Tarping Techniques

New England – similar conditions: humidity, rain, skeeters and black flies.

SMD Lunar Solo ‘e’ single wall tarptent ~26oz
HS Squall tarptent ~24oz
Sometimes just one of several bivy shelters with full bug netting, though these are generally reserved for cooler conditions with fewer bugs.

These options are the closest I care to come to a full tarp, especially when the bugs are out in force.

I’ve logged most of my nights in the Southern Appalachians and now in Southern China. I sleep pretty hot and like to keep my torso outside of the bag, so no headnets or bivies in warm weather. My compromise is an 8×10 Equinox sil-tarp and a Coghlans hikers’ mosquito net(5oz. packaged, less when you take off the little brass rings and use a lighter stuff sack). I pitch the tarp in an A-frame with the fabric tie-out loops on the underside. The net is tied off at a single point directly over my head and gives me about 3 ft. of clearance for head/shoulders. I then use my gear to keep the net walls spread out.