Tarp users- how do you pack it

I use to just stuff it but because a tarp has a lot of lines, they tended to get tangled and air gets in making it hard to stuff. Now I fold it so the lines are folded inside and air doesn't get folded in. I follow how Ray Jardine recommends in his book. I keep the stakes with the ground cloth in a separate bag.
Mark

I just cram it into a stuffsack.

I fold the tarp as well as the ground cloth, making sure the lines are inside, place the ti stakes inside and slide into stuff sac.

I roll mine and tie it up with some 550 cord. No stuff sack.

Stakes? I make them when I get to camp and pitch them to the side when I am done.

Joseph

I wind all the lines up and throw a rubber band over them. I then fold the tarp up but I don't try to get it perfect and then lastly roll it up around my tiny stake sack. I stuff the bundle in a stuff sack and then it goes in the pack if its dry or in the outer mesh pocket if its wet. If I used it all the time, then perhaps I'd be less careful about it, but even on my recent PCT thru-hike I only bothered setting it up maybe 9 times. Most of the time I'm too lazy to set it up and just cowboy camp (sleep out in the open).

The ground cloth gets shaken out, folded and placed in the outer mesh pocket on my pack.

Just stuff it. Separate bag for the stakes. Don't want to poke a hole through my shelter.

I tied up the guy lines at first, but found they come apart easily so I no longer bother.

My rope bag includes different lengths of line ranging from 5′ to 20′. We always untie the lines before folding the tarps because we never know where we will set up camp the next night; there may be trees close by or not. Long lines are needed on a beach or to hang the tarp high. We also carry a few screw-eyes to secure the line to beach logs.

i leave all cords attached to the tarp via a bowline knot. from here an can make each cord any length needed and save myself the hassle of tying more knots than need be when at camp.

1st i grab each cord near the tarp and wrap it around my hand until i get to about 2 feet of cord left. then that gets wrapped around the existing loop and i simply tuck in the last little bit underneath the loop. my cords never untie while packing and never knot up this way. technique learned at http://www.hammockforums.net

i then fold the 2 sides up over the ridgeline and then loosen 1 side of the ridgeline and start rolling it toward the other. when i get to the other side of the tarp i put the neat little ball of spinntex into the attached blackbishop sack.

blackbishop sack idea also learned at http://www.hammockforums.net

sry. edited to include that i keep my groundstakes separate from my tarp. no way i'm chancing a puncture

stuff the Integral Designs siltarp in its water-draining stuff sack.

I stuff my tarp into a mesh stuff sack, and put it in the mesh outside pocket of my pack. On my hammock tarp and my standard flat tarp, I leave all the guy lines attached. On my poncho tarp, I remove the guy lines.

I FOLD my GG SpinnTwinn then wrap it with two ponytail loops around it then store it in my mesh side…Folding it allows you to get the size(tarp) very,very small. Stuffing it will takes up more CI IMHO.

When I use a tarp I just gather the material, flip the attached guylines onto the material, then flip/fold (ie, folding indicates neatness, this isn't really a fold per se) onto itself a time or two. I sort of wrap the lines around the bunched-up fabric, then I just shove it all in the pack into the extra little spaces that could use some filling in. Stakes in a separate bag. Incidentally, this is the same technique I use for tents.

Back mesh pocket.
I wouldn't buy a backpacking sack without a mesh pocket big enough to carry my tarp or tent. I want to be able to pitch it without opening my pack in the rain, and i want someplace for it to dry when i'm carrying it.
My method might be different if i lived in a dry climate.

Agree completely with Mike, mesh pockets are the go. A stuff sack may be a useful addition, however, I prefer not to use a stuff sack.

I get Mike's idea, but… I happen to use a dry sack for clothes/sleeping bag and food, so anything I'm worried about keeping dry is totally waterproof. No worries whatsoever about rain, or even floating in the bilge of a canoe all day. Tarp is also the first or second thing in the top of my pack, so it's easy to grab and put up. I can see where you'd get better drying with the mesh pocket, but suspect that the non-exposed bits of waterproof cloth can't dry a ton?

I use a waterproof packliner Brad, and a seperate (large) silnylon s/sack for my quilt, and any camp clothes i'm carrying. Everything goes in the packliner except a spare insulating top that i might need during the day. My waterproofs, hat, gloves, water etc, are all carried in outside pockets. The tarp/tent pegs are carried in a side pocket. The tarp goes in the back mesh pocket. Silnylon doesn't absorb water, so there is nothing to get wet. If i'm carrying the Duomid inner, that goes inside the pack, on top of, and outside of, the packliner. Nothing wet EVER goes in my pack if i can help it. I try to always have my pack set up so i'm under cover before i need to open it. A lifetime of camping in Scotlands climate makes you aware what water can do to your gear. :)

How does one dry a tarp/flysheet etc in a backpack mesh pocket? I should add that I like large mesh pockets in backpacks, primarily since it's easy to see and find the contents inside. Most of my packs have a large front mesh pocket.

But it puzzles me how one could actually dry a large item like a tarp or flysheet. Once you stuff the tarp in the mesh pocket only a very small percentage of the tarp's surface area is against the mesh and able to dry. I'm confused.

No worries, Mike. We all develop systems that work the best for us! :)

My point about gear in dry sacks is that I could open my pack under a waterfall and my gear would stay dry. I don't have any reason to look for cover when I access my stuff, or to worry about wet stuff in the pack, or the effects of 8 hours of hard rain on the contents of the pack.

Also, one of the two reasons you gave for not buying a pack if it didn't have mesh pockets was so that you could dry your tarp in the pocket. Kinda in contrast to saying it's silnylon and can't get wet… Not saying the fabric will completely saturate, but it's hard to shake off all the rain, especially if it's still raining when we pack up. That wet stuff gets rolled/stuffed inside the other waterproof fabric, which can prevent things from drying.

Gotta love the wet! One challenging day I remember was about 1 degree above freezing, pouring rain, heavy winds, paddling our canoe across lakes in 2-3 foot waves for most of a day. Got to camp, set up, crawled in the tent… and blissfully pulled my bone-dry down bag and insulation layers out of the sack. Still puts a smile on my face.

Maybe drying is the wrong word then Daniel, as silnylon doesn't absorb water. Any water on the tarp runs off and through the mesh of the pocket as you walk. I also pull it out the pocket and shake the water off during the day. If it was in the pack, any water would just stay there, potentially soaking other stuff in the pack.

>Gotta love the wet! One challenging day I remember was about 1 degree above freezing, pouring rain, heavy winds, paddling our canoe across lakes in 2-3 foot waves for most of a day. Got to camp, set up, crawled in the tent… and blissfully pulled my bone-dry down bag and insulation layers out of the sack. Still puts a smile on my face.<

That sounds like a typical Scottish hike, Brad! I've had 2 weeks like that! :)

Hi Mike

> I wouldn't buy a backpacking sack without a mesh pocket big enough to carry my
> tarp or tent. I want to be able to pitch it without opening my pack in the rain,
I carry mine under the top flap of my pack, outside the waterproof throat. Works well.

> and i want someplace for it to dry when i'm carrying it.
Really? I doubt very much that a rolled-up tarp will dry very well. I have to hang my tent up from the verandah roof (or pitch it) to get it to dry.

Cheers

My backpacking sacks don't have a lid, Roger. :)