light weight tarp please help

scraca

scraca

Joined
Jul 1, 2012
Messages
334
I'm looking for a not too expensive light weight tarp around 6x8 or 8x10 to keep in my hiking backpack for emergencies. I plan to keep this tarp in the same compartment as my water bladder.
Would like to spend no more then $50 if possible. Suggestions greatly appreciated.
 
scraca said:
I'm looking for a not too expensive light weight tarp around 6x8 or 8x10 to keep in my hiking backpack for emergencies. I plan to keep this tarp in the same compartment as my water bladder.
Would like to spend no more then $50 if possible. Suggestions greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

I have quite a few tarps as I use them frequently in the BWCA, but none are cheaper than $50. Like just about anything else, quality and light do not go together well with cheap. I think if you look around you could find a Kelty Noah's Tarp 12 for around $60... not the lightest but good sound quality. If you ever decide to spend more, Cooke Custom Sewing makes big quality tarp that you wouldn't even believe you are carrying because they are so light. Sorry I don't have any better news for you under your price range.
 
I pack a 6 x 8 ripstop nylon tarp, probably weighs less than a pound. Check out Mountain Equipment (Canada) or REI in the US. You should be able to find an equivalent.
 
Sylnylon is really light, but it ain't cheap.

Check out the Equinox 'Egret' tarps. Simple, reasonably light, and pretty well made for the money. I have a 5 x '7 that fits in a small stuff sack and goes with me everywhere as an emergency shelter.
 
Use tyvek. That's the stuff FedEx envelopes are made from. Light, thin, waterproof and strong.

Tyvek sheets have been used as ground covers by ultralight packers and through hikers for years now. I've been using them for close to 10 years myself.

4x8 from A'zon is $12.50, you can search if there are larger sizes.
 
You may want to check out ENO's line of rain flys for $30 more, they are made for their hammocks. There just what I have been looking at lately, and the price is from a hugely known out door supply store in your local town, so it may be less elsewhare.

0cec3a94-09d5-4d6c-9fec-48aaeef1aa60.jpg

879508e4-6965-4d80-a229-63528c429af2.jpg
 
I have been using a poncho from Ranger Joes, the good thing about those is that the hood sinches up and you can tie the center up and the corners down to make a one person shelter. you could pic up a couple or a few for your budget.
 
Wing-Man said:
You may want to check out ENO's line of rain flys for $30 more, they are made for their hammocks. There just what I have been looking at lately, and the price is from a hugely known out door supply store in your local town, so it may be less elsewhare.

0cec3a94-09d5-4d6c-9fec-48aaeef1aa60.jpg

879508e4-6965-4d80-a229-63528c429af2.jpg
Click to expand...

I like the looks of those Eno tarps. I keep hearing about durability problems with the Kelty Noah tarp coatings. An Eno wing might be just the thing to carry with me on my canoe trips.
 
Codger_64 said:
I like the looks of those Eno tarps. I keep hearing about durability problems with the Kelty Noah tarp coatings. An Eno wing might be just the thing to carry with me on my canoe trips.
Click to expand...

They look pretty nice, but I haven't read the reviews on them. There's also that MSR E-wing but there wanting $170 for it

b8e3832e-46c2-41e6-ad22-0ebff3f9627a.jpg
 
bcusa tarps - 5'x7'. if you go for $60, the 10'x10' is even better.
 
I carry a Siliconed Nylon poncho that's probably about 6'x8', folds up to the size of a grapefruit, and is very light. Works as rain gear OR a tarp. I used it as a shelter on an early spring backpacking trip last year and it worked well. A little over your budget at $70 at Campmor though....

Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
I can't decide between the ENO Fastfly and the ENO Profly. I like the size and easy setup of the Fastfly. Is it just as waterproof as the Profly?
 
Last edited:
scraca said:
I can't decide between the ENO Fastfly and the ENO Profly. I like the size and easy setup of the Fastfly. Is it just as waterproof as the Profly?
Click to expand...
I'm just eyeballing them myself, maybe someone will have had some experience with them. It would be cool to get the less heavy hammock and bugnet pieces too
 
I've been using an Etowah Outfitters 8x10 tarp for a few years now. It is made of urethane coated nylon and seems to work plenty well. Wasn't too expensive either, though I forget the exact price. I think it was somewhere around 50 bucks though. I would post a couple pictures, but my internet is being (The remaining portion of this sentence has been censored for the good of humanity).
 
Wing-Man said:
I'm just eyeballing them myself, maybe someone will have had some experience with them. It would be cool to get the less heavy hammock and bugnet pieces too
Click to expand...

The less heavy hammock is too small for me. I thought about getting the entire hammock/rain fly/bug net/strap kit but not sure I need the bug net. I went to amazon and did buy the single nest hammock, the Fastfly and atlas straps. I can always get the bug net later.
 
scraca said:
The less heavy hammock is too small for me. I thought about getting the entire hammock/rain fly/bug net/strap kit but not sure I need the bug net. I went to amazon and did buy the single nest hammock, the Fastfly and atlas straps. I can always get the bug net later.
Click to expand...
Congrats! Hopefully you'll post up some pictures along with your first impressions.
 
On a whim, I picked up a 5x7 coated nylon tarp at Walmart for about ten bucks, I think. It wads up to about fist-size and it has come in handy a number of times
 
I have the Eno Pro Fly. I think the PF is more versatile as an all-around fly, used with the hammock or not. The Fast Fly is designed more specifically to shelter a hammock, imo.

I also have the ENO Singlenest Hammock. Like it. Well made.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top