Backpacking with a tarp instead of a tent

Thank you everyone, especially Hoodoo, for the awesome information and pictures. I am really excited to check out the links and I am now really set on getting a tarp. Does anyone have specific information on the quality of the Golite cave? I have a coupon for 20% off at Moosejaw, which would bring it down to around $90. I am leaning between that and Integral sil shelter, which looks really functional, maybe I will change my mind after I look at Oware some more. Hoodoo, where did you buy your sil shelter from?
Thanks again for the great info!
 
I haven't tried a tarp yet, but use a bivi quite often. I have 2, one from Mountain Hardware, and one from Outdoor Research. The OR one is light, has a bug net, waterproof, and has a couple of poles to suspend the bivi off of your head.

The MH one is simpler, no poles, no bug net and almost as waterproof. I do S/R, so if I know we are going to be out overnight I throw the OR one in my pack...the MH is always in my pack just in case.

Both are very light and very packable. I've even seen a "double wide" one for couples or if you want more room. For overnighters a bivi may be a good choice. For longer trips, having a little more room is nice.
 
Hey all...Well for staters I would love to shed the weight of my tent in favor of a tarp. Even though I shopped a while before purchansing my tent , I did end up with relatively light set up.. The only problem I see with a tarp which may sound funny, is the number of deer ticks carrying lymnes disease.. I live in Central NJ and I hike in the adirondacks, Stokes State Forest, High Point, etc...And I have pulled several ticks off me on numerous occasions despite using deet, wearing long pants, and limiting bush wacking. Fortunately after being tested for Lymnes disease on three occasions and also sending the ticks in for testing all was ok and the ticks were negative for the disease.. The fact that this disease is so common in our area, and also due to the fact that it affects each person differently, makes me opt for the tent. I've known some friends who have gotten the disease and have had no problems after having taken the dose of antiboitics. Butt, I know of 2 people that struggle to this day with simple tasks such as walking or using their arms, scary stuff. Thats why I choose the tent..
 
I have gotten into bivy sacks in an air-conditioned buildings and have immediately found them very stuffy, confining and hard to get in and out of. If I am going solo I have this single person model tent in addition to my 3 person tent by the same maufacturer.

The Sierra Designs Light Year CD weighs 2.5 lbs. It is shown here without it's rainfly.

SDSTE2003.jpg


The 3 person model weighs 5.5 lbs and is very roomy. Quite a bit heavier than a 8x10 siltarp which weighs under one pound but I am going to sleep in one of these and use the tarp for cooking out of the rain.
 
Sesoku, I bought my Sil Shelter here:

http://www.backcountrygear.com/catalog/tentdetail.cfm/IN1800

I bought the shelter and Sherlock hiking stick package.

As for ticks, that's another reason you need to pick your camp site carefully. But you are just as likely or more likely to pick up ticks walking through the grass than sleeping in a tarp at night. In fact, I have picked up hundreds of wood ticks by sitting on the grassy ground in areas infested with wood ticks (part of some work I do), but I have never picked up a single tick while sleeping under a tarp. Areas infested with ticks are usually easy to spot. Just look carefully at the ground around you. Ticks like to climb vegetation so they can cling to the next thing that walks by.
 
Regarding ticks, they also like to hang out in brush and tree branches, where they can feel the heat from animals passing below and drop onto them. I don't know if this is only certain types of ticks, but the deer ticks out here are said to do this. Regardless, if you are in a tarp you are protected from above, and you are not likely to pitch your tarp over tall grass, so you don't really have to worry about the ticks getting in. They aren't going to just amble on over to your tarp, take a peek inside, and decide that you look tasty.

Since I so enjoy tarp camping I worry more about the scorpions and rattlers, although they are not too plentiful in my immediate region.
 
Sesoku: I hike with an 8 x 8 silnylon tarp and a hammock. For bugs I drape a piece of nylon tulle over my ridge line. Works great. It's like a home-made jungle hammock. I also use Hennessy hammocks when I want to go even lighter and faster. -- Bear
 
I think the bottom of a Hennessy Hammock (preferably one of the lighter ones) with an appropriately sized SilNylon tarp would be a nice combo. You'd get lots more shelter for storage, cooking, socializing, etc. for a little more weight, but would retain the comfort and bug protection of Hennessy's design.
 
Yuppers on that one. An 8 x 8 silnylon plus the HH bottom is hard to beat. And for Ravenn -- thanks for the Byers Hammock lead -- here's another hammock that's light and simple: http://www.way2coolgifts.com/

I've got one. It's so wide it's actually difficult to get out of. I think the ideal cloth rectangle would be somewhere between 3.5 and 4 feet wide and 8 feet long.
 
The way I see it, the open-air design is better in several ways:

Warmer, because you can build a fire in front of the tarp. I think most tarps used in Finland have a "shiny" underside which reflects all radiating fire heat to the sleeper. In 0F or below, the outcome might be pretty good even with a bad sleeping bag. Of course this assumes a degree of fire-building skill, the fire has to last long enough for sleep without maintenance, burn evenly, and not torch the tarp and/or the sleepers. (I do find it kinda odd that someone would cook below a tarp.. if it *really* pours water, why not eat something else and cook later?)

If it's not freezing cold, ventilation and dry clothes decide between cold and warm. Because of the ventilation, I would go for the tarp in summer too.

Cheap. Any large cloth/plastic works as long as it's remotely waterproof, and doesn't burn or puncture too easily.

