View Full Version : Tent or Tarp?
I've always been a tent guy. My current solo BPing tent is a SD Clip Flashlight. I just ordered a 10x12 Equinox silnylon tarp and plan on getting some Tyvek for a ground sheet from a local construction site. I'll use it for other things if it doesn't become my sleeping shelter. My dilemna is whether I should bring both the tent and the tarp for my section hike from Amicalola to Neel's Gap. I know there's plenty of shelters along the way, and while I plan on overnighting at several, I don't plan on sleeping in them. I use trekking poles, so that'll help with the tarping, but I'm afraid I won't like sleeping under a tarp every night. I'm thinking that after this hike, I'll know whether tarp camping is for me, so I'm leaning towards taking both. The tarp would either save me 3 lbs or cost me 2 lbs. What do you all think? Are there decent tarp spots at Hawk Mtn, Gooch Mtn, Woods Hole shelters?
Bigben
"ME & U"
02-15-2006, 14:03
Commit to the tarp option and you're problem will be solved. You'll get used to it and your back will thank you. Throw in a hammock and you'll sleep better.:clap
Alligator
02-15-2006, 14:23
Leave the tent and take a tarp. That's a big tarp for one person. I use an 8x10. It's plenty big for one and will even serve two. Most tent spots will do for a tarp. Just avoid any small depressions where you could end up in a pool of water. This has only happened to me once, so not to worry.
I use to tarp, loved it. Got stung by a scorpion near the eye while sleeping. Trip in Fla ruined. Got the lightest one person tent I could and have used it ever since. I stay dry and protected from the elements, including flies, mosquitoes, snakes, and other undesirables.
middle to middle
02-15-2006, 16:31
Tarp is a way of life. Use it and love it. It was a step up for me, I started using a bivy bag and big trees. Never a problem.
I'd either bring tent or a tarp, but no reason to bring both. Generally speaking, anyplace where you can set up a tent, you can set up a tarp.
That being said, if you are new to using a tarp, just practice setting it up ahead of time. It's going to be different, because the CD Flashlight is almost self-erecting.
peter_pan
02-15-2006, 23:48
Tarp is best above a hammock...
Pan
Have a look at the Tarptent Rainbow. With that you have a very light tent and can get the same tarp feel, well at least on one side, but there is plenty of ventilation all around. I am familiar with your SD tent and I can guarantee that you will not go back to it.
BTW , the Flashlight CD is great value for money , but the Rainbow is half of the weight, has much more space inside and a useable vestibule. I have posted many pictures of it, just look around the forums.
Franco
how much weight is your tarp?and I will suggest that both is a good idea!I do not like bugs all over me in the summer and a tarp does not keep bugs out,snakes ect ect,some tarp folks have it down to a science,I would consider bringing both.ky
The tarp weighs 18.8 oz. Probably add up to a pound for stakes, ground cloth and guylines. It's a 10x12, but I'm a big guy(6'3") and can see me and my son both sleeping under it on other trips. I'll buy a good, high-end solo tarp if I like tarp camping.
As for bugs, I'm guessing/hoping that the skeeters won't be out in full force in Georgia in mid May. The Clip Flashlight WILL be my shelter during bug season. Will someone correct me if this assumption is wrong?
Bigben
take them both thats my next gig to have a nice tarp covering my tent,mind you a bivy tent so its a win win situation.ky
Footslogger
02-16-2006, 12:56
[quote=bigben]As for bugs, I'm guessing/hoping that the skeeters won't be out in full force in Georgia in mid May. The Clip Flashlight WILL be my shelter during bug season. Will someone correct me if this assumption is wrong?
============================================
Lived in Georgia for over 16 years and saw many a flying bug in May. Depends a lot on moisture and how quickly things warm up each year.
That said ...if you do decide to go the tarp route take a look at the OR Bug Bivy. They weigh about 11 ounces and have a waterproof underside. I hiked a portion of my thru with a tarp and one of those Bug Bivys and really liked the combination. I remember laying in my bivy looking up at all the bugs and smiling.
'Slogger
TwoForty
02-17-2006, 18:43
I remember laying in my bivy looking up at all the bugs and smiling.
'Slogger
I LOVE flicking ticks off from the inside. They go flying up, hit the tarp, then land back on the bug bivy, ready for round two!
I've always been a tent guy. My current solo BPing tent is a SD Clip Flashlight. I just ordered a 10x12 Equinox silnylon tarp and plan on getting some Tyvek for a ground sheet from a local construction site. I'll use it for other things if it doesn't become my sleeping shelter. My dilemna is whether I should bring both the tent and the tarp for my section hike from Amicalola to Neel's Gap. I know there's plenty of shelters along the way, and while I plan on overnighting at several, I don't plan on sleeping in them. I use trekking poles, so that'll help with the tarping, but I'm afraid I won't like sleeping under a tarp every night. I'm thinking that after this hike, I'll know whether tarp camping is for me, so I'm leaning towards taking both. The tarp would either save me 3 lbs or cost me 2 lbs. What do you all think? Are there decent tarp spots at Hawk Mtn, Gooch Mtn, Woods Hole shelters?
Bigben
tarp and hammock of coarse:cool: neo
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=7105&c=577
I sectioned GA in mid-May and the only mosquitos we ran into was in the evening, about 7 just 15 minutes before a rain shower and that was the last we saw of them.
My brother and I carry both the SD Clip Flashight and a sil nylon tarp with Tyvek ground sheet. If it rains, we can setup the tarp first and keep the tent and our stuff dry while setting up the tent under the tarp. The tarp always serves as a nice place to spreadout our stuff, cook and hangout in the rain and leave our stuff covered while we sleep. It is a little extra weight, but for two it is no trouble.
kdholmwood
02-18-2006, 14:05
I've used a Hilleberg Akto tent, among others, a Henry Shires Squall - earlier style, without floor - and a tarp. They all have their merits but I often need a warmer, and thus heavier, sleeping bag when using the Squall or the tarp.
Keith
I think I'm gonna take both. My reasoning is that this is the first of my annual AT section hikes. I'm gonna do a week or two or three annually(northbound) for the next 23 years at which point I'll retire and do a southbound thru (that is, if my body will allow it after 25 years as a full-time firefighter). And while I might (read: probably will) regret this half way up Sassafras Mountain, I'm not going that light either. This hike will be the one where I figure out what I want and need to carry and what I don't need. I plan on sleeping at least one night in the tent, in the tarp and in a shelter. I've already started carrying my Gregory Shasta with 50 lbs. 10 miles a week, and as heavy as that seems to most people here, I'm 6'3" 280lbs. and strong, so I'm prepared for carrying that weight or at least I will be by May.
Bigben
I am not that big myself and 50 lbs. is not that bad as long as you are counting food and the necessities that you shed as you go. It wasn't so long ago that I would do 10-12 miles days with 50. With all the light weight alternatives I have pared it down to 35-40 out of the gate and try to eat and drink my way lower quickly. I still manage tent and tarp within my new weight parameters.
I use a tent (Hilleberg Akto) when snow is likely, a tarp before and after bug season, and a Hennessy Hammock in the summer. I'm still amazed that I haven't gotten bitten through it.