Anybody out there use a square tarp?? I have been evolving to a tarp. I own a wonderful Lunar Solo tent but I yearn to tarp. I tried a Gatewood Cape..VERY NICE..but I cannot comfortably hike in it-I am too short. I am not ready for the poncho-bivy yet (not enough coverage). That leaves a square tarp. I own a integral designs 8×10 siltarp. I have not used it for shelter because I could not get a good pitch. Then I noticed that both of my favorite tents-a Golite Hex and the Lunar Solo have the same self tensioning guylines. I decided to outfit my siltarp with self tensioning guylines. I used the BPL guyline cord kit with tensioners. WOW..no problem getting that tight pitch now. I can quickly pitch the tarp low to the ground or very high if I want to. The bugs were out in the backyard so I hung one of Brawny’s sleep nets from the ridgeline. Worked great. The total weight of the full rig was 22oz. This includes the tarp, guylines: 2 long, 10 short, 12 tensioners, 12 BPL ti-stakes, BPL bivy, and large sleepnet. I know I don’t need all the stakes & guylines and can use the lighter bivy bug mesh ect..I am still fiddling. I LIKE this rig alot. For the same weight as my tarptent I get tons of room. It rains alot where I hike..a spacious tarp is a luxery. I cannot wait to try it out..
