Tarp Configurations

[Sam Haraldson]

I had a much needed weekend after working a couple weeks straight so I quickly grabbed some of my gear, threw it into a pack and headed out for one night at a lovely backpacking-only state park along Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior, Crosby-Manitou.

I got to my campsite with ease as it was only a five mile hike so I had lots of daylight left and decided to pitch and re-pitch my tarp a few times trying some different styles.

I brought my Equinox poncho tarp as well as this heavy-weight nylon one that I used to use. I didnt take any pics of the poncho tarp (doh!) but here’s some pics of the nylon tarp.

[JW]

Is that a ditty bag backpack? Looks cool. I wish my area had nice duff camps like that, all we have is sandy gravel or shale rock.

[Sam Haraldson]

> ditty bag pack

It’s actually an original Lynne Whelden One Pound Pack (now redesigned as the Equinox Katahdin). It’s essentially a ditty bag with comfy shoulder straps, sternum strap, single cordlock cinch around the top and six loops for running a compression cord through. Thanks for the comments.

[Elliot Lockwood]

Thanks for posting. I’m curious, did you find a preference in pitch that you like best? Did you use a wide angle lens/converter for these shots?

[Sam Haraldson]

Elliot – No special lens for the shot. I simply placed my old digicam on top of a Gatorade bottle with the timer set.

As far as a preferred tarp setup is concerned I would state that I’ve found various configurations work best for different situations. On dry, wind-less nights such as the situation was here, I pitched the front of the tarp on the top of the pole, the back at mid-height and the sides roughly a foot off the ground.

In a storm situation I would drop all he above settings at least a foot down. If windy/cold conditions were present I would drop the windward side down.

I hope this is helpful. Feel free to post more questions, as there are some very experienced tarp campers here at BPL.

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