I'm looking at purchasing a lightweight tarp to carry. Mainly to be used for shelter on hunts. What's everyone using?

google jimmytarps

I don't like bugs. I like the Six moons Lunar Duo. Like a tarp with a built in bug net. Still light and packs small.

Mountainsmith Shelter LT and Hilleberg UL-10 are both good options.

Tanner

Do you sew? I made a 10x10 silnylon tarp for about $60. I used paracord loops instead of grommets. Mine is just square since it's purpose is to be a tarp, not a shelter, but it's easy to design something fancier.

If you want light.

http://zpacks.com/shelters.shtml


http://www.tenpoundbackpack.com/gear-lists/tarps

I like my kifaru paratarp

I use this http://store.seekoutside.com/dst-tarp/ . It's big enough to get a comfy camp out of if need be. You can almost get a full enclosure in some pitches as well

or for a very wide selection including screens sewn in http://www.cookecustomsewing.com/tundratarp.htm

This

I use a small (5x7) coated nylon tarp that I got at Walmart for $8. I think I spent 4 nights on or under it, depending on which direction the majority of water was coming from. Then I used it as a meat tarp and now I have to get another one.





Partner carries a 6X8 poly tarp (shown in first pic).

Mountainsmith LT for about $80 to $100 depending on the sale, beats sewing in my opinion:)

Thanks for all the responses. Lots of good info.

Is cuben fiber as/more durable than a syl/nylon tarp? They seem to be much lighter from what I can find.


RC, when you sew do you just sew little loops on where you want? I don't sew but I know people who do.

When you're tying down, there are never enough loops. I use about 3" of paracord per loop. Keep them big enough for any size of rope or stake you might have to use. You can sew on loops a foot apart all the way around if you want to. When you sew your own, you can get creative.

Oh yeah - don't go cheap on thread. Get the strongest stuff you can find. One of the big problems with low price imported clothes is that the threads break letting the seams come apart.

Anyone else using Tyvek house wrap? I cut a sheet to the size I want and punch grommets along the edges. A bit noisy but super light and inexpensive if you have access to some. I also cut small mantee's that I keep in my pack for laying meat on or keeping smaller items dry.

Etowah is pretty nice. Think I paid $50. Like the center tab too.

Etowah Tarps

Integral Designs Sil tarps are nice.

I use an 8'x10' Siltarp like this one.

http://www.integraldesigns.com/product_detail.cfm?id=726



You can adjust the trekking pole to the height that you prefer and you can adjust location of pegs to fit the weather conditions.

KC

I have several, last one I picked up was the Kelty Noah 12, sucker is big. Bout 70 bones if I remember.

+1 for Etowah. Cheapest, quality lightweight tarps I found.

Got pics of your tarp? Using an industrial machine?

It's just a 10x10 square with a bunch of paracord loops around it. Nothing fancy. You sure don't need an industial machine with silnylon. Just use a lot of pins because it's very slick. I made it to be a tarp, not a shelter. If someone wanted to make a fancier shelter, a little more time with the design could come up with about anything you want.

Here's a site that sells silnylon seconds at a much lower price. That's what I used and I can't see any problems at all.
SECONDS

Hilleberg is introducing a pretty cool tarp in January, I believe.

Regular sewing machine goes through the 550 easily enough? That's what I thought might necessitate an HD machine.

Silnylon is thinner than taffeta. It's 1.1 oz ripstop nylon. Any sewing machine will breeze through it. Just use a sharp needle. What's 550?

I've also made backpacks using heavy coated 5 oz. cordura. A regular machine will go through at least 4 layers of that, too.

550 cord = paracord.
You've answered my question on the stitching. Thanks.

Ok. The paracord isn't a problem as long as it will fit under the foot on your machine. It will on mine easily. It's pretty squishy so it should work on about any of them.

Nearly 20 years ago I had a friend sew the tarp I have used the most for backpacking, an 8x10 flat sheet of kite cloth, also called spinnaker cloth. It was the lightest weight till sil-nylon came out. Never weighed it but am guessing under 8 oz. total and rolls to the size of a paper towel core.

I would make it at least 9x12 if doing it again.

For a solo bivvy I have considered carrying one uncut and unsewn piece of fabric. 60 inch wide would be minimum, 8 or nine feet long. If you could find 72 inch wide fabric it would be better. Melt the cut edges to stop fraying and either sew in some ties or put in some lightweight grommets. My Golite poncho serves that role for me now.

Do you want a minimalist tarp or a larger one with more coverage and creature comfort?

I have designed a flat tarp with ties to convert it from flat to enclosed to the ground all around. Never sewed it and am less likely to now. I anticipate that Seek Outside will offer something similar one of these days, a natural progression.

Right now I'm looking more for something that will provide some additional shelter. Not necessarily a tarp/tent to be the only shelter for sleeping/camping, but just something that I can put up to get out of the elements when I'm away from camp.

Check out the Seek Outside, Beyond Timberline-2 (BT2).

It's not the lightest compared to a square tarp. But for a 25 ounce canopy, you can pitch it in 'open' ways, or button it up tight as a tipi, and fend severe weather.

For something to just hunker down in for a short time, how about one of these emergency bivy bags? They weigh almost nothing and sell for under $20. There are other similar brands, too.

We've tied a mini-tarp to stunted trees and rocks to hunker under while waiting out a rain squall and glassing, the same tarp I carry for minimal bivvy. A flat tarp is usually more versatile for such applications. My son often cuts open a large plastic trash bag to use as such a shelter. He's a hero to his mother for doing that on an afternoon hike when they got caught in a rain squall.

They make a breathable one, that I've not used. The non-breathable one...is not so great.