Back to the tarp....

**10-K** · 09-04-2014, 07:23

Going on a 3 day AT hike tomorrow and am going to use the Oware tarp I bought from someone on WB last year as my shelter, paired with a Ti-Goat bug bivy and a piece of tyvek. I've been practicing the pitch this week and think I have it down enough to try it in the field.

This is part of a larger plan to create a more versatile shelter system than just a tent, with the key word being versatile. The tarp, stakes, tyvek, and bivy weigh in at 25.6 oz including stuff sacks.

I'm very much aware that there are tents and tent hybrids available that weigh less but.... there are no options - you're going to be sleeping in a tent if that's your shelter. With the tarp/bivy combo I can pitch the tarp or not, sleep in the bivy or not, etc.

Also, this doesn't mean that I'm never going to tent. It's more an effort to increase my shelter options instead of automatically reaching for a tent every time I go hiking. There is no such thing as a "best shelter" IMO. But... there is such a thing as having more shelter options.

I've also got a MLD Duomid and Ti-Goat Krestal bivy on the way. I'm hoping to make this my shelter system on the CDT next year.

Just realized I put this in the wrong forum... if a mod would please move...

**MuddyWaters** · 09-04-2014, 07:58

I think a tarp with a bug net inner or even bivy is the most flexible. As long as the tarp is big enough to be useful. Just not the lightest. I like a good sized tarp in a rain, great for setting up and getting out of weather during breaks while keeping your sleeping zone dry and clean.I'm not a fan of tiny 6x7x4 type tarps at all. No real usefulness. 8x10 is good.

Weight penalty isn't bad for a cuben tarp/inner/bivy just a couple oz more than the lightest shelters.

**10-K** · 09-04-2014, 08:07

Totally agree. As my cuben fiber stuff wears out I'm replacing it with silnylon where practicality trumps weight and in clothing I've started adding a few synthetic items instead of down.

The biggest epiphany I've had this year is that I can still pack light without the latest cutting edge UL gear that tends to be fragile and wears quickly.

This is the tarp I'm using this weekend: http://shop.bivysack.com/CatBirdTarp...tBirdTarp2.htm

It's supposed to be a 2 person tarp but I would sure hate to have 2 people under it in a storm. It's just right for 1 person and gear or *maybe* 1 person, gear, and a dog.

**MuddyWaters** · 09-04-2014, 08:23

My cuben shelter really has no wear, except a few patches. Bear can did some damage to my arc blast on the JMT, but I expected that, and planned to have to make some repairs . will need to glue on large overlays inside over wear areas to restore water integrity. Considering a few pics and post somewhere to help others know what to expect.

I camped near a woman one rainy night that had water come thru her cuben groundsheet, she was kind of pissed. It was a 0.74 and she bought it used.

**Coffee** · 09-04-2014, 08:33

My Hexamid Twin has 53 nights of use with little noticeable wear on the cuben itself, but the zipper recently failed (which zPacks has generously offered to repair at no charge). The fact that it has a separate groundsheet opens up the possibility of sleeping in the open or in shelters so there is some of the flexibility and lots of bug free space inside. The one thing I'm a little concerned about is whether this shelter has enough life left in it for a full AT or PCT thru next year. I suspect that it would be fine for a PCT thru since there should be many nights when I won't need to put the tent up at all (if I can get mentally comfortable with cowboy camping, which I'm currently not). But for the AT, I'm not so sure because I'd probably use it almost every night since I don't like sleeping in shelters. Actually I'm not even entirely sure that the hexamid is the right shelter for an AT thru due to its larger footprint and the smaller sites and platforms particularly in the north.

**10-K** · 09-04-2014, 09:10

That makes 3 zipper failures for zPacks tents that I know of. A guy I was hiking around/with on the PCT carried a pair of needle nosed pliers with him to fix his after it failed on him twice - sort of puts a dent in the weight savings. zPacks offered to repair it free but when you're thru hiking a trail sending your shelter back to fix a zipper borders on a major inconvenience.

zPacks provides great customer service and I've easily spent over $1k with the company - this is just an observation.

**Coffee** · 09-04-2014, 09:19

In my case, the zipper failure was more of an inconvenience because only one of the zipper pulls failed and I could still close the zipper from the other side. So I guess I should have said that a zipper pull failed rather than the entire zipper. The adjustment I had to make is that I had to get into and out of the tent from the side that I didn't prefer based on how I set up my bag inside the tent. Also, it happened about a week before I finished the Colorado Trail so it wasn't that big of a deal. I attribute it to wear and tear on UL gear after quite a bit of use. I agree that if a total zipper failure (unable to close at all) happened in the middle of a PCT or AT thru hike, and if the bugs were out, it would be a much greater inconvenience.

**10-K** · 09-04-2014, 13:16

Update: I ordered a MLD Duomid last week and settled in for the 8 week wait. Imagine my surprise when it showed up today.

Cut the guylines, attached them to the linelocs and had the shelter up in minutes. Pretty simple. Stake out the corners and insert trekking pole in center support.

That's it.

Guess I'll take the Duomid instead of the Oware this weekend.

**Dogwood** · 09-04-2014, 16:35

"The tarp, stakes, tyvek, and bivy weigh in at 25.6 oz including stuff sacks."

The Hexamid, Solomid, Skyscape, etc in CF is a strong contender to this above system but you definitely can get the tarp, stakes, tyvek(polycro instead), and bivy weight down into the about 16 oz area. Don't always need a ground sheet with a WP bottom half bivy too. Nor do you always need a bivy with a tarp. Love my Mountain Laurel Designs CF Solomid XL.

**Dogwood** · 09-04-2014, 16:47

Originally Posted by MuddyWaters

I think a tarp with a bug net inner or even bivy is the most flexible. As long as the tarp is big enough to be useful. Just not the lightest. I like a good sized tarp in a rain, great for setting up and getting out of weather during breaks while keeping your sleeping zone dry and clean.I'm not a fan of tiny 6x7x4 type tarps at all. No real usefulness. 8x10 is good.

Weight penalty isn't bad for a cuben tarp/inner/bivy just a couple oz more than the lightest shelters.

Expounding on what MW said I found I saved some wt(about 5-6 ozs overall) by NOT opting for the most minimalist sized gram weenie saving tarp and instead going with a tarp slightly larger like the Oware 1.5 Cat Tarp or something like a customized sized soemwhere between a 1p and 2 p tarp at only a slight wt penalty because it allows me to leave my MLD Supelight bivy at home more often. I currently have three differnt UL tarps(not tarptents, not Hexamid, Solomid type shelters) providing differnt coverages(area), wts, and strengths that allow me to sometimes roll with only a CF tarp w stakes, lines, and polycro that is in the 10 oz area with very good coverage as a tall guy keeping me dry in routinely wet weather.

**RED-DOG** · 09-04-2014, 17:18

on my 2006 AT thru I used a 8x10 Etowah design tarp, No bug net and no bivy I used a same size piece of Tyvex and the tarp worked perfectly and it still works great today I had to repair on little hole, The closer I get to my PCT thru start date the more I think the cuben fiber stuff would be a mistake to take, I took my Arc Blast out a couple of weekends ago and I just propped it against a tree and when I picked it up their was a rip about 6 inches long in the top portion of it, I don't think the cuben fiber stuff is tough enough for long distance hiking.

**1azarus** · 09-04-2014, 18:43

I was going to tease you a bit about using a tarp being the first step toward hammocking, but wasn't sure you'd laugh... Anyway, the flexibility of the tarp is something us hangers really get to enjoy. Welcome to the club.

**rocketsocks** · 09-04-2014, 18:48