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  1. #1
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    Can some one help me see the error of my ways

    ok, so I am cheap, like insanely cheap, like buy a down pillow from overstock.com for $35 to get 20oz of 800 fp down and build my first karo step top quilt (I do still have quite a bit left if someone needs 5 oz to finish up theirs ) I find myself fighting the tarp thing. I have a gg 12x12 tarp and it is fine in most cases, plenty big in fact I usually get 2 of us under it. I love my ridge-line (a-la Opie). But it is just so huge, so much more than I need most of the time. When I do take it I often set it up as a camp dining fly because it is enormous. And I am trying to go lighter so I am looking to cut down my weight wherever I can.

    I am trying to figure out why I shouldn't be using walmart 9x12 .7 mil drop cloths for a tarp. They weigh 5.5oz each (only one oz heavier than Sgt. Rock's cuben, almost twice as large, and a little cheaper) and at $1.47 I can buy 100 of them cheaper than a WB Big MamaJamba (and again, bigger and half the weight of Spin...)

    Granted I have only gotten 7 nights out of one, so on a through hike for a month I can see some advantage to something more durable. I do use some of the 12-15 ft of duck tape that I take on every trip keeping it "nice", but I have yet to have a rip that I couldn't fix in a few seconds and I can carry 3 of them to bail out my compatriots who didn't bring their stuff (they are only $1.23 ea. if you buy them in the three pack.). They are tiny when folded up, and when my son sticks a hot stick through it I have no desire to kill him (unless he reaches the blackbird... on another note, Brandon how easy is it for you to replace my bug netting on my WBBB to fix the hole now burned in it????)

    I know that can't get them drum tight, but they keep me very dry. The yard I end up carving off comes in handy for all kinds of things around camp, and...I digress.

    So before I do something crazy, and spend money on a pack to save 2lbs instead of a "good" tarp, please someone cure me of my irrational thought process.

    Sincerely,
    Phat, Cheap, and Happy.
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  2. #2
    Senior Member Just Jeff's Avatar
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    If you get a bad storm one night a few miles from your car, you'll wish you had something more durable than a drop cloth. And is that weight before you put any tie-outs on it, or are you planning on tying knots in it to wrap your cords around?

    Just depends on how much risk you're willing to accept on staying dry. Only you can answer that one!

    For the bug net, just slap some duct tape on it. Or hand stitch it closed.
    “Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall when the wise are banished from the public councils because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded because they flatter the people, in order to betray them.” ~Judge Joseph Story

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  3. #3
    Senior Member hiker_DC's Avatar
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    It all depends on how often you go out. If you only go out seven nights per year, then a painters tarp per year might cut it. If you spend most of the summer camping on the weekends . . . maybe a better tarp would save you money in the long run. Obviously you are into DIY projects. Having made all of my own shelter gear (hammock, tarp and quilts), I can tell you that making a tarp is easier than a down quilt. But that is just my opinion.
    I have two doctors, my left leg and my right. ~G.M. Trevelyan

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  4. #4
    Member
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    I actually thought I would also feel it once a big storm hits, but I experienced one of the worst thunder storms I have ever seen in the wild just a few nights ago about 5 miles from the trail head, and I was dry while several others were swimming. It did take 2 min of re-enforcement just as it started to rain, and some fore thought to make sure it did not come back to bite me. I guess one down/up side was that I laid awake for almost 3 hours watching the lightning and the rain, because I could see it so well through the drop cloth.

    It is one of those situations where I feel like I should want more over my head, but if I am willing to give up that tiny bit of security, then can I get away without it...It is kind of like the feeling expressed on the "do I really need a knife?" thread a few days ago...

    Do I really need 2 fixed blades, and a folding kniffe like I took on the last packing trip (yes I actually used all 3 for different things on that trip), or can I get away with sa small light lock blade, a stick for a baton and a razor blade?

    I guess I just need to wrap my head around the real situation where it would not be enough...

