Decathlon (Quechua) Tarp

**Ursule** · 08-23-2010, 07:25

Hey lads,

I bit the bullet and got myself the above mentoined tarp, it is rather cheap at 19 GBP, depending where you live I suppose.

In any case, I had been oogling this thing for a while now, and as I can't decide what shape would be best for me, I decided I should start with this one as it won't hurt as much as, say, a 100+ GBP tarp!

So, it is cheap, but it seems very well built! It is only one day of testing now, but it is storming here and no rips/breaking/flying away.

So, my first impressions, and I would like to hear yours in case you have this tarp as well:

- Material: It seems to be parachute material, no clue exactly what it is, but seems sturdy. The tarp comes with poles which are WAY too heavy, I leavy those in the garage in case I want to set it up in our garden when it is barbecue time or somethin, but definitely won't be packing those. The tarp also comes with nicely visibly guy lines + those plastic thingies to tense the guy lines (the english term slips my mind right now). Furthermore, 'tent' spikes are added, so you're all set with the accessories. It comes stuffed in a nice bag.
- Color: Mine, lucky or not, is OD Green. This is awesome, I didn't want a red tarp or anything that obvious, as I do a fair amount of 'wild camping' and generaly don't like to be bothered or attract attention when alone in a forest

- Weight: Not too sure, it is certainly not the lightest, but it is quite big afterall, it is 3m X 3m, no clue what that is in 'other' metric systems. Please do tell. Once you get rid of the stakes (I usually just use sticks or trees) and definitely got rid of the poles, it is I would guess a bit over 1KG, which is just fine for me. It definitely weighs more than my hammock.

- Ease of use: As said, it is storming today, and it was quite ok to set up and to stay there. I'm thinking of perhaps modding it so I have one 'fixed' ridgeline. The tarp has 6 pre attached guy lines, so that's plenty, and the lines are very visible.

I'm wondering if I can set it up on a diagonal, will test later..

**Dangerous Dan** · 08-23-2010, 08:58

Hi Ursule. The Decathlon Tarp was the first I ever bought. I've since moved on to a DIY hex tarp but the Decathlon still makes an excellent backup. With regards to hanging diagonally, you shouldn't have any trouble - I had a bit of trouble tensioning mine correctly at first but it can be done with practice. As you say, you can't argue at that price.

**Dunk** · 08-27-2010, 17:45

I saw one of these on a site a few weeks ago over on Ibiza. It looked good.

**Ursule** · 09-01-2010, 01:40

Well I set it up and let it out for a night, it was rather windy and a lot of rain came down. I'm really liking the tarp!

Does anyone happen to know if there is a way to rub of the printed words on the tarp (in white)? It kinda kills the camo effect

Anyhow, I really like this one, I don't see what is bad about this tarp, it seems very well made. Perhaps a tiny bit heavy though nothing out of the ordinary. And yes, it is not rip-stop, but seems very sturdy.