Tent vs. Tarp

[G_Stines]

Tarp(s) are more practical. You can make a shelter without a tarp. Why add on an extra 4-8lbs for a shelter that could easily be made with everything found in the woods, where most BOLs are or travel through. Tarps can be used to gather rainwater more effectively than a tent. Tarps can also be used as a shelter, and I know for me personally I can put up a tarp/clamshell shelter faster than most people can put up a tent.

My opinions anyhow.

ETA: I have no idea why it kicked me up to post #1, and the OP to #2

 

[Liberty's Teeth]

Can anyone explain to me why most Bug out bags contain tarps for protection vs. tents? There are very good hiking tents available and I just don't understand why anyone would want a tarp. Here are the differentiators that I see:

* Size, a good sized tarp is an inch thick and a little larger than a sheet of paper when properly folded. A good sized (3 person) hiking tent is going to take up roughly 8"x20" worth of space.

* Weight, a tarp will weigh a pound or two whereas a hiking tent for 3 people will weigh anywhere from 4lbs to 8lbs (depending on how much you spend).

That being said, I would rather take on the extra 6lbs and have some comfort. Can anyone tell me why I am wrong?

Thanks again!

 

[sadclownwp]

Honestly it is because a tarp has more uses. And because the tarp has more uses, it gets beat on more. And thus we have come to the largest deciding factor cost. No one want to throw down 150 bucks on a good backpacking tent, when a tarp costs 12 bucks.

 

[Liberty's Teeth]

Well, I have a tarp already in my bag along with the paracord, etc. I think I might carry both?!

 

[churchmouse]

Can anyone explain to me why most Bug out bags contain tarps for protection vs. tents? There are very good hiking tents available and I just don't understand why anyone would want a tarp. Here are the differentiators that I see:

* Size, a good sized tarp is an inch thick and a little larger than a sheet of paper when properly folded. A good sized (3 person) hiking tent is going to take up roughly 8"x20" worth of space.

* Weight, a tarp will weigh a pound or two whereas a hiking tent for 3 people will weigh anywhere from 4lbs to 8lbs (depending on how much you spend).

That being said, I would rather take on the extra 6lbs and have some comfort. Can anyone tell me why I am wrong?

Thanks again!

You can get under a tarp quickly in a rain or snow storm. You can be creative with a tarp where you can not with a tent. You can through up a lean too structure or just wrap up in a tarp. Tarps are cool. Tents are great but not a flexible in their uses.

 

[snapping turtle]

I have had a eureka G2 mountian tent for almost 20 years. It did cost a good deal of cash but it is a four season tent and they say it holds four people. I say it fits 2 comfortable and 4 if you sleep in a commune like way. Not having to swat bugs all night is worth at least 40 extra dollar to me. I can set it up in about 5- 10 minutes depending on how well i packed it up the last time I put it away.

I used to do the first reduction hunts at brown county state park and the second year of the hunt it bottomed out at 14 degrees. The guys in the camper next to me in the campground made me breakfast and coffee in the morning. It seems they all had bets as to how long i would last in a tent at 20 or less degrees. Some said i would be in my truck before 9 pm running the motor. I slept like a bug in a rug all night and none perdicted i would last all night so they made enough to feed me.

A lantern in a nice colorfull tent on a cool night with no one else around is one of the coolest sights to take a pic of on the planet.

As far as a tarp. I have one for under the tent, cut and shaped as a stick/root cover. I also use one to keep the dew off the picnic table area and the dew off me when cat fishing. great item to have. The very best thing to use one for is to get the leaves off the lawn in the fall.

A good tent a good axe and a good rifle are needed to do any survival north of indiana in the winter. A tarp is not going to do.

 

[Sailor]

Silnylon is crazy light. Mine packs smaller than my water bottle.

For comfort with the family, tent. Survival, tarp. Most of the time I test it am so tired, tha I am comfortable laying on the frozen ground if the wind is kept off me.

