anybody tarp tent on backpack trips

“i use a small tarp, and i use the flying dimone shape when i set ti up”

“I have the Henry Shires Virga. It's all I use anymore. I used it on my SHT thru hike and intend to use it on the AT hike. Good ventilation, no problem with rain or (for me)ground water pouring in (knock on wood).”

“i like the AT and i use my tarp all the time, ive also used it in linville goarge at pisgha nf, baldy, and mt mitchell
last edited: 12/08/04 9:39:01 AM”

“I slept in a tent maybe twice this past year. The rest of the trips were either in a lean-to or under my tarp. I use an emergency bivy as a ground cloth because the ground tends to always be wet where I hike.”

“Does anyone regularly use a Wal-Mart type multipurpose tarp? I've used one before with a large group. Interested in knowing how you rigged it.”

“crzyfudgepacker...sheesh...loads of threads...and no one is even bothering to Troll em out. I think that the TT'ers have lost their nerve to flame anyone. I for one haven't and will continue to be a PITA to everyone that I want to be...its a new day and I'm not letting up. Actually, I'm feeling pretty dang good and feel the need to vomit a bit...RALPHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

“I use and like a NEBO which is a BD Megamid knock off.

Like the light weight and fast setup.
Have read of the Megamid there are problems with high wind and heavy snow load so tend to use only below tree line.”

“lay it out next to a tree, with a corner facing the tree, tie that corner about six feet up. Then stake down the other corners. Last, put a big stait stick iin the middle standing straight up. You have now made a flying dimond.For smaller tarps, bring it down some.”

“That Nebo is a good one. I used one for years and then sold it to Tarbubble. I used it for a week in the Sierras and while some were sponging out their tents the Nebo stayed high and dry through storms and sleet. Heavy snow does tend to accumulate at the bottom edge and cause the whole thing to slump when ya have the corners tacked all the way down to the ground.”

“go to /www.mwestfall.addr.com
itle give you more stuff”

“Thanks for the info. Love my tent; hate the confinement of 4 walls and a door. The older I get the less of a gearhead I become.”

“LOL! Crazy that's my site. Wierd to see people actually referring to it. I found a very rare review of the Nebo Pyramid tarp/tent and when I clicked the link it went to my site.

http://www.dirtbagsdeluxe.natureavenue.com/”

“i use it alot when i tell my frens abot ultra light stuff, i think its awsome”

“I just wish I could get on the damn thing and update it.”

“i accidently typed that sight wrong trail hound, its www.mwestfall.addr.com/nigal/tarp_basics.htm

If you go to the one i gave earlyer you, itle take you to a race page
last edited: 12/08/04 10:05:19 AM”

“I'm still using a hennessey hammock as my lightweight option, of course it is really a hammock and a tarp. I figure it gives me bug protection, increased flexibility (don't need flat ground or as much space between trees) and any extra weight vs. a tarp is eliminated by the ability to skip carrying padding.

I admit that in cool weather you need the pad for insulation, and for my last long summer trip I took a thin bevazoate pad so I had the option of staying in a shelter.
last edited: 12/08/04 10:12:56 AM”

“hamoks are good”

“Have read of the Megamid there are problems with high wind and heavy snow load so tend to use only below tree line.”
manuka
9:43:56 AM
12/08/04

Where did you read that? The steep angle of the tent reduces snow load and with the smallest area near the top and the widest at the bottom it can take a good wind. Proper staking is required.”

“Have you ever set it up on the ground as a tent Ped? I've heard you can do that. I'm replacing my current hammock with one that has netting too. 16 oz, $40.”

“with wind, its all about where you set ti up”

“It is always interesting to see the evolution of a backpacker
- from crapola beginner gear
- to better high end gear
- and back to very basic gear

As knowledge grows you need less gear to be comfortable.”

“that is very true manuka”

“That's where the real joy and satisfaction comes from Manuka. I'd take a blue Walmart tarp over one of the $150 geometric tarps.”

“walmart tarps are too heavy”

“Not if your buddy is the one carrying it.”

“I use a homemade tarptent for hiking.

In a few weeks I'm making two 9x10 sil tarps. I'll probably use them some on mild, non-bug season trips.

Speaking of homemade gear, thanks to sacco's gear score I'm making about $350 worth of gear over New Years weekend and my cost was $35 for material and maybe $10 more for chord locks, chord, webbing and the like.

(2) 9x10 sil tarps
(1) sil poncho
(8-12) stuff sacks.”

“lol; thats right”

““walmart tarps are too heavy”

It's really all relitive. The blue tarp really only weighs about one pound more than my sil tarp.”

“bbw, probably read it on rec.climbing or somewhere, also prob with poles collapsing under weight.

The NEBO pole was a POS and I replaced with a pole made from a golf ball retriever, lighter, stronger, more adjustable.

Always too chicken to test if it really will stand up to winds above treeline in the White Mtns because will really be up chit creek if it does fail and I have a good tent for snow and high wind albeit heavier with less room.”

“I use a tarp. When I bring it, that is.

Sometimes I bring another shelter I own. That's when I don't use my tarp.”

“"The NEBO pole was a POS"

Good gravy and that thing was heavy too! I never even used it. I would lash my trecking poles together at the handles (one up sidedown, one rightside up) and use those. No extra weight and fully adjustable.”

“i use my trusty dusty light wheight supper good hickory walking stick”

“The NEBO pole had enough iron to throw off a compass reading.”

“you can say that again”

“No tarp for me....I like to keep all the bugs, critter and rodents out of my sleeping quarters at all times! I will carry the extra weight.”

“who cares abought some common bugs?
theres nothin they can do to you”

“embear - the only time I've ever had bug problems in 3 years of using my tarptent was this past summer in the Smokies. I wasn't sealed quite good enough for the no-seeums. I do have a private fear of waking up with a snake though.”

“Have you ever woken up with a large spider on your face? Its not what they can do to me, its what I could do to them. I am just trying to protect them from being murdered. LOL!”

“well, i gues im just very intoch with nature, except that time I woke up with a big ass spider bight on my arm”

“Oh Embear, don't you like being nibbled on?”

“My worst tarp/bug experience was a 20 mile day on a trail that was so thick with ticks. I literally pulled 100 of those bassturds off me during the day. Got into camp at 10 PM and set up my tarp. As I lay there I could just feel the little puckers crawling on me. I packed up and hiked out the rest of the way.”

““Oh Embear, don't you like being nibbled on?”

manuka
1:13:54 PM
12/08/04

Hmmmm....

On second thought I should keep my comments to myself...”

“My buddy wore one of those wrist bands that sounds like dragonflies on a hammock camping trip. He woke up in the morning just chewed to ribbons. LOL! It's still a running joke with us.”

“Oh, I think as backpackers we are all in touch with nature. But.........

per the previous posts, these are the reasons I have a tent tent.

I only like to be nibbled on by human lips, thank you.”

“I've never had a tick experience. That would be awful.”

“i once had a tick on my nipple”

“yep, the mofo wouldent let off”

“I have had ticks in just about every place.”

“that must have sucked nutts

hey, that works on two levells”

“dayhiker, you have never had a tick on you??
dang do you ever go hiking ;)”