Simple questions about 6 x 9 tarps

Hey Cesar,

Don't know if this helps you but I have a Cuben grace solo tarp It's a 7×9 that tapers to 5' at the foot end.

1.) It weighs 5.8oz oz without guy lines or anything. I used it the whole time on my pct thru hike and I used it as follows. Grace solo with zpacks 1.25 line weighed 6.2 oz. 8 Titanium stakes weighed 2oz. Polycro groundsheet weighed about 1.5oz. for a total of about 10oz.

2.) It was made by MLD in 2013 of .74 Cuben

3.) Never used a Bivy on the PCT. if there were bugs I simply used a 1oz headnet with a baseball cap to bed (and maybe earplugs if they were bad) worked great for me.

4.) It worked great in rain and snow. It was just the perfect size for me. I could pitch it low to block wind or nice and wide for rain. I never really had a problem with spray. I always found a good suitable spot. Sometimes using natural cover.

5.) 50+ i guess? I don't even know…

6.)none. The material held up great. The material is much stronger than I anticipated.

7.) A-frame. I decided that it was my favorite pitch and had no need for any others.

8.) it's my favorite solo shelter and plan on using it on the CDT!

Hope I was able to help you out!!!

1. Tarp alone weighs 4.6oz.
With stuff sack, guylines, titanium stakes: 7.9oz.
Borah Gear cuben fiber bivy: 4.5oz
GG Polycro Ground Cloth: 1.1oz
Grand Total: 13.5oz

Technically I don't need the ground cloth, but I frequently encounter pine sap where I camp.

2. I have MLD's 1st generation cuben fiber tarp when they used .60 wt. Early 2008 MLD Grace Solo Tarp with no linelocs (weren't offered then and I've never needed them). Like the post above mine states, the Grace Solo Tarp is narrower at the foot end then the head end so its not truely rectangular though the size is about the same as you are talking about. Except the length of mine is 8.5' instead of 9. I think the wider width was 6.5' and the narrower end width was 4.8' (or something about that).
My review of the tarp along with another person is in the gear review section on this forum.

3. I always have the bivy though I don't always use it. But because I often just cowboy camp, I like having it along. Bivy also provides warmth so I can use a lighter sleeping bag. Cuts some of the wind. In hot conditions, can be used as a lightweight sleeping bag instead of down quilt.

4. I've been in both heavy wind blown rain and snow. I've stayed dry all but 1 time which I learned something about what not to do (don't camp on a camping platform with cracks between the boards that is 2+feet in the air on one end with wind blown rain. Wind blew the rain up through the cracks on the bottom and got everything underneath the tarp wet). Ignoring that 1 time, most of the time, I don't get water underneath at all. There have been a few times that my bivy sack has gotten damp due to wind blown rain, but never enough to saturate the bivy so that water penetrated to the down quilt underneath. I could have gotten up and rotated my tarp during the night or lowered the pitch but I'm normally too lazy and figure it isn't bad enough so I'll live with it. I once threw my rain jacket over my head and the upper part of the bivy inorder to just live with it. I've been using tarps since 2006 and this one since 2008 and have only bothered to redo the tarp pitch 3 times due to bad weather.

5. I've carried the tarp on the PCT and AT plus numerous shorter trips since 2008. I may take it on the CDT
.
6. This tarp has held up well over the past 6.5 years. Too well. I have no good justification to replace it though I wanted to try a few of the newer shaped tarps. The only issue is there are a few pinholes near the larger end. Not fully aware of where they came from as they showed up in 2009 but they haven't gotten any worse. I figure it may have either come from when I tried to use it for shade on the PCT in 2009 and it got poked by spiney plants or from cooking under it too much. The tiny holes are not getting larger and they are too small to allow water through. I haven't noticed any new ones form since then.

7. This is a cat. tarp so I normally use it in an A frame pitch though I vary how high and wide the pitch is due to weather conditions. A few times, I use it like a blanket when I was caught by rain while cowboy camping and I don't think the rain will last for long or it doesn't seem strong enough to bother getting up to fully set the tarp up. If its going to be dawn in 2 hours, why bother?

8. Still have it and use it. I bought a zpacks hexamid tarp (no netting or beak) to try out several months ago. I'm not convinced its better then my MLD tarp though and I'm still debating which I'll go with on the CDT. So I still take the MLD tarp out about half the time.

