Last trip pushes me to larger tarp!

[PDA]

If you are not backpacking long distances with lots of elevation change, then get a Kelty Noah 12x12 tarp (2 lb.) to create a place where you and your ladies can hang out in a rain storm, cook etc. Very inexpensive but good. For solo winter camping, it's big enough to completely enclose your hammock with doors and everything. If you do a lot of hills in a thru hike, you'll want to sacrifice just about everything for light weight and go with a 10 oz. asym and lightweight hammock. They will keep you comfortable and dry once you have learned how to use them properly

[Ironman]

I'm one of those guys who has hiked plenty of long steep hills ...I mean mountains... in N.H. White Mountains and feel sacrificing money for weight is worth it. I considered a superfly and Brandon suggested cuban so I just ordered a Cat Cut cuben the size of the superfly from Stormcrow at Hammock Gear. Custom order so no date on arrival.

By the way... finally moving from tent to hammock so I can get a good night's sleep without waking in the morning with every joint in my body aching.

[PDA]

@ Ironman - I have this year discovered the White Mountains and they are hard work - but well worth it.. With you on cash:weight equation. Unfortunately, a cuben anything is out of my budget, so I will have to make do with a 10 oz. asym. No way will I be lugging a 23 oz HH Hex up those hills.

[Cannibal]

I was one of the early adopters of the large winter tarps. In fact, I did the testing on the Superfly while I was on the AT. Before I go any further, I love my Superflies...LOVE EM! That said, they are my winter tarps only. Sure, I'll bring them out sometimes just to show them off, like I did with my camo Superfly at Trail Days, but they really aren't necessary to stay dry...or even close.

By our standards, the winter tarps are still in their adolescence. I think the Speer Winter Tarp hit the market sometime in late 2007. The Jacks and Warbonnet were right on the heels of the SWT. Up until then, everyone was using much smaller tarps with plenty of success in rain. Ask about Sgt. Rock's famous hurricane hang under a stock HH aysm tarp; he stayed dry.

I do very much like the additional coverage a large tarp provides, but the doors aren't all that valuable for that application. Sure they help, but pitching your tarp oriented to the wind/rain works even better and saves you weight. If you are digging the Warbonnet line, I'd go with the BMJ. You'll get almost the same coverage without the need for the extra weight of doors. Any of the big 3-season tarps will do you fine with fewer lines to tangle, stakes to carry (and lose), and less weight to lug.

It's funny; I adopted the winter tarps early in my hanging adventures, but as I become a more aged hanger I have shifted back to the smaller tarps again. My most recent tarp is the OES MacCat Deluxe in cuben and it feels huge these days because I've been using the Micros and Diamond Asyms much more often than my larger tarps. Not trying to discourage you from the Superfly, they hold a special place in my gear room for sure, but you can save yourself money and weight while still accomplishing everything you need from a tarp.

As always, JMO.

[Quattro15]

Well I've been camping for the past three years with a tarp that is an asm diamond and only a 5 inches past my hammock ridgeline. I've been keeping dry with that UNTIL that trip to the lake.

My "need" for a new tarp is more due to the fact that my little girl wants to go camping thus I get some new gear! I will go a little farther into the woods next time instead of camping on a peninsula out on a lake that is 30 miles across to allow all that wind to pick up some speed until it thrashes my campsite!

I was looking at the MacCat Deluxe also. I want a large tarp but don't want to overdo it. It's hard to decide when I can't go to a store and look at all these awesome tarp options.

Anyhow....just trying to make the best decision I can with my only research being online

This forum ROCKS though!!! I've learned tons from this place so far.

[Doody]

I was one of the early adopters of the large winter tarps. In fact, I did the testing on the Superfly while I was on the AT. Before I go any further, I love my Superflies...LOVE EM! That said, they are my winter tarps only. Sure, I'll bring them out sometimes just to show them off, like I did with my camo Superfly at Trail Days, but they really aren't necessary to stay dry...or even close.

By our standards, the winter tarps are still in their adolescence. I think the Speer Winter Tarp hit the market sometime in late 2007. The Jacks and Warbonnet were right on the heels of the SWT. Up until then, everyone was using much smaller tarps with plenty of success in rain. Ask about Sgt. Rock's famous hurricane hang under a stock HH aysm tarp; he stayed dry.

