What kinds of fly / tarp are you using?

Daniel L

Daniel L

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Nov 2, 1998
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I'm putting a gear list together and wanted to try for a large fly / tarp. I had a quick look online... seems they range in price from reasonable (Kelly Noah $60-$90) to fairly rediculous (MSR for $250 for just the fly!)

Ideally I'd be wanting coverage for say 2 people plus gear. I assume all modern flys can also be hung without poles, assuming abundance of trees and cord...

What do you recommend?
 
For a regular tarp, you'd do well to look at the ones made by Etowah Outfitters. They're urethane coated nylon, which is a touch heavier, but works very well and their prices are very reasonable for the nice tarp you get. They make an assortment of sizes. For two people, I'd go with something like 10x12ft but tarp size choice tends to have a lot of variables.
 
I use a 8 x 10 sil-nylon tarp that I got at Sportsmans warehouse. Its light and does the trick especially for a bit over 30 bucks. That was a few years ago though.
 
I think I am going to give the Kelty a try. Looks like a good one. There seem to be quite a few YT vids showing it off.
 
I bought two 5x7 "backpacking" tarps at Wally world last year for $10 each. They are blue and they each fold up in to a pouch the size of a soft ball. They are crazy light, like 7 oz each and they haven’t leaked on me yet. They're great but I haven’t found any since :( Check your store, maybe you'll get lucky.
 
I'd get a cheap wally world tarp to try out a few times to see if you like it.
 
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another fan of the BCUSA 10X10 tarp here. Mine has given excellent service for a couple of years now.
 
I use an MEC Scout Tarp :thumbup:,

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this model doesn't seem to be available anymore, if I had to replace it tomorrow I'd be getting the Integral Design's Siltarp or Siltarp 2
 
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Some great tarps out there!
Thanks for the links too.... will check them out.
 
Use 2 tarps regularly:

Integral Designs Siltarp 8' x 10'; very light weight and good quality
Auscam Hootchie 2.7m long x 1.75m, very tough, seen a lot of use, heavier than the ID.
 
Homebaked Silnylon job. Just shy of 3m*3m. It can house two adults in bivy bags, both bergans, and the dog bundled in. It still has enough wiggle room to cook under from the bags if everyone is in order. Last week it was just me under it. The weight penalty doesn't make it worth my while to scale down in size for those occasions.
wtlnd1m40fa0pl27a.jpg
 
?What are we looking at in that photo? The large shadowy figure? :confused:

I can't comment on the BCUSA tarp since I ordered one, but due extremely bad service and rude communication, never received it. I will never order from BCUSA again.
 
Ideally focused attention should be on the tarp. Anything else is really task irrelevant and an incidental product of using a recycled image from the images thread.
 
DrivebyTrucker said:
I can't comment on the BCUSA tarp since I ordered one, but due extremely bad service and rude communication, never received it. I will never order from BCUSA again.
Click to expand...

I am not happy to hear this...I am giving serious consideration to getting one of their 10x10 tarps. Let us know how things turn out.
 
I have ordered from BCUSA a couple times and had excellent and fast service. I am going to get their multicam 10x12 next. The multicams are a bit heavier but have extra waterproofing and also a fire resistant coating. Something to think about if your'e going to have a fire nearby.
 
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