I often cowboy camp and have occasionally got caught by overnight rain. With a rectangular tarp, I can quickly throw it over me and my stuff like a blanket to stay dry while deciding if the rain is worth getting up and setting the tarp up or not. Sometimes I don't bother and just wait the rain out while under it like a blanket and then throw it off when the rain stops since the condensation will be bad due to no air flow under it. I can also pitch the tarp over rocks, logs, and low brush. I can narrow the pitch to fit in a small spot. A shaped tarp like the Hexamid only has one size and shape it can be pitched in so it isn't as versatile though it may be better coverage in certain weather conditions. It doesn't work for my blanket pitch very well either which sucks as I often push my luck cowboy camping when others would just setup a shelter (get away with it more times then not though).

Here is the tarp in snow on the PCT near the canadian border in 2009:

Here is the tarp in the rain on the AT (White Mtns of NH) in 2012:

Thanks so much you two for the detailed feedback. Very cool, and helps me a lot.

I got a brainstorm a while ago about a having a solid tarp shelter set up without a bivy for certain times of the year. As some of you know, I am a huge fan of the tarp/bivy combo, but because I do section hikes every month of the year, there is a significant portion of the year where the bivy is not really needed. When it's colder temps, there are fewer or no bugs. And in cooler temps, I'll be using a warmer sleeping bag and have warmer clothing, so the small warmth bump of a bivy becomes redundant or negligible.

Okay, but what about protection from precipitation? Going to need a bigger tarp. My go-to set up for summer to early fall is a smaller tarp (Golite poncho/tarp), so the bivy is good for rain spray along with the other benefits of the bivy.

So I decided on a 6×9 tarp, which is bigger than my 8 ft 8 in x 4 ft 10 in poncho/tarp. It's a bit tight, but adequate under my poncho/tarp, so my new 6×9 tarp will be luxurious by comparison. But a lot of people will claim that 6×9 is still too small to use without a bivy in cases of heavy rain/snow and wind. However after using my poncho/tarp for some time now, I have really grown to like it as rain gear. Great coverage, keeps me very dry, no need for pack cover, stealth color, condensation very low due to natural ventilation, material slides off brush and branches, etc. Great piece of gear, and I like it so much I plan on using it as part of my rain gear year round. Plus it's around as much or lower weight than a lot of rain jackets at 200g. Perhaps you see where this is going?

I can use two smaller tarps together. Crazy I know. But check it out:

No precipitation or trail shelter – cowboy camping or poncho/tarp can be set up as a wind blocker (lean-to in the woods or makeshift 4th wall to trail shelter). And if neither tarp is set up, one or both can be used as an addition to my pillow or other improvisations.

Light precipitation and weak wind – set up 6×9 tarp in A frame or lean-to, use poncho/tarp to cover backpack and gear as a huge rain/snow cover anywhere I want.

Moderate precipitation and weak wind or light precipitation with strong wind – set up 6×9 tarp in A frame, hang poncho/tarp on one end as makeshift door, which would also still be big enough to stash backpack and gear under to free up space under 6×9 tarp.

Moderate to heavy precipitation and strong wind – set up 6×9 tarp in bunkered down A frame, pitch poncho/tarp on one end as large door/vestibule, hang rain pants as small makeshift door on the other end.

The next complication is what material to go with. A 6x9ft silnylon tarp from what I have been able to figure out is around 8.5-9.5oz / 240-270g. There are also certain drawbacks to silnylon aside from weight over Cuben. Misting, for example–which is not a big deal or not an issue at all if you use a bivy. Getting a tight pitch and not having to re-adjust, especially with it getting wet, high winds, etc. Plus the tear strength is not as good as most types of Cuben, plus silnylon is perhaps not as easy to repair in the field as Cuben if damaged (which you can fix up well with duct tape or Cuben repair tape). Cuben is of course more expensive, sure, but that's a whole other discussion. Right now I can afford Cuben, so I emailed Joe at Zpacks to make me a custom 6×9 tarp after many emails.

Side note: Joe continues to be very helpful and extremely patient. I even needed special shipping instructions, plus I was an idiot and goofed up the size I wanted in my metric to inches/feet conversion, and was able to make a last-minute change after I had already paid. Thanks again Joe!

Ah, but Cuben is not as good with abrasion. However shelters don't really get as much abrasion, but it's a fair point. But you know what? Durability has been on my mind a lot as of late. Granted, I have owned/own several pieces of Cuben fiber gear, and had very little issues with them. Non-taped Cuben stuff sacks with seams coming apart (but fixed with duct tape) have been the biggest issue, and in fairness I am very careful with my gear and especially so with Cuben shelters.

