tarp with doors compared to no doors and an unde rquilt cover or hammock cover sock

[Shug]

I like my HG Winter Palace with doors. It keeps me and my quilts dry and safe from the wind. I know UQPs have become quite popular in the last couple of years, but I just can't get on the bandwagon. Personally, I think UQPs are for people with skimpy tarps and inadequate insulation. Let's say you have a skimpy tarp with no doors and it weighs a mere 11 or 12 ounces. You're getting wet, and losing heat to the wind. So you go out and get a UQP in ripstop nylon that weighs 6.5 ounces? Even Argon is gonna weigh about 5.5 ounces. May as well get a tarp with doors. As for UQPs as a way to augment your insulation, I would think a couple more ounces of down (in combination with a tarp with doors) is more sensible and provides more actual insulation.

As for socks, I wouldn't consider them in anything but the deep of winter.

I will counter that a smaller tarp, no doors and a uqp will give a better view of the woods and for me that is a reason I choose the tarp life. The view I get from my hang and pitch is what it is all about to me and protection from elements can still be tweaked. I'll factor a uqp in on some trips like Linville Gorge when I know I want to awaken an see the morning glory. As I lay and have breakfast from the hammock and gaze out over the Gorge and feel it's damp breath wash over me my happiness level rings loud and true.
I've never been wet in my smaller DIY Blackcrow tarp. True the uqp boosts warmth a bit but I normally use it for a wind block and can be a little less concerned about my tarp pitch and height. Handy after a long day of toting a pack when I set up quickly and gulp some chow. Rarely do I use mine to boosts my insulation...though that is an option.
Of course some of this is trip and weather dependant. All a matter of choices and styles. Nothing is set in stone and I like that no absolutes apply.
But sometimes I bring a larger and lighter tarp with doors and have just as much fun.
Shug

[Sodapop]

While I'm a newcomer to hammocking, I'm a veteran of long distance hiking. I have had to leave many a three sided shelter for the warmth of my tent due to blowing wind, rain and snow. That sil nylon can really block the elements!! That's why I opted for a full coverage tarp with doors. You can lower your tarp sides to the ground and batten down the doors. You can also make a wind wall with logs, leaves or snow to block more wind. Weekend trips are easier to plan for the elements than my annual month long hike. For me it's all about protection even though weight is something I'm always trying to lose in my gear selections

[The Tree Frog]

And you might be a candidate for the inadequate insulation I mentioned above.

While you may be right that I don't own a zero top or UQ, using what I have is working and when the math is done, stacking and doubling has me covered down to zero. Having said that, if I was backpacking and not car camping in the coldest of weather, bulk and weight would be an issue. So, 0 degree down may be in my future.

[SilvrSurfr]

I will counter that a smaller tarp, no doors and a uqp will give a better view of the woods and for me that is a reason I choose the tarp life. The view I get from my hang and pitch is what it is all about to me and protection from elements can still be tweaked.

That's certainly one argument for a UQP - soak in the view from porch mode. I don't spend any time in my hammock except to sleep, so views just don't mean much to me. I did porch mode once or twice, was unimpressed, and haven't tried it since. I've also never mastered "breakfast from the hammock." Seems like you'd need to be some kind of circus performer to do it!

[Sailor]

I view tarps as stopping rain and a little wind, vs. tents which can hold (a little) heat in their interior. Since I don't particularly like being wrapped in things, I like tarps, which happen to work real well with hammocks. So...I insulate the hammock and me with quilts, and only use a tarp when I think its going to rain or snow...meaning, any air flow under/around a tarp, means it won't warm you at all...

[SilvrSurfr]

While you may be right that I don't own a zero top or UQ, using what I have is working and when the math is done, stacking and doubling has me covered down to zero. Having said that, if I was backpacking and not car camping in the coldest of weather, bulk and weight would be an issue. So, 0 degree down may be in my future.

