Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
General => General Chat => Topic started by: Oisín on May 01, 2011
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Hey, was thinking of buying a Tarp for the summer months that are fast approaching. Can anybody offer me any advice on whether or not this is a good idea?
If so, give me features i should look out for when buying one please. This will be my first purchase.
Thanks! :)
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I think most of us on here have dabbled with tarps at some stage (with varying success I might add!). I definitely think they have their time and place, and for me that is when the weather is clement :) If the weather is stormy and you end up trying to pitch your tarp in the shape of a tent, then you might as well be in a tent. If, however, the weather is like it has been recently then being under a tarp is hard to beat!
Petesy (http://www.petesy.co.uk/trail-stuff-2/) recently did a review of tarps for Trail magazine and one that came out very well was the Alpkit Rig 7. There is a great blog post on it here (http://maceachain.blogspot.com/2011/01/alpkit-rig-7-tarp-limited-only-by.html). Unfortunately it's become a victim of its own success; after winning Best in Test and Best Value in Trail magazine it sold out rapidly! Other popular tarps to consider for a first time tarper are the DD Hammocks 3x3 (http://www.ddhammocks.com/products/tarps) and the good old Army issue tarp. I have a DD tarp and really like it, but do find it a bit big for one person and would probably prefer a more rectangular shape because of the configurations I tend to go for.
No matter which one you choose I would also recommend laying your hands on The Tarp DVD (http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/product368.asp?PageID=112) by Backpacking Light, a copy of The Book of the Bivvy (http://www.cicerone.co.uk/product/detail.cfm/book/561/title/The-Book-of-the-Bivvy) by Ronald Turnbull and a length of 3mm paracord (http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/product275.asp?PageID=106). Oh, and don't forget you will probably want at least one walking pole to pitch it with and a bivvy bag to protect your sleeping bag if the weather should take a turn for the worse.
Hope that helps :)
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I've just purchased my first tarp after seeing a reasonably priced shellta on ebay ( http://shellta.wordpress.com/ ) it doubles as a poncho and an emergency shelter for 2 people, which is what i was looking for so i've hopefully killed 2 birds with 1 stone. Still haven't tried it out in anger yet, hopefully i'll get to christen my bivvvy and trap soon.
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I'l have a look at them pages, thanks for the advice. Lots of content to look through.
I agree with the statement about the weather, I slept out in an emergency shelter I bought from a pound shop a few nights ago. It was all good but the noise the plastic made in the wind was unbearable. I even did a review of it! :D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFc3iwebZg8[/size]
So far I'm liking the idea of the hammock, seems to be a cool way of spending the night.