Why should I buy the expensive tarp?

[UncleMJM]

Another thing to consider is to shop some of the fine cuben fiber tarps our cottage industry folks produce. They are great on weight savings but there is a cost to that. (+/- $235-$400.00). When you do that, the $130 sil tarp will seem like a steal.

I agree with the posts above. It is all subjective. The ideal thing to do would be to go to a group hang, see lots of different set ups and draw from the experience of the others in person. Not only will you see an assortment of tarps and hammocks, there will be a range of suspension set ups, guy lines, and stakes. Each with a story of why that item was selected or why they are looking for something else.

If weight is not an issue, it's hard to beat the Poly Hennessy Hex tarp for good coverage and simplicity in set up under $80.

I've seen the UGQ tarps in use by the folks who make them and was impressed, (both with the quality of gear and quality of people). If I were shopping for a sil tarp, I would definately give them strong consideration.

If you are counting pennies, like did when I started down this path, you can come in pretty inexpensively on your lines using planer board line. Come to think of it, I started with mason line which is really inexpensive but tangles easily and moved to the planer board line.

[Firesong]

I've got both kinda tarps. My poly is still going strong after 10 years (I feel old). I also have a 7 year old serratus silicone tarp which isn't the newer style of silnylon. It's great too. Lol. Just spent 125$ Canadian on a mec silnylon tarp a month ago. The big difference is weight and packing size. Are you mainly car camping or going to be hiking? Because that's where the size will matter.

Good tarps tend to last if you treat them right regardless of type. And mine have been used heavily.

One other thing I've noticed with my new silnylon is that it dries soooo fast. Big factor I hadn't considered when I bought it. Loving it so far.

[DRobertson]

ya know, for the same $130 dollars, you could buy a warbonnet superfly. The superfly is just amazing. ask anybody. Here is a link. http://www.warbonnetoutdoors.com/superfly/

[nothermark]

I have close to 50 year old urethane coated nylon poncho's I bought from Eddie Bauer when Eddie made excellent outdoor gear. No delamination issues. Some of the early super light coatings had a problem but silnylon does not make a good tent floor either.

To answer the original question. There are a variety of materials and sources for tarps. The cheapest is probably urethane coated polyester made in China. Cheapest material and labor, varying quality. The cost of importing them does make cottage vendor equivalents competitive. The cottage vendors generally do a better job of detailing because they use their stuff and know what breaks. From there the cost escalates with materials used. PU over polyester or nylon is lowest in cost, then Silnylon, then Cuben.

[Tobl]

Okay, thanks everyone for tips. Seeing how many comments were "well, i guess it's okay for car camping" and given that I don't even own a car I'll definitely have another look at your recommendations.

The ideal thing to do would be to go to a group hang, see lots of different set ups and draw from the experience of the others in person.

Believe me, I would love to attend one if there were any hangers here in Japan. But thanks for the tip nonetheless, I'm sure it'd be the best way to go about these things.

[SilvrSurfr]

When I was young I didn't care about weight. I'm not young anymore. I have five tarps - four of them were attempts to "go cheap" on weather protection. Wish I had skipped that attempt all together, in retrospect.

[Tobl]

Okay, I'll go with the tadpole. Thanks gnarus and sargevining, I wouldn't have found it without you and am just in time before their break.

[jackleberry]

It's all about weight. The $20 12'x12' Guide Gear tarp works just fine, and that's what I use primarily. But it weighs 2lbs. I could spend $100 more on a tarp, but that would only shave off less than a pound. If I spent $400 on a cuben fiber tarp, that would shave off even more, but it wouldn't really give me any better protection than the $20 PU coated nylon tarp. Unless you're going to be packing it very long distances, it's hard to justify the expense of premium tarp materials.

[Rolloff]

The lighter the material, the more coverage you will be able to carry. It's not always just the weight per item. Coverage is important.

Some of the same people that might consider going cheap on a tarp, probably would not purchase a tent using the same reasoning.

To play devils advocate, I would also hope the lack of a high end tarp, should not keep one out of the woods. The cheaper equipment's pro's and con's will be much easier to see, under actual use, and the appreciation, once upgraded, will be pleasant to say the least.

[hutzelbein]

The main reason for me to use an "expensive" silnylon tarp is weight. I'm already carrying a lot of insulation that I cannot cut from my pack. If I can save 1kg by spending $50 more, I'm all for it. That said, I have not yet shelled out for a Cuben tarp, and I don't know if I ever will.

I also prefer to buy from the cottage industry and don't consider a tarp like e.g. the WB Mamajamba (which is what I'm using) expensive with a price tag of $110. Actually, if I calculate the cost of the materials and the amount of time I would have to spend to build a similar tarp, I'd say it's cheap. The workers who made a $20 poly tarp can't have been paid fairly. Just one more reason to spend my money where I (think I) know that the work conditions are OK.