A quick question about tarp camping...

[ColeGage]

I've been trying a lot lately to cut down my pack weight and I've decided to trade in my tent for a much lighter ENO 'Dry Fly'. Currently my shelter situation is the 'Dry Fly' and a piece of Tyvek as the ground cover, along with my sleeping bag and pad. My question for any avid tarp campers is whether it's really necessary to carry a bug net when tarp camping?

[mister krabs]

In NC? Deet has been enough for me. In Minnesota or FL, I'd want protection from mosquitoes.

[Tipi Walter]

You'll need some protection from the noseeums. They are a real pest at times though you never quite know which times this will be until they swarm into your tarp. And if you're out all the time, well, you can't exactly live coated in DEET all the time. Human skin absorbs whatever you put on it.

[GeneralLee10]

I have used my tarp for more than 1500 miles and shelters/huts/lean-to's so far. I hand no issues until one night I threw down only to wake up an hr or so later covered in ants. The black carpenter ones not a big worry but still an issue for me at the time. Yes they got into my sleeping bag even zipped all the way up. You also want to think about the slugs that like nylons and plastics. Now this will not happen maybe more than once and yes site selection is important too. The ants where not in site during the day this time only seemed to come out at night. I had my wife mail me my hammock so my site could be versatile. I found that after walking that far 1 extra pound or so (for the Hammock) is not all that much wieght.

This is coming from the AT experiences I have had.

[Tipi Walter]

I had the same experience with black ants many times when bedroll camping. They crawled all over me and didn't bite until I rolled over them. I woke up one time and found about a hundred inside a boot. On my last trip(June 2010)the gnats were so bad I had to order a Sea to Summit head net when I got back for the next trip. Will I use it? Depends on how hot it gets.

[daddytwosticks]

Don't forget chiggers this time of year...the little devils!...HATE them! Anybody know if no-see-um netting is effective against chiggers? :)

[ColeGage]

Thank y'all very much for your input! I'm hiking a section from Damascus to Pearisburg in a couple weeks and this was a huge help for me to finalize my gear selection.

[Seeker]

Don't forget chiggers this time of year...the little devils!...HATE them! Anybody know if no-see-um netting is effective against chiggers? :)

if you've ever seen a chigger, it's just about microscopic, and no netting is effective.

in the old days, kerosene was used as an effective repellent.

deet is 'just ok'.

Powdered sulpher supposedly works, dusted on your socks, boots, and pants. A vietnam era vet friend told me he used to eat some sort of sulphur daily supplement before going to the field (ie, army training), starting about a week beforehand, and never had a problem with any bugs, including ticks, chiggers, or mosquitos.

Personally, Permithrin seems to work really well... i treat my socks, hammock, boots, pants, shirt, hat, and pack with it.

And to get this post 'on topic', you can get just a small bug net, about 4' square, and hang it over your head at night. your sleeping bag covers your body. however, if it gets warm, you'll need a bigger net. Campmor sells a couple kinds. I had a white one that i hated (couldn't see out through it, especially at night), so i just bought a military surplus one (green) and cut it down. don't use it anymore since my hammock solved all my insect and snake problems.

[gunner76]

I have camped at various spots along the trail in NC/Tn with and without setting up a tent although I always carried one. More than once I was forced to set up the tent in the middle of the night when the skeeters got too bad. I lucked out and never got rained on at night when I slept without setting up a tent and there were a couple of times it was raining so hard when it was time to set up camp that my hiking partner and I just slept on top of the tent and under the tents fly. Acutally stayed dryer than we thought we would.

[kanga]

the only time i ever used a bugnet with my tarp was in maine and it was such a pia that i wished i hadn't brought it.

[Doctari]

I carried a bug net for a while when I tarped, used it a few times but more often It stayed in the pack. Now if I went to ground using my tarp, I would do without a bug net & hope for the best. My hammock has a bug net, but it's attached so no real extra effort setting it up like when just using a tarp.
IMHO: When you most need a bug net, ie "Hot weather" the more miserable you will be as bug netting holds in an awful lot of heat. I have a head net also. Used it ONE TIME, for about 2 minutes due to gnats. It was so hot with that thing on my head, the biting gnats were preferable. YMMV


Side note: A tarp is not a tent. It actually takes some thought to set up, so spend a lot of time at home practicing various set ups for varying terrain & weather conditions.