Is bigger really better?

**jeepcachr** · 09-17-2010, 13:06

It must be a slow day. Instead of talking about how we can get more people into the comfort of hanging you're all talking about making people suffer so that they will learn how to do more with less?

A newbie using a small tarp isn't going to appreciate the views and the experience of hanging if they end up wet or cold. They aren't going to say hey I learned how not to do it I need to do better next time. They are going to say, "that wasn't good I'm going back to a tent."

"Experience is something you gain right after you needed it."

**angrysparrow** · 09-17-2010, 13:20

Originally Posted by jeepcachr

Instead of talking about how we can get more people into the comfort of hanging you're all talking about making people suffer so that they will learn how to do more with less?

No, we're discussing using gear to its fullest instead of throwing more money at a problem.

HF isn't here to 'convert more people'.

**jeepcachr** · 09-17-2010, 13:50

Several people have made the case for a bigger tarp being cheaper. So I don't see it as throwing money at the problem. Other people have made the case for it being required by their weather conditions. My big blue 10x12 is the cheapest tarp I own.

**SilverbackBob** · 09-17-2010, 14:18

Nobody's learning anything less by starting with a big tarp. Creative options for shelter abound with a large tarp. Speaking of which, I've been tarping out a covered sleeping area for 25 years; 20 of those were in interior Alaska in all seasons, and 5 of those were in a hammock. I don't seem to ever remember finding hanging a tarp a daunting or complicated process. String the sucker up and do a good job with your knots/connections. How hard is that?

**miisterwright** · 09-17-2010, 15:43

I don't think the thread was intended to say that large or small tarps are superior. I think it was to balance the idea that small tarps are inadequate.
I would answer the original question this way: No bigger is not always better, just most of the time.

**Snowbound** · 09-17-2010, 15:50

I prefer smaller tarps most of the time. I love being able to see my surroundings and enjoy a nice breeze. If it's not raining I usually pitch my tarp half way over my hammock so I can stargaze as well

**miisterwright** · 09-17-2010, 15:53

I prefer my Nano7 to my Blackbird... when it's in my pack on the trail.
Isn't the tarp thing the same way? The gear we want in camp isn't always the gear we want to carry.

**miisterwright** · 09-17-2010, 16:00

Like I said before, I'm usually hanging double, but I disagree the being able to see the surrondings is a problem with a large tarp. If it's high and wide, you can see all around. It doesn't have to be "storm pitched" every time.

I like big tarps, but use both.

**Mule** · 09-17-2010, 16:41

I take the Speer Winter Tarp always. Like last night at Browning Hill, I never pitched it at all, and when I do I pitch it high and open and don't bother the stake out the doors unless things get nasty. Four of Five ounces more, priceless if it storms.

**Beast 71** · 09-17-2010, 20:35

Originally Posted by Shug

Winter equals larger tarp with doors for me but I live in Minnesota......
Shug

I'm in complete agreement! A large tarp can always can always be pitched high and open but, you can't close up a small tarp enough for the sub zero temperatures and high winds we get here in Minnesota. I have a Claytor Diamond Fly and I wish I'd bought a larger tarp.

I guess it's all about hiking your own hike. I'm a paddle camper that does most of my hanging in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. There I can only camp at established campsites so there are limited options about choosing a spot. A larger tarp could over come limitations at some campsites. If I were carrying all my gear all the time I was traveling, or not interested in winter camping, I'm sure I'd probably feel differently about large tarps