Tarps vs bugs

[Game Warden]

I am thinking about going to a tarp shelter instead of a tent. My chief concern is mosquitos. Does anyone have any experience in bug season with a tarp? Also, I sleep on the ground, not a hammock. Thanks.

[Slo-go'en]

That's what a bug bivy is for. If you don't need the floor, just get a net. I have a SMD serenity net and an OR bug bivy. I mostly use the OR as it's self supporting with a hoop. Besides bug protection it actually improves warmth and has a water proof floor so damp ground isn't an issue.

[MuddyWaters]

I am thinking about going to a tarp shelter instead of a tent. My chief concern is mosquitos. Does anyone have any experience in bug season with a tarp? Also, I sleep on the ground, not a hammock. Thanks.

Where and when would be pertinent information.

Some parts of trail, you wont see mosquitos , ticks, or anything bad. Maybe gnats.
Other parts and times, mosquitos will chase you.
Some areas are just highly tick prone
And then theres black flies


Now, consider that most shelter dwellers, dont have bug protection when sleeping. But they are off ground. So its obviously not necessary. It can be re-assuring.

When hot, sweaty, itchy laying down to sleep, its reassuring to know that every itch that suddenly occurs isnt something crawling on you.

[AllDownhillFromHere]

I too am in the East Coast, and I struggle with the utility of a tarp when you need a bivy with it. At that point, you've created a tent, except its not freestanding and you can still get splashed. I think in the (North)East, a tarp works in the fall and maybe spring, the rest of the time use a tent.

[Dogwood]

That word tarp is thrown about lately. It can be muddled with tarp tents, shaped tarps, flat tarps and maybe a few other versions I'm missing. To which are you referring?

Last few yrs go to tarps shelters have been MLD Solomid, Duomid, and a couple Locus selections in mids, catenary cut shaped tarps from OWare and MLD and assorted flat tarps with cat cut hems or straight hem true flat tarps.

The 'tarp' shelter choice plays into how I might set up.

Most of all I try to first ascertain the level of the threat in matching the response.

I like going cheap, flexible, diverse and modular or component based 'inner' systems. I don't go the bug bivy route. I want to break that component down into greater components. This is one reason why I use tarps - to tweak the components as different conditions exist to avoid unnecessary bulk and wt. I may use a WR bivy though with a tarp in part to address vampires. Bug bivies are more money and lock me in to having incorporated floor and netting. I like having the choice of different ground cloths flat or bathtub style in Kite Tvek, polycro, or outlandishly priced DCF. I go two routes for netting 1) either a C2Summit Nanoseeum w/insect Shield in 1 p or if 2 p if using the Duo or Locus. If either of those larger mids are used and 1 p I use the 1 p netting 2) a DIY tulle netting. Tulle at fabric stores is cheap and despite it's fragility I've only had one still unharmed in more than 10 yrs. All these nettings are guyed out either from the sym or asym apex to teh top of the netting pyramid and have the option to also be gibed out to the four corners at stakes or inner corner loop s w/ UL bungee. They basically resemble tropical netting pyramids as common in the tropics hung over beds.

Under the heaviest vampire pressure a multi layered approach to insect protection is taken rather than solely a shelter amendments approach precisely as approached under heavy vampire protection when on the move hiking. The single firewall approach is not typical. It's multi firewalls of various strengths that cumulatively get the job done for me.

[Feral Bill]

I have used a basic flat tarp with an inexpensive, light bug net (Sea to Summit) many times in buggy conditions. Never lost any sleep. No need to overthink.

[Five Tango]

If you would like to get factual first hand information about the use of tarp and bug bivvy in all conditions from an AT thru hiker that used it the whole time,check out Evansbackpacking on You Tube.

Evan has a knack for finding just the right spot,pitching the tarp low,and staying dry and bug free.

[fiddlehead]

I still use an Integral Design's "Sil Shelter" (tarptent)
If I'm in heavy bugs (mosquitoes) I wear a headnet to bed and get in my bag.
One hike (Pyrenees HRP) we had to carry a lot of salt and make a rim around our heads to keep slugs away.
But that's rare.
I love the fact that my tarptent only weights 12 oz. (with stakes)
My friend has one and he sewed about 7" of mosquito netting around the bottom perimeter and a triangle of it at the foot end.
I would like to do the same but instead, I bought a tent for when I'm heading to big mosquito country (like this coming June when I'm hiking in Sweden)
It's about a lb more and I hate adding a lb to my 12 lb pack.

[Colter]

In my opinion, when the bugs or gnats or other flying biters are out, a tarptent is hard to beat. I like to know that when I zip up the door and kill that last insect that's inside my tarptent that I am good to go.

I've used tarps, tarps with bivies, and tents. I like a tarptent with netting and sewn in floor. I like it better than a tarp/bug bivy combo.

[Slo-go'en]

I've used tarps, tarps with bivies, and tents. I like a tarptent with netting and sewn in floor. I like it better than a tarp/bug bivy combo.