I was definitely looking at it from a hiking and weight perspective. My HG Winter Palace weighs 8.5 oz., so it seems kinda incongruous (aka stupid) to add a UQP that weighs almost as much. I don't need to supplement my insulation with a UQP because I have 40*, 20* and 0* quilt sets. I bring the right tool for the job when hiking, and don't carry more weight than I need.

As for shelter, a 4-season tarp with doors is inherently superior to UQP + skimpy tarp. It's not even a contest. From a cost/weight perspective it doesn't appear to make a lot of sense either.

Ripstop Nylon UQP 6.5 oz. $35 plus Warbonnet Edge 11.25 oz. $85 = 17.75 oz and $120.
Warbonnet Superfly 19 oz. and $130

So to save 1.25 ounces and $10 people would choose the tarp/UQP combo? Over a Superfly?

I understand that $35 bucks is a pretty cheap way to supplement one's insulation, but from a shelter/hiking/weight/cost perspective, it doesn't add up for me. I'll take a 4-season tarp every time.

[hutzelbein]

Will using a tarp with doors be as warm in the winter as a tarp without doors and an underquilt protector or tarp without doors and a hammock cover sock?

I am considering different alternatives and just wondering which set up works best for keeping the heat in with everything else being equal. I'm in the southeast and probably wont be out in sub 20 F overnight weather. Occasionally I might be out in the mid teens but it wouldn't be a planned event.

All have their place. As you see, opinions are quite contrary, depending on the individual preferences Best would be to try out different set-ups and see which works best for you. I usually pick my set-up according to what I'm planning to do and when.

For winter camping, a tarp with doors helps a lot. It blocks most of the wind. But if you sleep very cold, you still might want to use an UQP. I got an UQP because I sleep very cold, and even a slight draft will rob my (completely adequate) underquilt of warmth that I feel I need. An even warmer underquilt would do nothing for me, because a draft is a draft, and underquilts are not too good at blocking them.

For the other three seasons it's even more a matter of taste. Some people like to carry their winter tarps all year long. I rather take a smaller tarp and use an UQP or a sock.

I haven't used my sock for temps below freezing; apparently there is a point where you will get a lot of condensation. Socks seem to be more for the shoulder season. I love mine - it protects me from all drafts and it keeps the warmth in. It's like sleeping in a double walled tent as opposed to a tarp tent or just a tarp.

So my set-up looks like this: tarp with doors + UQP for winter, large tarp without doors + UQP or sock for the shoulder seasons, small tarp without doors + UQP for summer. Unless it's really hot - then I skip the UQP. That's just my preference, though. Yours will in all likelihood differ

[Bannerstone]

They say you pack your fears, what can I say, I'm a tarp with doors guy. But to Shug's point about enjoying the view, I'm almost always in porch mode even in some kinda not so great weather and the doors are almost always pulled back out of the way at least a couple of them anyway. For me doors are mostly about wind protection.

I've got a winter palace as well which gives me the confidence to get pitched low to the ground for high winds, that seems to be enough security for me not to feel the need for an UQP. Though I can see myself using the UQP for wind on those clear cold winter nights when I want to star gaze and go "no tarp" which I seem to be doing more often of late.

David

[Scotty Von Porkchop]

I don't like doors. While I agree with Shug about wanting to experience to woods while not having to get 'down and dirty in the mud' close, the breeze across my face as I stare at wilderness though coffee steamed haze, an' all that. The real reason is the lack of seam where the doors turn in, I hate that! It winds me up way more than it should :0

[litetrek]

I like the openess of a trap like many who have commented here, but I also want to stay warm and dry and I believe wind or even a breeze is what robs your warmth in a hammock. I have been contemplating a cuben tarp with doors and have been balancing that against buying one without doors and buying the uqp. You can always leave the doors open but you can't leave them at home like you can the uqp.

I've been trying to get the weight and bulk of my hammock gear down and the tarp is a good target. I could save a few ounces and some bulk with a down underquilt instead of the synthetic one I have but I'm not sold on the cost/weight savings ratio there.