Ultralight backpacking?

[HikingMano]

I just guessed at the right size tarp for that pitch. Campmor has an 8 x 10 for $5.49 and 2 lb 8 oz. Still not bad just to get started, but I think at some point a weight conscious beginner could make a decision whether to upgrade his tarp to silnylon or other UL fabric, or upgrade to a UL shelter. The important thing is to get out in the field and use your gear to see what you like, without spending a fortune to start or carrying a ton of unnecessarily heavy gear. There's a lot of heavy-as-lead barely used cheap backpacking gear in people's garages because folks tried it and discovered they hate carrying all that weight up and down mountains. "Backpacking is too much work!" Not necessary if you know to avoid the heavy stuff from the start.

You nailed the size; that particular poncho-tarp is 5x8 :thumbup: The 8x10 from Campmor would not be bad at all, and Wally World has poly tarps in several sizes and light or heavy duty. An 8x10 poly tarp in the lighter version would be great for someone starting out. I use the heavy duty 8x10 and larger tarps I bought from there for car camping, they're perfect. Here's one at use in Tahoe in March, IIRC, great for the sleet, hail, and light dusting we got throughout that trip. High and directional pitch here, but it worked for those conditions and did what I wanted it to do.

You're right though on the ultimate goal: Put a little thought in to start lighter (if you want to go lighter), then get out and use the stuff. Let your own experience determine how you proceed.

I got started with just a poly tarp a long time ago in the nearly tick-free Gila Wilderness in New Mexico, but if ticks on the ground are a problem, you could spend a bit more and get a mesh bivy that will zip you in completely. If the bottom is waterproof, you don't need a ground cloth. The cheapest I could find is this: http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___47347 Combine that with a tarp, and you have the equivalent of an ultralighter's Tarptent for much cheaper.

Nothing new under the sun. Here are a few pics of mesh bivvies under tarps:

http://www.lylelange.com/bug_bivy02.jpg

http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com/shop/images/bugbiviend.jpg

http://cache.backpackinglight.com/backpackinglight/user_uploads/1326202775_54917.jpg

That slumberjack mesh bivy is a great find, very reasonable at 14oz considering the price. Dang, I might pick one up for UL trips in clear weather, just cowboy camp it in the bivy. I just cowboy camp it straight now, but I'd like a mesh or big-mesh-hood bivy. I'd prefer a fully enclosed deal with a zipper entry and floor, but that bivy should provide a reasonable measure of protection from crawling stuff. At home in hawaii, it's not the ticks, it's centipedes. Let me tell you, it's not a pleasant experience when it's been raining, and you wake up because a big ole centipede is crawling over your neck. As for the net tent inners, yeah, that's basically what I'm using in my current preferred shelter. It can be pitched independent of the shaped tarp.

Bearpaw Wilderness Designs also makes more or less affordable bug bivys and mesh inners. I've been on the verge of picking up their bug bivy quite a few times. I usually hold off because I like the space a net inner offers in bug season.

ETA: I've toyed for a while with the idea of just sewing up my own no-see-um or other mesh bivy. It'd be just a big mesh bag with a zipper or draw-cord to get in and out, with an attachment to keep the head area aloft. I'd have to use a ground sheet with it, but it'd do a great job I imagine, be light, and be cheap to make. When the mesh on the bottom gets worn out, I'll just make another.