter. A lot of protection and it weighs about the same as an 8x10 sil tarp, around 15 ounces. It's held up by one pole, which I cut from a sapling. Alternatively, you can use an adjustable hiking stick.

silshelter2.jpg


silshelter15.jpg


The sil shelter is probably the ultimate tarp although a regular 8x10 sil tarp is easier to set up and much cheaper. I'm happy with either setup and don't miss the extra multiple pounds of a tent one bit. Bugs I can live with for the lower weight and improved ventilation of the tarp. Only in the worst of bug infected areas would I consider going back to a tent for backpacking. And I haven't found that place yet. :)
 
Fantastic pics, Hoodoo!

I agree completely with your take on tarps vs. tents and weather. Until I moved to Oklahoma, I agreed with you completely regarding bugs too. Even in the mosquito infested places I slept in Alaska, I used either a headnet or the little 'sleepscreen' I bought, and broke out the tarp only when I thought it would rain.

But then Oklahoma came. The mosquitoes aren't the worst part. The first night I ever spent here, the last of a road trip camping from Alaska to Oklahoma, I was in a little state rec area. It was infested with ants. I didn't have a tent, and my headnet/sleepscreen aren't antproof. I couldn't pitch my hammock, because they were climbing up the trees, it was too hot to be in my sleeping bag, and the headnet wouldn't cover the rest of me.

This past month I camped up in Kansas with a scout troop. I was on my standard pad and ground cloth, under the stars, with my sleepscreen available, but not needed 'cause the skeeters weren't out in force. Then I learned about some creepy crawly local residents. I didn't encounter them, but am not sure it's worth risking. There's a small brown scorpion the camp ranger called a 'stinging lizard', and one of the scouts found a pair of centipedes eight inches long, bright green with yellow legs. No tarps gonna keep them guys out. That, and there's tons of spiders ticks and chiggers, though you run into those mostly hiking around.

I guess it boils down to me being a wuss when it comes to crawly bugs.

Stryver, who still shudders at the memory of them centipedes...
 
Stryver, BoyNHisDog raised this issue once during a similar discussion. He hikes a lot in the Southwest and given the scenario both you and he describe, I would also have to vote for a tent although I'm sure Colin Fletcher spent many nights under a tarp in such country. I imagine you would have to pick your campsites well if you are going to use a tarp. :) In the kind of country I frequent, I've never found the ground creepers to be a problem. But I can see where it could be in fire ant country or where poisonous snakes and arthropods are threats. Good point!
 
I think a solution to the bug problem is the bivy sack/tarp combo. ID makes some great lightweight bivies that would work great on a clear starry night or as a bug screen in an infested area under a tarp. The advantage of having both gives one the ability to set up shelters as enviroment and time dictate.
 
A tarp makes a much more cheery shelter but a tent is more secure against rattlers which are out and about around here at this time of the year. It also keeps out insects which we do not have any of right now but the scorpions can be a problem. A brother of a friend of mine was stung on the neck by a scorpion in the bottom of the Grand Canyon in his sleeping bag. He we eventually alright but said the poison did all kinds of weird things to him. scorpions are really all over out this way. They are hard to spot but someone took a blacklight out once and saw them all over. Snakes like to hunt at night out in these parts.

A Siltarp is lighter than any other shelter and you can rig it in so many different ways. You can make a sleeping tent or a cooking shelter etc. The tarp is way more versitle.

I did buy the footprint for my new Clip Flashlight CD and with it you could leave the main tent body home and use your poles and fly to make a light weight protective shelter.

I opt for the extra security. I take the whole tent and put my dog inside the tent at the front. That way I can get a real good nights sleep with him on "wall duty".
 
I like tarps but 25 years ago I had a small copperhead crawl in and join me in my sleeping bag, so I opt for a tent with an attached bottom for most campouts these days.
 
I have a SilShelter, too, but haven't used it much. For three-season use I just use my poncho if the forecast looks reasonably good. I always carry it anyway, along with some Ti pegs and Kelty Triptease. If I expect more than a little rain I often don't go or I use my old Early Winters Light Dimensions Gore-Tex tent or my most frequent hiking partner's Bibler I-Tent or Stephenson 2X, which are both really light when one person carries the hardwear and another carries the fabric. I'm thinking of selling the SilShelter and buying a 9' x 9' silicone impregnated tarp from Oware for times when the forecast is questionable. In the winter I prefer snowcaves if the trip schedule and snow conditions permit building one (to be honest, my winter trips are often built around going to a destination and digging a snow cave--it's fun and a great way to keep warm ;) ).

I think the bug device someone mentioned above was an
Adventure 16 Bug Bivy. This is on my "wish list" too.
 
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