When it all said and done, that really is the answer. It's just so much simpler and more forgiving to use a tent. Back when the average tent was 5-6 pounds, a tarp was an attractive alternative. With a lot of tents now coming in at under 2 pounds the attractiveness of a trap isn't nearly the same as it was.

[Feral Bill]

When it all said and done, that really is the answer. It's just so much simpler and more forgiving to use a tent. Back when the average tent was 5-6 pounds, a tarp was an attractive alternative. With a lot of tents now coming in at under 2 pounds the attractiveness of a trap isn't nearly the same as it was.

A tarp has a big area to stay dry in while enjoying fresh air and a view with little condensation. Hammocking? The same tarp does the job. Want a cover for the front of a lean to? Works for that, too. No bugs?, you save a few ounces leaving the net home. Tents have a place, but for me, a tarp is usually more enjoyable. It's nice having multiple good choices.

[MuddyWaters]

Tarps are great to pitch quickly and ride out afternoon t-storms. Anywhere.

Dont want an attached floor for this. On mud, rocks, sloped ground, baby trees, bushes, etc, tarp goes over them without a hitch. Not as big deal on AT as western trails


Whether you use an inner net, bug bivy, or nothing for sleeping is secondary. Choose whatever depending on conditions.


Sometimes the spot you you hunker down in to ride out a squall, becomes your campsite for next 18 hrs, when squall lasts longer than expected.

[CalebJ]

I have been very pleased with using a Monk tarp (MLD) in combination with a light bivy (Tigoat Ptarmigan). I don't always use the bivy unless bugs or rain threats are significant, but it's always in the pack. The bivy only weighs something like 7 ounces, and it can also help to keep the bag clean as needed. A bit of polycro underneath also helps to keep things clean and dry. Keep it simple and keep it modular/flexible.

[Kittyslayer]

My bivy has mesh at the head. In addition to keeping out the bugs the bivy keeps my bag clean and dew off the surface and mud off the bottom.

If clear I sometimes only use my bivy.
If bug free and warm I often leave the torso of my bivy unzipped.
If potential for rain I string up my poncho as a tarp shelter using trees or my hiking poles.

[Zalman]

I'm the group that prefers a sewn-in tarptent for bugs, and the newest ones are lighter than the tarp/bivy-or-net/groundsheet combinations. If I don't expect bugs, I bring a flat or shaped tarp + groundsheet instead. With the tarp I save a few ounces, get a bit more living space, and a bit more flexibility.

[Slo-go'en]

You'll note that most of those in favor of tarps hike out west where the climate is different then in the east. Time of year, location and expected weather is what one should use to choose the type of shelter to carry.

On the AT, it's rare to see anyone using a trap unless it's over a hammock. Those who try just a tarp often end up in shelters or switching to a tent.

In the fall I'll often use my all-weather bivy instead of my tent, even though it's somewhat heavier. That is, so long as I'm pretty sure there won't be any serious rain. It gives me more warmth then the tent, is easier to use on tent platforms and easier to set up at marginal campsites if it comes to that since I basically only need enough room to laydown.

[Dogwood]

A tarp has a big area to stay dry in while enjoying fresh air and a view with little condensation. Hammocking? The same tarp does the job. Want a cover for the front of a lean to? Works for that, too. No bugs?, you save a few ounces leaving the net home. Tents have a place, but for me, a tarp is usually more enjoyable. It's nice having multiple good choices.

+1........

[OCDave]

Knife vs spoon.

[Dogwood]

Knife - Porterhouse
Spoon - ice cream

[Dogwood]

You'll note that most of those in favor of tarps hike out west where the climate is different then in the east. Time of year, location and expected weather is what one should use to choose the type of shelter to carry.

On the AT, it's rare to see anyone using a trap unless it's over a hammock. Those who try just a tarp often end up in shelters or switching to a tent.

You left out at least one more important consideration that impacts why you dont see as much tarp usage on the AT compared to the west - regional skill set variances. Western(west of the Mississippi) U.S. hiking communities trend towards being more liberal more open to trying new ways than east coast AT counterparts... and even though personally from NJ, FL, and GA, trend towards being more trail diversity advanced and traditionally in U.S. History are greater risk takers in regard to adventure and traveling explores than those feathered their nest in the east specifically northeast and mid Atlantic regions. Attend and observe at a ALDHA West and ALDHA east oriented meetings. Every ALDHA West meeting I've attended have a wider range of ethnicities, international and domestic based hikers, age groups, more female hikers as percentage of hiking attendees, topics covered are more broadly ranging and in depth, awards given are more widely based(TC Awards for example), and generally deeper skill sets among attendees.

Efficient diverse tarp use requires a greater number of variables to consider. Where east coaster have it is IMHO hammock knowledge. East coast based hangers generally have deeper skill sets and knowledge of hammocks. If desiring hammock ears tickled perhaps leaning in a little closer when easterners are involved might not be a bad thing?

Jus my 3 or 4 cts.

BTW Slo-go-en any indication of why we have that same issue misspelling tarp as trap so often?