Convince me to buy a Tarp?

[Oisín]

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!

[suspectmonkey]

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 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.  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 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 by Backpacking Light, a copy of The Book of the Bivvy by Ronald Turnbull and a length of 3mm paracord.  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

[LandyLiam]

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.

[Oisín]

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! 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.