Tarp Camping and bugs

[GWP]

Ants bother me more than skeeters.

Yes! I forgot about them! Great fun to be all camo'd up hiding in a bush with one foot on a red ant when it is warmish. Been there, done that!

[Okanagan]

I’m in the flat tarp brigade. 

A cut down/homemade mosquito net wads tiny and lightweight and worth its weight in gold.  My mosquito net makes a bug free space only around my head and upper body. It simply drapes onto the ground sheet around me and onto my sleeping bag about my waist point, with only the part over my head tied/rigged up.  I want mosquito buzz away from my ears, even if they can’t get in to bite. 

Most of my backpacking has been well away from places other people camp, so haven’t had a mouse bother me for years.  A spot where backpackers regularly camp means critters from mice to deer get used to raiding backpackers and their gear/food.  By deer seasons in the mountains, there are so few mosquitoes that I don’t us a net.

For more than one person, I carry a full size bed mosquito net from REI.  Rig it sideways to the sleepers and tie up one side, (which is over the heads when rigged sideways).  Let the rest drape to the ground and close/flatten any open spots.  Three reasonably friendly men can sleep side by side with head and upper bodies in the bug free space.

[hoppsxc140]

I’ve found hammocks to be semi-enjoyable for off the ground, and bug proof.




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[Gettin Birdie]

Anyone use Tyvek for a groundsheet, I've carried around some in my rig for years, but never actually used it as I always had a groundsheet, but super lightweight, that I'd throw it in the pack if necessary. 

[Stein]

I have two, one is the old Tyvek and one is the newer material (1443R) that seems to be as strong or stronger, lighter and less bulk.

Make sure you wash it before you cut it to get the shrink out as well as the crinkly noise.

[Shawn Ryan]

Anyone use Tyvek for a groundsheet, I've carried around some in my rig for years, but never actually used it as I always had a groundsheet, but super lightweight, that I'd throw it in the pack if necessary.

I've used house-wrap for years in a floorless tent. Works well.

[Gettin Birdie]

Make sure you wash it before you cut it to get the shrink out as well as the crinkly noise.

Thanks, didn't realize you could wash it, but makes sense on the sound aspect.

[ridgefire]

I have used a Kifaru Paratarp paired with a Ti Goat Raven Omni bivy with great luck. Really compact and light and you can set it up pretty much anywhere. You can also use the bivy by itself if you are not expecting any weather. The bivy has a waterproof bottom and bug netting around the head to keeps all the bugs out. If I remember correctly, the total weight is just over a pound.