 

[churchmouse]

I have had a eureka G2 mountian tent for almost 20 years. It did cost a good deal of cash but it is a four season tent and they say it holds four people. I say it fits 2 comfortable and 4 if you sleep in a commune like way. Not having to swat bugs all night is worth at least 40 extra dollar to me. I can set it up in about 5- 10 minutes depending on how well i packed it up the last time I put it away.

I used to do the first reduction hunts at brown county state park and the second year of the hunt it bottomed out at 14 degrees. The guys in the camper next to me in the campground made me breakfast and coffee in the morning. It seems they all had bets as to how long i would last in a tent at 20 or less degrees. Some said i would be in my truck before 9 pm running the motor. I slept like a bug in a rug all night and none perdicted i would last all night so they made enough to feed me.

A lantern in a nice colorfull tent on a cool night with no one else around is one of the coolest sights to take a pic of on the planet.

As far as a tarp. I have one for under the tent, cut and shaped as a stick/root cover. I also use one to keep the dew off the picnic table area and the dew off me when cat fishing. great item to have. The very best thing to use one for is to get the leaves off the lawn in the fall.

A good tent a good axe and a good rifle are needed to do any survival north of indiana in the winter. A tarp is not going to do.

Truth in what you say. I have made some interesting shelters with a couple of tarps where a tent would not work out. It is all in what you want and are willing to carry. We have every kind of tent known to man except the ones those crazy people attach to the side of a mountain to sleep in. We are basically tent campers and do it in the deep winter when there is time. That said, no room left in the BOB for a tent.

 

[snapping turtle]

Yes my crazy tent is good for 50-60 MPH (or higher if properly staked down) winds also something a normal tent will not withstand or any tarp.

PS i ilke tents but I do not like mountians that well.

 

[churchmouse]

Yes my crazy tent is good for 50-60 MPH (or higher if properly staked down) winds also something a normal tent will not withstand or any tarp.

PS i ilke tents but I do not like mountians that well.

Another use for a tarp. When we do the winter He-Man camp outs we put up our tents and cover the windward side with a huge tarp. It cuts the wind and keeps in the heat. Best of both worlds.
The last few He-Mans were attended by my wife and daughter to train for winter weather survival. They had such a good time we can not leave home with out them so the we have had to re-name. He-Person camp outs. Darn the PC crowd............

 

[gvsugod]

You can get under a tarp quickly in a rain or snow storm. You can be creative with a tarp where you can not with a tent. You can through up a lean too structure or just wrap up in a tarp. Tarps are cool. Tents are great but not a flexible in their uses.

This is my thought exactly. The more multi-purpose items in a BOB the better. And the weight may be negligible when directly comparing them, but every ounce you can save is a good thing.

 

[Archbishop]

Everyone's entitled to their own opinion so here's mine.
First Post starts by saying you can save 4-8 lbs by carrying a tarp over a tent. Really? If that's the case you're doing it wrong. My tarp weighs in at 10 oz. And that's an ultra light one, not the cheap one you buy at Wally world for 12 bucks. That ones gonna weigh more. (I'm guessing double. ) My Tent weighs in at 2lbs 10oz. So my savings would only be 2lbs total. Less weight saving if I was comparing it to a tarp from Wally world.
I just got back from a camping trip in Michigan a week or so back. There were ticks all over the place. I'm sooo glad I had a tent over a tarp. I don't want ticks crawling on me at night. Or Mosquitos (sp)
I have several tents and a few tarps. They all have different strengths and weaknesses. To simply say Tarp beats tent is too simplistic. I would consider a tarp more out west.
If you really want to go lite but not quite tarp and you don't want to spend a lot of dollars you can always get a hammock with the netting sewn over it, like cocoon. My hammock weighs in at 20oz. You still need a tarp if it rains. Add another 10oz for a light weight tarp. Bonus my tarp is also a poncho to be worn while hiking in the rain.
Just adding extra thoughts to the conversation or fuel to the fire depending on how you take it.

