Granite Gear White Lightnin’

i don't have one of these, but i've heard that they are nice. they are cat cut all around to pitch tight, they have micro tensioners attached to help keep taut. not the lightest or cheapest around. but should be a good peice of gear. 8×10 will fit 2 but if you may want to fit 3 i would go with 10×10. check around for the best deal, i saw one for $70 once.

Hi Kohl, I've been using the White Lightnin for a couple years now. It's a great first tarp for a couple reasons. The catenary edges do allow for a pretty taut pitch without lots of fiddling. You can apply a ton of tension to the ridgeline because of the bias-taped seam. The webbing tensioners are hit-or-miss; the adjustment is nice, but you only get a few inches of adjustment range. Great for re-tensioning in the middle of the night, but you'll be shifting stakes on the setup. The ridgeline tensioning straps are great however because they allow me to easily use my poles in a tip-down configuration; I find this more stable and it also keeps me from stabbing my tarp with a pole-tip when pitching.

All in all, a great first tarp with more durability than the SUL tarps and handy features for less experienced tarpers. I'm gonna cut webbing straps off mine (except for the ridgeline straps) and sew loops with LineLocs on them. This will lighten things up, provide even more adjustment range, and give me a fun project too. I really wish Granite Gear would use LineLocs instead of the webbing straps and buckles; it would eliminate my only caveat with this great tarp.

Hello,

The White Lightnin' was my first tarp. There are, of course, tarps that are much lighter and smaller (especially those more suitable for solo use), but I was able to find it at a great price, so I went for it. In retrospect, I think that the area of this tarp and the durable material allowed me to make some learning mistakes that otherwise might have been quite expensive or uncomfortable. Overall, weighing considerations of price, weight, durability, a nice piece of gear. Others may know how much weight can be saved by removing some of the buckles and webbing, but I have not done this.

With the right pitch, I think the 8×10 is workable for three people, but the difference between what works as a two and three person shelter varies greatly depending on the size, sleep style, etc. of the 2-3 people! Also, will any of these 3 people be using bivies? If weather is expected, the two outside sleepers might suffer without the added protection of a non-waterproof breathable bivy. One advantage of a tarp like this is that with three people, even if the fully sheltered space under the tarp is a little tight, there are no tent walls to run up against, increasing the practical space available.

At this point, the White Lightnin', for me, has become hard to fit into my kit. When I am alone and aiming for a UL pack, I take a bivy and a much smaller and lighter tarp. When I am with others, they often do not own a bivy, and so other gear becomes more appropriate- and when with my significant other, it is nice to have the shared space of a single wall tent rather than two separate bivies.

This was my first real tarp. The 8×10 tarp is more then large enough for 2 people. You can get 3 under it, but it will be tight.

It is a bit heavy compared to other SilNylon tarps of the same size. But if you remove the adjustable tieouts and just tie the cord directly to the ends you can save several ounces.

It is a Cat. cut tarp meaning that there is always a curve to the ridgeline that makes some of the other flat tarp setups not work as well. You can still try out some of them, but the pitch won't be as tight in those non A-frame pitches. They still work somewhat as I've tried them, but that curved ridgeline works against you. However, in the A-Frame setup, that curved ridgeline makes it really easy to get a tight pitch which you need in wind and you'll get less sagging as things get cold and damp over night.

I don't use mine anymore though as I've moved on to a much smaller and lighter solo sized tarp (MLD Grace Solo) since I'm usually alone.

Thanks for all of the insight, but i decided to go with an Oware FlatTarp 2.