As for the "getting your underside wet" problem that someone had, what happened to your camping mattresses? I'd use one even in a tent, both for insulation and for protection against sharp objects below. A 4$, 1/4 inch of cell foam has been enough for all places I've slept in, including an uncovered hole dug in snow.

In warm conditions, I might use a tent, *if* I had to worry about poisonous critters (or people, for that matter). Fortunately, I encounter neither. :)
 
While in the Corps I often used a British Basha that I got from a SAS dude in Bosnia. I was very pleased with the quality and tuffness of the thing. One of my favorite items of field gear.

Tarps and the such are great replacements for tents IMHO. Except when it rains for a week straight and you would kill for a floor.

Dave
 
That bug bivy looks nice, can anyone confirm that it has a solid mesh bottom?

The Sleepscreen I use is awesome for flying bugs (seen here via campmor http://www.campmor.com/webapp/commerce/command/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=7581&prmenbr=226 ) But, it doesn't have a floor. In all reality, the distinction is probably more mental than anything else.

With regards to the Hammocks mentioned earlier via Way2coolgifts.com, am I missing the product? I just see a pair of normal hammocks.

Any other ways ya'll have used to provide full body critter protection in <insert explitive here> hot weather? I can't see me being comfy in a bivy sack during 80 degree nights.


Stryver, learning to deal with this blasted state
 
The bottom mesh goes under your head and shoulders. Outdoor Reasearch's Bug Bivy and Double Bug Bivy come with a full Hydroseal 200 floor. The single weighs 13oz. and costs $80 and the double weighs 23oz. and costs $130. Oware USA (links above) also sells fbug bivys with floors in the 11 to 21oz and $40 to $50 range LINK

I haven't used my Gore-Tex bivy in years. I carry a Campmor Ultralight Backpacker Poncho/Tarp, six Ti pegs, 100' of Kelty Triptease (five 10' pieces and two 25' pieces) and half a Space Emergency Blanket for a ground cloth. The whole outfit weighs under a pound, and I'd be carrying the Poncho anyway. On the other hand, I've been eaten by mosquitoes a few times (not many ticks where I hike), which is why I've been looking at the A16 bug Bivy. Another option I'm exploring is making a 3' x 7' rectangular sleeing bag cover/ground cloth out of EPIC by Nextec--it's way lighter and way more breathable than Gore-Tex, but still very water repellant. I'd use it for bug protection and to supplement the weather protection of my tarp (to protect my sleeping bag from drips, splashes, blow-under, etc. If something like that might interest you check out Macpac's Overture and Oware's 10.5oz. EPIC Bivy (see link above).
 
Diletante: Do you string a ridgeline to support your poncho when it's in use as a tarp? I know one hammocker (Doc) who uses the Campmor Hikers Mosquito Net. It has a single attachment point. Doc attaches it to the ridgeline above his head and lets the net just drape down. Seems to do the job. -- Bear
 
I've historically been really lucky when it comes to weather, so often I'm just out under the stars. When I set up the poncho/tarp it is usually shed or lean-to style. I just stake out the bottom two corners and then tie out the top two corners to trees, my hiking staff or whatever. I have one of THESE and plan on playing with it this summer. I might attach a small loop to my poncho for attaching the netting. In addition to Campmor and REI, Don Gleason's sells a nice wedge-shaped net that looks like it would work well with a tarp.

FYI if anyone is interested, Bibler also makes an EPIC Bivy that would suffice with a tarp and be way less stuffy than Gore-Tex.
 
I was going to make an EPIC sleeping bag cover/ground cloth for use with my poncho/tarp, but had concluded it would not be worth the extra weight (less tan 12 oz.). Now I may reconsider.

Hoodo, in the linked thread, you said:

"I awoke in the middle of the night and could feel rain sprinkling on my head. It was a driving rain. I flipped on the PT Aurora and could see puffs of sprinkles all along the length of the shelter, as if the rain was coming right through the material in little puffs. . ."

I assume you had the SilShelter "buttoned up" pretty tight. Mine gets some condensation even with the front open and without cold rain running down the outside of the shelter. Are you sure rain was penetrating? Could what you observed have been condensation "spall" being blown off the inside of the fabric by raindrops hitting the outside?

The question is purely academic, either way a wet bag is a wet bag and is BAD news . . .
 
Originally posted by diletante
Hoodo, I assume you had the SilShelter "buttoned up" pretty tight. Mine gets condensation even without cold rain running down the outside of the shelter. Are you sure rain was penetrating? Could what you observed have been condensation "spall" being blown off the inside of the fabric by raindrops hitting the outside? Either way a wet bag is a wet bag and is BAD news . . .
Click to expand...

I'm positive, especially since the head guy at Integral Design's didn't doubt it either. If you reread this thread, I think you will find a link to my page showing just how I pitched the Sil Shelter. I don't think you could pitch it tighter. Also check out the links I posted on the other thread (see link above)to ID's website. 1-2lbs of head is not the best protection in the world from driving rain. ID sez they designed the Sil Shelter to be used in conjunction with a bivy, although other information at their site leads you to believe this is a stand alone tarp that will handle heavy rains.
 
My old poncho is twice as heavy as my Silicone Impregnated one, but I'm sure its good to more than 2 psi.

ID's position is ludicrous--an ID SilShelter and a typical bivy would weigh as much or more than many lightweight tents :(

I might post a link to your threads at http://www.thru-hiker.com/ There are a bunch of folks over there who are relying on SilNylon for their primary (usually only shelter) on through-hikes :eek:

Thanks for the post--this is great information! :)
 
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