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Your opinions on shelter
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Jan 3, 2010 at 8:49 pm #1253759
I have been looking at tarps recently. I think it looks fun using a tarp but I have been having second thoughts. My current tent is decent(BA seedhouse sl2) but heavier than the tarps I have been looking at. For some reason I feel buying a tarp would be wasteful. My tent is in great shape still.
Has anyone else had similar thoughts?
Jan 3, 2010 at 9:02 pm #1559215Yeah, same boat here. Was using a TT Contrail, but that's out of action. Currently have a Seedhouse SL1. Looking for something lighter for CDT and general three season use.
Joe's Hexamid has caught my eye but I'm 6'7" so doubt it'll work for me.
Anything tickling your fancy at present?Jan 3, 2010 at 9:38 pm #1559229What do you mean by wasteful?
Jan 3, 2010 at 10:06 pm #1559233Lets say you buy a blue car and drive it a few days. Then you see a red car and think "I have to have that red car." So you buy the red car and then you just park the blue car and never use it. That is my analogy about being wasteful.
I have been looking at the MLD monk tarp and recently the ray way tarp kit. I like the versatility of a rectangular tarp.
My main issue I'm kinda emotionally attached to my tent. I have had so many wonderful experiences while using it.
Jan 3, 2010 at 10:17 pm #1559234i think as long as you'd sell your tent you'd be ok :D
Jan 3, 2010 at 10:34 pm #1559238Had a chance to finally use this in weather this summer. Stood up well to a night of hail and heavy rain. Plenty of room under it for shelter and good pack coverage when used as a poncho.
Jan 3, 2010 at 10:58 pm #1559245You said: "My main issue I'm kinda emotionally attached to my tent. I have had so many wonderful experiences while using it."
It might have been wonderful using the tent but was it so wonderful carrying it? :) You can get a 14 oz. Equinox 8'x10' sil-tarp for $70 at campmor.com.
Joseph
Jan 3, 2010 at 11:58 pm #1559250My son, Buddhism teaches us to lose our attatchments and thus free our spirit from its worldly fetters.
Therefore I admonish you:
Sell the d@mn thing and get a nice TarpTent Moment, as I did when I sold my beloved Contrail. Now I'm attatched to my Moment. (Do as I say, not as I do.)
Eric
Jan 4, 2010 at 4:57 am #1559266"For some reason I feel buying a tarp would be wasteful. My tent is in great shape still."
As others have said, sell the tent so that it's used. Or, I imagine, there's some kid who wants to get into scouting who can't afford a tent. Donating it is another option.
Jan 4, 2010 at 5:47 am #1559269Own your things, don't let them own you. Sell it,and move on.
Jan 4, 2010 at 3:59 pm #1559469Maybe I should not post things when I'm tired. It's completely silly to say I'm attached to some nylon, aluminum and mesh.
Jan 4, 2010 at 4:11 pm #1559473.
Jan 4, 2010 at 4:18 pm #1559475"Maybe I should not post things when I'm tired. It's completely silly to say I'm attached to some nylon, aluminum and mesh."
Mike, it's not silly to say it. Our brains are very interesting things. We can get attached to the most unusual things, and it's not 'wrong' to do so.
We're glad, however, to help you move past it. So you can buy more gear! Ben is especially good at that…..
Jan 4, 2010 at 4:44 pm #1559480A BA SL2 is a very different shelter than a tarp. You know what the tent can do. It will keep all the skeeters out and a tarp alone won't. My SL1 served me well but now I have a Moment. Keeping both of these would/could be viewed as "wasteful" and I will be passing on the SL1. I think having a tent AND a tarp is smart as it gives you plenty of options to tailor your gear to what best suits your trip. I like lots of room so my Moment is swapped out with a SpinnTwin if I don't need the netting and extra protection.
Jan 4, 2010 at 4:49 pm #1559484When I was a younger man I had one tent,pack, bag, cookpot, etc and several girlfriends. Now one wife and several packs,bags, tarps,tents, cookpots. Needs vs wants whatever.
I will go sit in the corner now until she says I can buy something else.Jim
Jan 4, 2010 at 4:56 pm #1559488" For some reason I feel buying a tarp would be wasteful. My tent is in great shape still."
If you think about how many tents Roger Caffin has designed/built over the years, you would feel downright frugal!!
This is BPL. The whole existence of this forum is to explore lighter alternatives to backpacking. By it's very mission statement it is a wasteful forum as it requires experimentation ;) If you're not with us, you're against us.
Jan 4, 2010 at 4:59 pm #1559490I guess I see two ways to approach the problem.
