I usually set my tarp up at night so I'll never have to make coffee in the rain in the morning.
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Tarp type and set-up style, and let's see some pix
- Thread starter Glenn MacGrady
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I love the color combo. When I ordered mine, I think they asked 3x if I really wanted orange & yellow pinwheel. I assured them that, yep, I wanted it highly visible from the air. I'm gettin' old & still going solo... no sense making it harder to find me if something happens.
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I have a screen tarp that I can custom configure in the field. It can be suspended from a trunk line but I prefer using poles. Poles allow me flexibility in pitch location and I feel that poles provide a more secure pitch with less flapping and bellows effect.
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Been working on my tarp fu this summer while the sun shines so that when it rains I'll not be SOL. Tarp is a silnylon 10x12, poles are extendables from Eureka. Bowlines connecting line to tarp, taut line hitches providing tension.
Day three at this site, emerging after 2 days of wind and rain. Wind pounding out of the north. Had tarp set up over No Bug Zone. My brother brings the whole press/coffee thing so we sat, drank coffee, played backgammon and waited it out. And had an incoming thread of a river that provided a walleye on almost every cast right close.
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Hey all - my brother and I were debating taking that overhanging tree down. We had shifted to the side so it wasn't a huge issue for us, but if a larger party used the site it could be an issue. Not many places to set camp so this was it. Still alive, so we left it.
This was in Wabakimi. What would have been the correct thing to do?
I'd have left it as is. It's not like it's some hidden widow maker or other danger. It's obvious as heck and easily avoidable to anyone not blind.
This is the Kelty Noah’s Tarp 12. I bought it last minute for a trip this year with a poor weather forecast. I think I got it on sale for $60 at Sportsman’s Warehouse.
The cordage comes with the tarp and can be packed away into Velcro pouches sewn into each corner. It comes with the quick adjust plastic sliders. Each corner has a sturdy ring that the paracord is tied to, so you could easily change out the paracord as it wears or if you need something longer.
I used this in some heavy wind and rain and it held up nicely. It’s also quick and easy to setup and take down, so not a hassle for a quick stop to have coffe/hot chocolate and warm up the dog. In the first picture I do not have a ridge line set. It’s just under tension from the corners.
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Especially since it was still alive, I'd have left it. With wilderness tripping, one is expected to have a little bit of common sense and to be aware of their immediate surroundings. I highly doubt that the tree represents any real danger to those who would travel to that area.
I usually set up a tarp in a lean to fashion near the fire pit and that’s where we’ll keep firewood, and our gear. I recently purchased the Eureka No Bug Zone and that has a slightly larger tarp to it but also keeps the bugs away with the netting sides. The sides can also be rolled up but they’ve been needed down. Some day, I’d like to purchase a larger tarp in replace of my little on, perhaps a CCS
I use the No Bug Zone and my CCS 10 x 14 tarp. Don't bring a tent anymore.
I've got several tarps, especially those nasty, crinkly, hard to pack poly monstrosities, but my two main ones are a homemade silnylon 12x12 that weighs less than a pound and crushes down to the size of a baseball, and my homemade coated polyester 10x10 that's about 2 1/2lbs and takes up the room of 2 Nalgenes. the poly tarps are only used for car camping as backups, or if I'm leading a large youth group where more square footage or a windbreak are desirable
both my lightweight tarps have loops about every 2' around the perimeter, a center loop on both sides, and 4 more on the diagonal halfway between the centre and corners, I don't really have a standard setup, every setup is done to make the best use of the terrain and conditions- for instance in really windy, rainy conditions I generally rig like a lean-to with added guys to the midpoint and/or center loops to pull out the middle to make for more useable space while still keeping the ends lower to protect better from sidewinds.
for fair weather I'll usually suspend it under the ridgeline in a diamond pattern for cooking, using the loops on the diagonal and either tautlines or prussics- this lets me slide or adjust the tarp on the fly- pull loose the 2 end loops and I can easily slide the tarp to one end out of the way in seconds on nice days, or pull it tight quickly if the weather turns bad. If I'm using both tarps I usually run them end to end in a lean-to configuration.
both my lightweight tarps have loops about every 2' around the perimeter, a center loop on both sides, and 4 more on the diagonal halfway between the centre and corners, I don't really have a standard setup, every setup is done to make the best use of the terrain and conditions- for instance in really windy, rainy conditions I generally rig like a lean-to with added guys to the midpoint and/or center loops to pull out the middle to make for more useable space while still keeping the ends lower to protect better from sidewinds.
for fair weather I'll usually suspend it under the ridgeline in a diamond pattern for cooking, using the loops on the diagonal and either tautlines or prussics- this lets me slide or adjust the tarp on the fly- pull loose the 2 end loops and I can easily slide the tarp to one end out of the way in seconds on nice days, or pull it tight quickly if the weather turns bad. If I'm using both tarps I usually run them end to end in a lean-to configuration.
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I owned a 9'x9' Nemo Bugout and still own a Preself screen tarp. I appreciate the ability to configure the pitch as conditions in the field dictate. The mesh sides of screen tarps collapse easily in the wind and are difficult to secure. I prefer a low pitch and in windy conditions I pitch mine in a lean configuration with the windward side dropped to the ground.
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Another weekend overnight effort. Opposite corners to trees, back corner to the ground, front corner on a paddle with a clove hitch, center up into a tree branch. Best one yet. Even got rained on this time. Since I'm a clumsy oaf I hang stuff on lines I'm likely to trip over or otherwise run into, to make them easier to see. And the dangly thing sort of under the tarp and over the tent is an old Luci light hanging from a loop on the front edge of the tarp. Solar powered, very light, and inflatable. Works great for ambiance.
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