do tarps really open yourself up to the outdoors?

You might want to try a shaped tarp with a door as it's more conducive to sitting up & staring out…

The view from inside…

I didn't take a photo inside from this Trailstar pitch but I can assure you the sunset on the Cathedral Range was amazing…

I feel more exposed to the world in a tarp. When the weather allows, I prefer no tarp. When the skeeters allow, no bivy.

There are so many lightweight tents nowadays that open up easily for viewing that the gap between tents and tarps isn't as wide as it once was.

Most people end up shoring up their tarps with bugnets/innernets anyways (me included), so what's the difference?

Even in a shaped tarp set close to the ground with the door/beak closed I feel more "opened up to the outside" than I do in a tent. To be able to look under the edge of the tarp and see the weather, feel a little breeze, peek out at a meadow or even see deer hooves in the night make for a more connected experience for me. And the higher and more open the tarp is set the better the experience.

I feel much more connected to the outdoors when using a tarp compared to a tent. I like lying in bed with a view. I don't get that with a tent.

I think it can go either way. A tarp pitched low feels claustrophobic to me. I find a tarp pitched high delightful.

Size matters too. I want to get a large (8'x10'), flat tarp and upgrade to cuben. (I currently use my octagonal hammock tarp.)

I've only used tarps and conventional, heavy tents. I have not experience the in-between tarp-tentish options. (yet) There's a continuum there.

same here – cowboy camp about half the time

occasionally I have to quickly set up tent in middle of night if it starts raining

pyramid tent gives some view of outside under edges, and I usually leave the door open

"i fell just as enclosed while i'm staring up at that same blue synthetic material"

Sleep on your side then. :-)

I feel very opened up to the outdoors when critters are scurrying over me in the middle of the night!

Yes when I pitch it higher.

A bigger tarp pitched higher will help. Semi-transparent cuben or spinnaker is pretty cool in this respect.

This is the kind of thing that makes me wish I didn't have vision problems. My vision is quite bad, and I wear rigid gas-permeable contact lenses. Whether I had a tent or a tarp with a view, if I'm laying in bed, I'd look out to see a blurry mess. I can't sleep with my contacts in, my eyes dry out too much.

On the flip side, I actually like the cozy feel of a tent interior after a day of hiking. I enjoy my privacy, and being outside hiking all day more than satisfies my "outdoor needs". haha

"one of the main reasons i hear people using tarps is the claim "it opens me up to the outside unlike my tent" i never understood this claim because it seems when i use my 5×7 tarp i fell just as enclosed while i'm staring up at that same blue synthetic material."

I don't think it's possible to make a sweeping statement that a tarp "opens up the outside" as it really depends on the tarp and how it's pitched.

One of the things that put me off the trailstar was the fact that i felt claustrophobic in it, which is odd as i've never had that feeling before even when potholing.

For me personally i prefer a tent with large double doors

If it's clear i can leave both doors wide open and enjoy great views
If it starts raining but is not very windy i can lean out and close one side of the doors.
Then if the wind picks up i can lean out again and close both the doors completely, all without getting out my my nice warm sleeping bag.

Hey what is that tent in your picture?

Looks to be a Tarptent StratoSpire 2

I only setup my shelter when it's raining, so I feel very open to the outdoors when cowboy camping. Including that one night when a buck was grazing a few feet away from where I was laying and I thought it was a bear. I felt very exposed to the outdoors at that moment. ;) I have the cuben fiber tarp because it's lighter then a tent and I don't see the point in carrying something heavier when I so rarely use it.

I pretty much only get inside my tent when I'm ready to go to sleep for the night–barring rain! Or sometimes in the afternoon I'll crawl in to read a book and relax. In short, I'm outside of my tent and in nature most of the time. I don't see myself getting under a tarp to 'open up' to the wilderness. When I'm sleeping or reading, I don't mind feeling enclosed in a tent. Actually, like an earlier poster, I sometimes like withdrawing for a bit. Also, I sleep cold, so I like the wind protection and added warmth of a tent. And bug protection! I'm usually hiking pretty high up in the Sierra; I might feel differently at lower elevations. You do miss the stars this way; but you do in a tarp as well. And you can still cowboy camp.

Watching the rain.

Morning after the rain.

+1 w/Jeffrey

If I'm in I'm probably asleep. I don't get up at night, yet.

"Hey what is that tent in your picture?"

As Link. said it's a TT Strato2

"I pretty much only get inside my tent when I'm ready to go to sleep for the night–barring rain!"

First few nights of a trip i really have difficulty sleeping, my problem is that i'm like a kid in a candy store and keep opening my eyes to take in the view of the mountains by moon light.

Maybe i'm a bit weird but i can literally spend 2+ hours just gazing at the stars and mountains.

It's one of the reasons i try and avoid woods now

For 3 season use In all but the most inclement weather, we rig our 10 x 14 sil tarp so that the lowest point is above head height – 360 degree views. Group camping at it's best.

I don't carry a tarp to be open to the outdoors.

I carry a tarp in case it rains.
If it's not raining, I'm cowboy camping.

So my extra 5 1/2 ounces for my tarp is what it takes to be open to the outdoors.