I do very much like the additional coverage a large tarp provides, but the doors aren't all that valuable for that application. Sure they help, but pitching your tarp oriented to the wind/rain works even better and saves you weight. If you are digging the Warbonnet line, I'd go with the BMJ. You'll get almost the same coverage without the need for the extra weight of doors. Any of the big 3-season tarps will do you fine with fewer lines to tangle, stakes to carry (and lose), and less weight to lug.

It's funny; I adopted the winter tarps early in my hanging adventures, but as I become a more aged hanger I have shifted back to the smaller tarps again. My most recent tarp is the OES MacCat Deluxe in cuben and it feels huge these days because I've been using the Micros and Diamond Asyms much more often than my larger tarps. Not trying to discourage you from the Superfly, they hold a special place in my gear room for sure, but you can save yourself money and weight while still accomplishing everything you need from a tarp.

As always, JMO.

This.

I went to the BMJ and its HUGE. Great tarp and I like it, but I wouldn't want any bigger. That is a lot of surface area for a strong wind to push on. I might eventually get a door kit for it IF I ever winter camp. but for 3 season use, I'd rather not have the doors. YMMV. I'm still fairly noobish as I have only been hammocking for a couple years.

[oruacat2]

I'm going the opposite direction. I have a Kelty Noah's Tarp 12x12 that's almost TOO BIG.
It's great when there are a couple of us riding out a storm, hanging out, playing cards, whatever. But when I'm camping solo, I sometimes have to get creative to get that thing stretched-out taut to its full size. I've been happy with it, though - so happy that I'll probably add a Noah's 9x9 to my gear. After YEARS of friends trying to convince me how great they are, I'm finally gonna relent and buy some trekking poles, so I'll be teaching myself how to incorporate them into my tarp deployments.

KD

[Str1der]

I was one of the early adopters of the large winter tarps. In fact, I did the testing on the Superfly while I was on the AT. Before I go any further, I love my Superflies...LOVE EM! That said, they are my winter tarps only. Sure, I'll bring them out sometimes just to show them off, like I did with my camo Superfly at Trail Days, but they really aren't necessary to stay dry...or even close.

By our standards, the winter tarps are still in their adolescence. I think the Speer Winter Tarp hit the market sometime in late 2007. The Jacks and Warbonnet were right on the heels of the SWT. Up until then, everyone was using much smaller tarps with plenty of success in rain. Ask about Sgt. Rock's famous hurricane hang under a stock HH aysm tarp; he stayed dry.

I do very much like the additional coverage a large tarp provides, but the doors aren't all that valuable for that application. Sure they help, but pitching your tarp oriented to the wind/rain works even better and saves you weight. If you are digging the Warbonnet line, I'd go with the BMJ. You'll get almost the same coverage without the need for the extra weight of doors. Any of the big 3-season tarps will do you fine with fewer lines to tangle, stakes to carry (and lose), and less weight to lug.

It's funny; I adopted the winter tarps early in my hanging adventures, but as I become a more aged hanger I have shifted back to the smaller tarps again. My most recent tarp is the OES MacCat Deluxe in cuben and it feels huge these days because I've been using the Micros and Diamond Asyms much more often than my larger tarps. Not trying to discourage you from the Superfly, they hold a special place in my gear room for sure, but you can save yourself money and weight while still accomplishing everything you need from a tarp.

As always, JMO.

I agree with this 110%. You basically have a decision to make here...to doors or not to doors. If you really must have doors, the Superfly is awesome. However, you will always be better off choosing a site where one side of the tarp faces the wind...making the doors somewhat unnecessary. This is especially true in a forested area without a large amount of swirling winds to blow rain in all directions. Enter the BMJ (basically a door-less Superfly). I have one, and I LOVE it ! It boasts a huge amount of room in porch mode, but it can still be fit into a small area by pitching it tight. Only 4 stakes needed (doors almost always require more). Personally, I wouldn’t bother with doors if you plan on sticking to camping in wooded areas for only three seasons…especially if your companions will force you to avoid stormy weather anyway. Plus, you can always change your mind and add removable doors later. You can't remove the doors from the Superfly and leave them home when the forecast is for clear skies.

[DemostiX]

Kudos to Cannibal. A valuable and reflective reply and career plenary, even by standards he has elsewhere set.

[Quattro15]

Ok...so it's looking like doors aren't necessary here. So that points me towards a MacCat tarp. Now the question is what size is right???

The deluxe seems large enough but could I get away with the standard?? How are you to tell these things??