Trying out the tarp

[Tbob]

Went out for a little over nighter to check out the tarp. I think if heavy rain Is not forecasted, I’m going with the tarp over the tent.. so much more room in the pack and my tarp is weighing in at like 10oz’s. Anyone else use the tarp instead of the tent??

[Cougartail]

Have in the past but with rain and wind together I got wet.

[Okanagan]

WTG!  It frees up so much pack weight and space that you will probably never go back, at least if you do much backpack hunting and fishing.

I've been tarp camping since the 1950's, own three backpack tents but have never backpacked a tent, just use them for car camping to save space, and when my wife comes along.  Between an outdoor job I had for years plus personal hunting and hiking, I’ve spent close to 3 years of my life sleeping on the ground, most of it under a tarp. 

If a codger can comment, your set up looks good except that for my personal preference, I pitch them lower, to handle wind better and not have rain spray blow in as much.  Your set up is more comfortable in good weather.  Also I prefer to pitch mine tight against a wall of rock, against a big log, thick brush, under a spreading tree, etc.  A good use of tarp is to find a natural shelter and augment it with the tarp rather than pitch it out in the open.  A flat tarp has infinite options and is not limited to places with a specific size/shape footprint.

 I've tarp camped from canoe camps on river banks to above timberline (which I don't like in a tarp), from California to the Yukon, often in snow, some below zero.  A light compact tarp lets me hunt all day and bivy wherever I am at night rather than hike back to camp.  I stay right on the game that way.  For light summer camps I rig a small mosquito net for my head and upper body, under the tarp, with legs in sleeping bag.

[Stein]

I'll be honest, I'm a pansy when it comes to shelters.  I like a tent with a floor and bug screen and gladly carry the extra pound or two.  I admire tarp guys and hammock guys but I've tried both and just like a good quality tent.

[444Marlin]

I found that I need a bivy sack in addition to the tarp, because there can be a significant amount of dew on the down bag and the rest of the exposed gear.  If it's an overnight or 2 night trip with a great forecast, the tarps are the way to go.  But the margin of weight savings on a short trip like that, it's not that much more to bring my Go Lite pyramid tent.

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Slept under a blue tarp many times in the back country.  Visqueen as well.

[Tbob]

Yeah, this wasn’t the original pitch I was planning on setting up, but there was a lack of flat ground to set up. I was planning more of a plow blade type pitch off a tree so I could try out a small fire in front of my shelter.. this pitch worked out as the weather was nice and clear, was to windy for a fire anyways.. I do have an ultra-lite water proof bivy I can slide over my bag of weather isn’t looking so good. I have a nice u/l tent as well, but I figured when the weather isn’t terrible, I’ll likely break out the tarp instead of the tent. If nothing else, it’s fun to get out and try out gear before the season starts up.

[yakimanoob]

I picked up a Slingfin tarp shelter system last year and so far I absolutely love it.  Totally stormproof with a floor, stakes, and lines for 11oz flat.  Slingfin is the designer and manufacturer for Stone Glacier's line, and this one is identical, as far as I can tell, to the SkyAir ULT. 

I also have Slingfin's Crossbow 2p tent that my wife and I use when we're together.  FWIW, if I know I'll be in thick mosquitos on a solo trip, I typically go for my hennessey hammock. 

[Tbob]

Cool little set up ya got there.

[Okanagan]

If a tarp is set up well everything under it should stay dry.  Same with tent, if... There are little slights in setting up that keep rain drop splashes from splattering back under the tarp, to gutter water off away from the tarp, etc.  I have several tarps, and for solo, my favorite is an 8x10 homemade from ripstop spinnaker cloth I got from Seattle Fabrics about 25 years ago.  Never weighed it but I'd guess about 6 oz. and it rolls to the size of a rolled Outdoor Life.

My favorite way to tent camp is with a canvas wall tent and stove, but not for hard core backpack hunting.  Individuals have a wide range of comfort levels, especially when sleeping, and I am fortunate to sleep well in bad positions, on hard ground, on a steel deck, etc.  A person has to sleep well or he/she will not hunt well.  Learn what it takes for yourself and make that your minimum.

Some difficult tarp camps I recall are a sleet/wind sub-alpine blizzard on Vancouver Island, almost wasn't able to set up a tarp in the violent wind. Really cozy with reflector fire once set up however.  Another tough one among many good ones was a N. Cascade late season, snowing hard that changed to rain when the snow got 10 inches deep, just as we got to our camping place at dark.  Great bombs of wet snow falling from trees.  Everything got wet/damp somewhat as we set up in the dark, and then from crawling under the tarp in streaming wet clothes. Synthetic bags really do retain loft and warmth when wet, though it is a little bit like sauna.  Never got cold but that trip motivated me to buy my Seek Outside tipi for multi-person late season hunts. Solo, I'll still go tarp.

 And one time under a visqueen tarp above timberline in N. BC my partner talked me into using my rifle for a tent pole while he kept his handy for grizz...