12 Reasons To Try Backpacking With A Tarp 

Outstanding reasoning, brother. As I get older, I’m getting more interested in backpacking. I’ve yet to get started, but videos like this really make me. Look forward to it.

I am 100% a tent person and live in a place with aggressive and horrible pests, I will never ever get a tarp, but I still watched this whole video because you do a great job and present your content so well. 😄

As always. Nice Production Quality 👊🏻

When you live in the Deep South, with heavy rains that sometimes fall horizontally due to high winds, you appreciate the 100% coverage a tent provides. Even in fair weather, you still have mass quantities of biting insects to contend with as well as all manner of curious and hungry wildlife. Tarps still are useful, just not as a primary shelter. The main reason to have a tarp is to use it as a rainfly for your tent.

Thanks for the video!

Again, very concrete, informative and well argued! Thx!

The last reason is the best. It is so fun to mess around with knots, and different configurations, learning about setup location etc. I feel much more prepared in a survival situation because of that. And the knots come in handy all the time in my rural life. They make me feel like a stud 😂 But mostly I do tarp camping just because I am a hammocker and thst doesn’t work so well in the winter - no easy way to get a winter tarp for my setup. So I go to the ground then. With a water resistant Bivvy for extra wind proofing. It’s daily light and I don’t have to get extra gear, so cheaper. And tbh there’s way less bugs or critters during winters. Plus I can make a campfire so the smoke and smell repels some

Ok Tim. You’re starting to warm me up to the whole idea of tarp camping. I bought a Parria Outdoors tarp for an upcoming trip. I was thinking of using it for just hangout space but maybe I should consider sleeping under it.

Yes! Other videos I’ve seen on tarp camping address a few of these, but not so many and all so eloquently sequenced. While a tarp may be something to work up to for those who may want to overcome other fears first, it really is the simplest and cheapest shelter to get started with. Especially in fair weather!

On a recent trip, I had a tarp with a bug net under and it was great. There was a significant wind down the valley and I was able to do a setup I had practiced that was tight to the ground with a sort of point into the wind and the corners folded under but relatively open downwind. I could look out easily in the morning but not have a cold breeze on my face all night. With my tents I can't get any side of the fly truly down to the ground. So they're much less good in that kind of wind!

I am starting to consider tarp camping / backpacking. As I love my Nemo Hornet 2p, I agree I miss so much Oregon nature while I’m inside. Now to research backpacking tarps.

You soooo need to get a Hummingbird Hammock Single+ hammock and a set of tree straps (2”, eat the extra weight, esp. if you might be hanging off cedars). No mud splash on the shelter, no matter how hard the rain. Packing in the morning allows you to toss everything in the hammock and use it as a big shelf, with everything visible right in front of you. Use it as a camp chair. It’s also way easier to change your pants and socks than when balancing on one foot or sitting on the ground / fallen tree. You won’t believe the muscle and joint recovery that you get laying in the hammock compared to on a sleeping pad. Best of all, you’re still tarp camping. They’re out of stock now but Hummingbird restocks frequently. For the PNW, you might want the longer, wider straps.

Great video, Tim! I have been really, really close to ditching my Duplex in favor of my dyneema tarp. Who offers the bathtub floor you show in the video? Thanks again for the great content!

Really like your content Tim. Keep it coming. So, how do you keep the bugs at bay? I use an MLD cricket and mesh inner. I can leave the inner down before i sleep and raise up at bed time. Still the benefits of a tarp. Not sure I’d save much weight by going to a bivvy bag?

Use tarps all the time...depends on the project i combine it with hammock, bivybag or Aframe meshtent. Always on the road for many months in all weather conditions. Tarp is the way to go....

be clear....."inherently" type 2 fun....type 2. Practice makes it easier. Everything you said is true. I have a great kit with the "best" tent. I wanted a simpler and sometimes better experience. dealt with many challenges including the deadly mosquitos where and when they shouldn't have been on my first trip and it was still good. High altitude is a good candidate. At or above tree line.

What do use for a floor and if needed bugnet

Zpacks, Hyperlight or Mountain Laurel Design DCF tarp?? Which???

What about scorpions and rattle snakes?

Probably the biggest advantage of a plain rectangular or square tarp is the fact that you can use many different types of pitches to suit the particular conditions. The biggest disadvantage, of course, is the complete and total lack of barrier to bugs and small wildlife. Now, this is also a factor where the potential consequences are highly dependent on the local environment. Some places have very few problems with bugs, others will be completely intolerable without a full mesh bug tent to supplement the tarp. But, once you understand you to properly use a tarp, you will start to realize just exactly how overpriced and overweight most tents really are for the actual utility they offer, which in most cases is only a marginal advantage over a tarp. I have camped for an entire week on multiple occasions in the Michigan woods with nothing but two lightweight 9x12 woven poly tarps ($10 each), a groundsheet (a smaller 6x8 woven poly tarp), and no bug net, though I did use insect repellent, and been perfectly comfortable.

Hey Tim, high-quality video!! Is there any chance I can get in touch with you about collaboration? It would be greatly appreciated if you could provide an email address or upload it on the RU-vid website, where I can reach you. Thanks and take care!!

Space? Laughing in MLD DCF Monk tarp

Reason 13 - insects...

13 claustrophobia , you can set the tarp up so you don't feel enclosed in a coffin

Bugs are the no-no for me