    Just to be clear, I want to want a "real" tarp for more than the kewl factor. And I actually feel like I need one, but I am going through this extreme, "Why do I take that with me?" stage right now and I am just trying to shake it. On the way back from the huge thunderstorm I went Cody Lundin barefoot for 5 miles and I only regretted it for about 75 yds of really pointy rocks. The experience is making me question everything I have taken for granted as necessary for years. I am not giving up my fire steel though

    DC, that is a good point, I have spent more nights out this year than any in the past 15. and some of those were under the GG and now I have 3 trips in with plastic (one minor storm and the big one) the latter because I couldn't bring myself to buy a second tarp and I felt compelled to pitch the GG over someone else. I will probably make a real winter tarp this autumn just because that is how things seem to go, I can't go to long without making something and now all my scouts have their own hammocks already so I won't be doing that any time soon... thanks for the advice and the sanity check (I think I really need the latter)

    You guys are all great!!!
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  5. #5
    Senior Member angrysparrow's Avatar
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    A painters tarp is a frugal idea, and should work fine in a lot of situations....until it doesn't.

    One thing that doesn't get talked about a lot with hammocks is that your tarp is probably the most important piece of gear. More-so than the hammock, it is actually your shelter from the elements. Consider that hammocking is essentially tarping with a suspended bivy. For all the endless talk that we do about hammock design and features, it's our tarps that keep us dry and block the wind.

    I'm all for saving money. And I'm all for scrimping and re-purposing inexpensive materials into gear. Even doing so for a tarp should be fine as long as you always have bail-out options or a series of backups. But for when it matters, in storm conditions away from the trailhead....I think the tarp is the very last place I want to pinch pennies.
    “I think that when the lies are all told and forgot the truth will be there yet. It dont move about from place to place and it dont change from time to time. You cant corrupt it any more than you can salt salt.” - Cormac McCarthy

  6. #6
    Senior Member mbiraman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by angrysparrow View Post
    A painters tarp is a frugal idea, and should work fine in a lot of situations....until it doesn't.

    One thing that doesn't get talked about a lot with hammocks is that your tarp is probably the most important piece of gear. More-so than the hammock, it is actually your shelter from the elements. Consider that hammocking is essentially tarping with a suspended bivy. For all the endless talk that we do about hammock design and features, it's our tarps that keep us dry and block the wind.

    I'm all for saving money. And I'm all for scrimping and re-purposing inexpensive materials into gear. Even doing so for a tarp should be fine as long as you always have bail-out options or a series of backups. But for when it matters, in storm conditions away from the trailhead....I think the tarp is the very last place I want to pinch pennies.
    Couldn't agree more and AS said it well, "your tarp is your shelter." When i got my WBBB last year it felt good but when i got my tarp it suddenly clicked and i new then why people have a few . A good tarp is essential, doesn't weigh much and you don't have to have it deployed, just in the skins above you but worth every cent or your effort in makin one.
    " The mind creates the abyss, the heart crosses it."

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  7. #7
    Senior Member
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    I agree with Angry Sparrow on this one. It should work until it doesn't. Removing a couple of straps from a bag or going with a lighter pack should shave the weight and get you into a better tarp without the weight cost overall. oh, and dropping a knife. I would suggest you find one knife that can do the job of both fixed blades.

  8. #8
    MacEntyre's Avatar
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    Tarps and down quilts are two things I buy from HF cottage makers.

    The rest can be made from burlap, and you will survive.

    - MacEntyre
    - MacEntyre
    "We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." - Ben Franklin
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  9. #9
    Senior Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by phatpenguin View Post
    I am trying to figure out why I shouldn't be using walmart 9x12 .7 mil drop cloths for a tarp. They weigh 5.5oz each (only one oz heavier than Sgt. Rock's cuben, almost twice as large, and a little cheaper) and at $1.47 I can buy 100 of them cheaper than a WB Big MamaJamba (and again, bigger and half the weight of Spin...)
    I'm currently using my Lowe's tarp. The two reasons are that there are other things I need to spend money on related to hammocks and that for right now it is doing the job.

  10. #10
    Senior Member
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    But I will say.... that if I intend on putting myself in a real trail situation I'd go with a more durable solution. Currently the price of failure isn't that high for what I do.

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