So I decided I wanted to have a tarp that is VERY tough and durable. Something that I could maybe pass down to my kids one day that would survive many years of regular use. And yet still be pretty light weight–lower weight than silnylon.

The answer was to get my 6×9 tarp in 1.0 Cuben in the cool black color (more like dark gray, good stealth shade). And of course this type of Cuben has higher Spectra thread count and a double thick polyester membrane than the standard .51 Cuben used for shelters at Zpacks. 1.0 Cuben is, after all, used for tent floors and ground covers at Zpacks. For this perhaps some of you might think I'm crazy, as I noted earlier. But I think the numbers as far as weight are not bad, and I think this shelter set up offers a lot of flexibility and excellent protection from the elements. Here's the set up:

6×9 1.0 Cuben tarp – ~8oz / ~230g (still waiting on the tarp for exact weight, this is an estimate)
Guy lines – 40g
8 Ti stakes and sack – 50g
Ground cover (SOL trimmed space blanket) – 43g

Total of 12.8oz / 363g. Pretty good as far as shelter goes, and this includes guy lines and two extra stakes for poncho/tarp for bunker mode. I don't include the weight of the poncho/tarp because I'd count it more as rain gear, and would likely be used more as rain gear. But even including the poncho/tarp, total would be 19.9oz / 563g–still pretty light as far as shelters go, especially one with as much coverage and flexibility as this set up. Plus, because the rest of my gear list for 3 and 4 season conditions is so dialed in and pretty light, I see this as a small amount of luxury weight that I know I won't even notice on in my pack compared to slightly lighter options.

Anyhow, that's the thought behind what will soon be my updated 3 and 4 season shelter set up. Thanks again for the feedback so that I can compare and contrast with. If .7 and .6 Cuben have stood the test of time and thru-hikes, the 1.0 stuff should last me a pretty long time.

Cesar,

I have gone the small tarp plus bivy. I have found that a large cuben tarp (8X10) or Hexamid with the smallish zPacks cuben poncho is the lightest set-up to cover shelter and rain gear. No bivy needed.

Hey Nick!

I considered the poncho/ground cover, but have concerns about using it for both a ground cover and rain gear due to abrasion. But yeah, it certainly is one of the lightest options out there and no bivy needed. I've seen your pictures of your set up and it looks pretty nice (but the set up and the desert).

I am hoping that my next set up outlined above will work out well and be my go-to kit for awhile. If not, the larger 8×10 size will probably be next to try out–though I hope I won't have to!

I am also considering how my gear lists will work in synergy with each other come the day I can do a thru-hike. For instance, let's say I start in the spring, and bring the 6×9 tarp. Then as time goes on and summer rolls around, I can have my bivy mailed to me and mail the 6×9 tarp home. The poncho/tarp stays with me the whole time.

What small tarp and bivy did you use, btw?

Cesar,

I rarely use the poncho as a groundsheet as it will wear. For a groundsheet I usually just use a waterproof foam pad or sometimes a polycro sheet cut to around 25" x 80". The poncho is lighter than my Marmott Essence jacket and works better.

I have a MLD silnylon poncho/tarp and soul bivy. I removed the head hoop in the bivy. Both are now retired for the most part. I also have a retired GoLite poncho/tarp. All do a good job and are well constructed. For me they just aren't the ideal gear.

Cool, thanks again for the feedback Nick.

Yeah, depending on location, terrain, preferences, circumstances, etc. one thing will be ideal to one person and not another. Your candor is yet again appreciated.

Some more follow up questions:

What is your go-to shelter system at the moment for UL/long distance BPing? Or do you have more than one for a given season?

And are you still doing mostly desert hiking?

I live in the western US, so the Hexamid is used about 90% of the time as we have mild weather. I have a good mix of deserts, local mountains (elevations can exceed 10K feet), and the Sierra Nevada.

If I expect constant rain for several days I bring my BPL Nano Tarp, especially when hiking in the Norteastern part of the U.S.

If I expect really nasty weather, especially wind, in the shoulder seasons I bring a TrailStar.

For winter when I expect a lot of snow I bring a Scarp 1, but not always the crossing poles.

If I could only have one shelter, it would be the TrailStar, but it is more shelter than I need on most trips. I have the silnylon version. Since my wife and I are now DINKS, I can afford the Cuben version, but I think the silnylon at almost double the weight works better from what I have read from those who frequent Scotland.