1- I am way into frecycling (our new buzz word for giving it away). Up here in the middle of nowhere we have our fair share of economic challenges and I think that scouting is on the decline because of the associated costs(uniforms, gear, etc) IMHO
2- It is nice to have options. Depending on the area, one may be better suited for comfort than the other. I forgot to see where you were from but up here a three season tent covered with a creatively arranged UL tarp makes a nice 4 season w/vestible. As a rule a tent can only be set up to a pre-determined shape and footprint. I have a MYOG tarp I made from a dome tent and I am almost certain I have never set it up the same way twice. I hammock camp in the woods, go to ground with a view in sub-alpine and prairie. Button down for weather. If you use trekking poles there is no argument that for most situations, for most people, in most places a tarp is far superior to a tent. Geography and weather vary and so does my sleep system. After that it becomes a matter of personal taste and phobias (bugs and critters joining you in your sleep or your fear thereof). I've had more attacks from stray rivulets of water than bugs. Try waking up to a slobbering bison poking his head into your shelter at 6am to figure out what is laying on his breakfast. But that's another story…..
BJHike hard, hike often.
ps. I am responding to the original post and to Douglas's or the needy child thing. Is there a way to make their post auto appear or do you have to manually type it in? If this is a stupid question or in the wrong place please excuse me and redirect. I am not a social computer user so am still learning etiquette.
Jan 4, 2010 at 6:16 pm #1559523Every post has 3 small icons in the upper right corner. Select the left icon (Reply); it will take you to a screen with the previous post and lower down a blank Commentary/Insight box for your reply and the Subject line is already filled in.
Jan 5, 2010 at 1:58 am #1559622I'm going to keep the tent. Mainly because I'm trying to get some of my friends out there and they told me they don't like the idea of sleeping under a tarp. My sister is scared of animals climbing under the tarp(that is very silly).
I am going to get a tarp though. I'm probably going to make my own. I like the look of the tarps made from cuben but one of those will have to wait due to price. I would like a decent sized tarp so I could go without a bivy sack.
I made a piece of gear tonight. Just took a catfood can and punched some holes in it. It's way lighter than my MSR pocket rocket. I'm going to try to just use my titanium mug for boiling water for meals and hot drinks. Those two things drop a fair amount of weight for my cooking setup.
My mug is probably too small at 10oz.
Jan 5, 2010 at 12:00 pm #1559771It sounds like you are keeping the tent, which makes sense. I kept my old REI backpacking tent and just use it for car camping (which I do on occasion). If I found that after five years or so that I just never use it, then I would get rid of it. The same goes for most of my stuff. I almost always know someone who could use it. If anything, that is in argument for buying high quality stuff. If you replace it with other good stuff, then other people will want your old stuff. If not, then you are left dealing with crap.
Oh, how I miss George Carlin. :)
Jan 5, 2010 at 12:22 pm #1559776Mike B,
"Mainly because I'm trying to get some of my friends out there and they told me they don't like the idea of sleeping under a tarp. My sister is scared of animals climbing under the tarp(that is very silly)."
Muahaha. ;)
Jan 5, 2010 at 5:14 pm #1559880A couple summers ago I went to Whitewater state park in SE MN. I went down there in search of the elusive trout. The first night I was just sitting by the fire and looking into the flames. I saw some movement on the other side of the fire but didn't pay too much attention to it. After a minute I suddenly realized a raccoon was staring at me. He was very interested in the cooler I was sitting on so I played the role of big scary human and chased him off.
Later that night at around 3am I heard rustling next to my rainfly. I started moving around and my movement was answered by a growling creature outside my tent. I have a cat like curiosity so I had to go see what was outside my tent. The process of unzipping my tent and climbing out took too long. The creature was long gone by the time I got out and stood up.
I have heard quite a few creatures running around my various campsites since I started camping. I really want to see the animals that wake me up. That way I don't have to play detective in the morning(I don't have to, I just want to.) A tarp will help me see the creatures I think.
Jan 6, 2010 at 6:42 am #1560047Jim said "When I was a younger man I had one tent,pack, bag, cookpot, etc and several girlfriends. Now one wife and several packs,bags, tarps,tents, cookpots. Needs vs wants whatever.
I will go sit in the corner now until she says I can buy something else."Love it. That made my day. Glad someone else is in the same boat as me.
There is nothing wrong with having more than one tenttarp. If you have the money to buy, please purchase something. Lets get this world turning agian.(Money make the world go round.) Buy something from an american cottage company like GG or tim marshal.Jan 6, 2010 at 5:46 pm #1560270I like the look of the GG trekking poles. I also like the TiGoat poles and the ptarmigan bivy.
Jan 6, 2010 at 6:11 pm #1560283"I like the look of the GG trekking poles. I also like the TiGoat poles and the ptarmigan bivy."
Someone was selling a Ptarmigan on gear swap recently. Don't know if it was sold.
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