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What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a tarp instead of a tent for camping?
My dad and I go backpacking a lot and while we were hiking a section of the Pacific Crest Trail we met some other hikers who were using a tarp for a shelter, instead of the usual tent. Using a tarp is not only lighter than a tent, but it is larger and easy to set up. We've been wondering if maybe using a tarp would be better.
Ultralight backpackers such as Ray Jardine have revolutionized backpacking with the popularization of using sil-nylon tarps instead of tents.
Tarps provide ventilation which tents do not, thus reducing condensation, which dampens everything inside your tent, especially your clothing and the insulation of your sleeping system, which, especially on long trips, will leave your gear heavier and colder every day, especially during inclement weather. Tarps are lighter and offer more coverage as you've already mentioned. Tarps require no poles and can be pitched between two trees or using two branches or a combination of the two. And tarps are actually stronger than tents by weight, contrary to ignorant assumptions, because they can be pitched low into high winds, and ideally have multiple guy lines that can be staked or tied out. And there are no poles to bend or break. It's utterly laughable for anyone to state that tent poles are stronger than a couple of stout poles found in the woods: You're doing it wrong.
A couple years ago I sewed my own tarp and net tent, which hangs underneath the tarp as protection from mosquitoes, and replaces the need for a ground cloth, using Ray Jardine's tarp and net tent kit and Tarp Book, which includes all the instructions you need.
Since then my wife, daughter and I have successfully and comfortably camped under our tarp tent inside our net tent several times in the Sierras, strangely often in high winds. I have had a corner stake pull out during the night but on our last trip to Winnemucca Lake in Mokelumne Wilderness the winds were just as strong but the tarp required no adjustment during the night.
My tarp is 17.6 ounces with its stow-bag. 8 anodized aluminum stakes plus stow-bag weighs 4.5 oz. And the net tent its stow-bag weigh 11.9 oz. For a total of 2 lbs, 2 oz. for a shelter for 2 1/2, half the weight of the 2 man REI Quarter Dome with stakes. Like I said, no ground sheet needed because the net tent has a sil-nylon floor which hasn't shown much sign of wear.
We haven't had too much rain yet, but after sewing and seam sealing my tarp I set it up in the backyard and rigged up a sprinkler to test it and I have no doubts I'd stay dry and comfortable in any weather short of a blizzard.
Of course tarps are three-season use only and in winter you'd want a single wall tent but why suffer the other three seasons because you can't afford two tents when your second tent can be an inexpensive tarp.
You can read about Ray Jardine's 2009 through-hike of the Appalachian Trail where he evaluates the performance of his own tarp and net tent here: http://www.rayjardine.com/adventures/2009-AT/index.htm
Before Ray designed his net tent he used the same tarp but to protect against swarms of mosquitoes he wore a set of uncoated nylon wind-shirt and wind-pants to bed along with homemade nylon mittens and of course a head net. The wind-pants and wind-shirt are dual use of course, keeping you warmer in the wind and drier in light rain while repelling mosquitoes.
Everyone in my family has a set of wind-pants, windbreaker and mosquito head net because you can't stay in the net tent forever, and I've gone without it, sleeping with mosquitoes buzzing around my head net in the evening, and would anyway to save weight, but my family likes the comfort of the net tent.
Of course if you don't want to sew your own sil-nylon tarp with "beaks" and other features you can buy plain square tarps of various materials and weights from coated nylon to sil-nylon. I used the $60 Campmor Sil-Nylon Tarp before Ray started making his kits but it's not the best, which is sewing your own.
Here's another article on the subject: http://www.the-ultralight-site.com/backpacking-tarps.html
If you're planning to camp above treeline it's a simple matter to pick up a couple of sticks along the way and keep or discard them as needed. Better than carrying poles ALL the time.
They also make tarp poles for the uninitiated.
Anyone who's sewn their own tent, sleeping quilts and backpacks for themselves and their family and used them successfully while backpacking solo and with a child from age four to six, all over the Sierra in all kinds of weather , please stand up, otherwise you don't have a leg to stand on nor any right to tell me what I've said isn't true and what I've written doesn't work. If you don't know how to pitch your tarp in the wind or don't have the wherewithal to move your camp to somewhere more sheltered if the weather becomes unbearable you don't belong in the wilderness.
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