I've joined the Blackbird club!

**Cannibal** · 05-21-2009, 13:42

You'll know you're deep when you get a winter tarp for those terrible S. Florida winters. I remember it getting all the way down to 40F one time.

**MAD777** · 05-21-2009, 16:24

Good one! The winter one is for my trips to NH. Only problem is that I don't get up there enough.

I was last up there in March on a snowshoeing trip with my daughter in the White Mtns.

**fin** · 05-21-2009, 16:26

It's a slippery slope. I keep considering getting another tarp, but I can't figure out what it will do for me that my other 6 tarps won't do, other than save me at best 1/4 pound.

**drewboy** · 05-21-2009, 16:59

Yeah, those last4 ounces can get pretty pricey. Especially when you start looking at cuben fiber. If I were to take another plunge on tarps, I'd seriously consider the MLD Spectralite at 6.4oz and $260.

http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com...sid=870c75698d

**fin** · 05-21-2009, 18:46

Ouch! $260? I can get two tarps from Brian for that! A cuben tarp and a MacCat Ultra.

**attroll** · 05-21-2009, 19:03

Yeah but there not 6.4 oz either.

I would like to here more anout this Spectralite .60 : 6.4oz $26

**fin** · 05-21-2009, 19:09

I guess it's all how much extra you want to pay to drop that 4 or 6 extra ounces. Me, I'll leave a granola bar behind before I pay an extra bill or two. The granola bar is maybe a buck, the tarp is $20+ extra/ounce! But I'm cheap that way. And I've been known to carry a heavy load.

**attroll** · 05-21-2009, 19:50

Originally Posted by FishinFinn

I guess it's all how much extra you want to pay to drop that 4 or 6 extra ounces. Me, I'll leave a granola bar behind before I pay an extra bill or two. The granola bar is maybe a buck, the tarp is $20+ extra/ounce! But I'm cheap that way. And I've been known to carry a heavy load.

I hear you and agree to a certain extent. For weekend trips it is not a big deal for me. However if I am going to be walking 2,178 miles on the Appalachian Trail for six or seven month I think I would much rather save the two ounces on my fly weight and carry and extra granola bar

.

**Coldspring** · 05-21-2009, 19:51

Is the MLD about the same size as a MacCat Standard, but just a little wider? It does have more tieouts, but no cat cuts. Isn't the weight of a Spinntex MacCat about 8 oz, so 2 oz heavier and $100 less than the MLD? Plus you have a 4-7 week wait with MLD to contend with, don't know what Brian's is on special orders.

**drewboy** · 05-21-2009, 21:40

It seems to be sized in between the Maccat standard and Deluxe, and has caternary cuts on all sides, and including the ridgeline. Ron Bell has a very good reputation for his tarps. I also like the extra hanging hooks he includes underneath the tarp, handy if you do not have a structural ridgeline to hang things from. It looks like for the cuben model he also includes free CF poles that can be used to go to ground with. He also does things like felled seams that minimize the amount of seam sealing you have to do. Some day I must have one.