Cuben Tarps – HMG vs MLD?

Mark,

I would go with the larger tarp so you have more room to store your family's gear plus have a larger margin of error for poor weather. 8.5'x8.5' would be cramped for more than one person plus gear IMO. Very very small weight penalty for the extra coverage.

I can't directly comment on HMG vs MLD as I have only had an MLD tarp. From what I've read the HMG is more bomber, but you don't hear of MLD tarps getting thrashed either. I don't think you could really go wrong with either on quality.

Ryan

I have used an MLD Grace Duo for several years and it has been fine, and while I don't own a HMG tarp per se, I do have an Echo II shelter and it is very well made. You might also consider Zpacks – they also do fine work with cuben tarps.

One other thing to consider is that you'll probably have to wait a few weeks for the MLD, but HMG will get it to you in a few days. Maybe this has changed recently, but that was the situation about a month ago when I was looking into it.

There's also some discussion on this thread: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=71146

Can't comment on HMG as I have no experience with them, but my MLD CF tarp from 2008 is still in excellent shape after going more then 3500+miles of backpacking. I trust their quality.

I got the Square tarp several months ago and absolutely love it. There are some times an 8.5×10' would be good but I'm really getting a kick out of the possibilities with square fold setups. I swear one day ill find the time to fold a giant spruce cuben origami crane…
The craftsmanship is superb, the customer service (Mike!) is top-notch. Two thumbs way up for HMG.
Both companies make great items. The dimensions may be more of a determining factor

Hi,

Sorry to bring up a year-old thread, but I just picked up a HMG 8×10 flat tarp on the gear swap forum and was wondering if anyone had experience with it to answer a few questions for me.

1. Will the 8×10 tarp comfortably (enough to lay side by side) allow two users to be underneath it in storm mode (half pyramid)?

2. I've never owned such a large tarp before so I would like to know if you set up your pole on a 10' side or an 8' side? My logic tells me 10' side?

3. Can anyone provide pictures of some setups they have with an 8×10 tarp? It doesn't have to be an HMG one. I'm just looking for some inspiration for my tarp-origami!

Thanks.

Gorgeous photos. Thanks very much!

Jeff – is that the 8’x10′? It looks like your tieouts don’t match the ones that come with the tarp, but that might be my perception being off. Did you do anything special?

Ah, I think I just figured it out… was thinking you had poled the 8′ side…

and this thread is from 2014