 

[churchmouse]

You actually added to my original thoughts. A tarp is very flexible. A tent is shelter to be sure. I prefer sleeping in a tent. If you get caught up in some weather while hiking a tarp is a quick shelter and a great wind break. Tents are great, tarps are cool. Both are good in their own way.

 

[Liberty's Teeth]

I have more than myself to worry about hence I have to have a larger tent. I am looking at the Alps Mountaineering Hybrid CE 3 which is about 7lbs. I think I have my answer from you guys though, both, if you can hack it.

 

[jeremy]

Both have their pluses and minuses.

If it is just me and I am going to be constantly on the move Tarp.
If it is going to be someplace I am going to use as a Base of Operations, I prefer to use a Tent. However, I still use Tarps when I use tents. I will take and use one tarp as a Ground Cloth under the Tent. I also will use tarps, for everything from rainflys, to wind breaks, to sun shades, etc, etc...

 

[Meister]

I have a modular setup. Necessities in the main bag and ancillary equipment attached to in in smaller pouches. I went with the both route too. Too easy to miss one or the other.

 

[Car Ramrod]

I have more than myself to worry about hence I have to have a larger tent. I am looking at the Alps Mountaineering Hybrid CE 3 which is about 7lbs. I think I have my answer from you guys though, both, if you can hack it.

I was recently in the market for a tent, and just did a lot of comparing between different ones. How much are you looking to spend, and how big of a tent are you needing?

 

[K_W]

I'm not an avid camper, but I have gone a number of times...

Twice I spent a week "deep" in the Kentucky woods with friends, carrying just a duffel bag of basic stuff, MRE's, and a shovel. Those times I had only a hammock and a tarp for shelter. This would be more like a "bug out" situation than the other times I have camped.

The other times included my wife, which meant: a tent, an air mattress, real food in a cooler, dinnerware, a portable gas stove, and a requisite "real bathroom nearby".

The advantages of a tarp and hammock setup is time and travel. A tarp uses little space and a hammock can be used to carry things. You can set up a hammock and tarp in 3 minutes, it's good in almost all weather, and you are not sleeping on hard dirt. The disadvantage is bugs, animals, bugs, wind, and bugs again. I can't stress the bugs part enough. My head and hands had the texture of pink golf balls in the morning from the mosquitoes. There is also nothing stopping a raccoon from opening your duffel bag and stealing one of your half eaten MRE's either. Also, I could break camp and move to a new site in minutes, leaving almost no trace behind.

With a tent there is the bulk of the fabric and poles, and a tarp or two, because most tents are not fully waterproof top or bottom. Even a short rain storm will soak all but the pricier tents. A tent with the bottom wrapped in a tarp with a large tarp secured over the top can take about any weather short of severe storms. They are bug / critter resistant and cut out the wind well. This of course takes time to plan and setup as well as to break camp.

In a SHTF situation where I have to bug out fast, it would be a tarp hammock setup. If long term it would be tent & camo tarp

 

[Liberty's Teeth]

I just ended up buying the Alps Hybrid CE3. I needed a larger tent and that was about as large and heavy as you can go and still be able to comfortably carry it (for the money). I spent $143 plus $15 shipping.

 

[Car Ramrod]

I just ended up buying the Alps Hybrid CE3. I needed a larger tent and that was about as large and heavy as you can go and still be able to comfortably carry it (for the money). I spent $14https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=27578093 plus $15 shipping.

It sounds like you wanted a heavy tent? I found it listed at 7.5 pounds.

The ALPS Zenith 3 is just a tad bit smaller, but comes in around 2 pounds lighter. You can also have had it for $119 + shipping. You would have saved money AND weight.

The Mountain Hardware Light Wedge 3 is also lighter, and would have cost less as well. $130ish. (I was going to go with the Light Wedge 2, but everyone was sold out when I went to buy. I ended up with the Kelty Salida 2).