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Battle of the Basic Poncho Tarps
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Home › Forums › Gear Forums › Gear (General) › Battle of the Basic Poncho Tarps
- This topic has 7 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 6 months ago by David Chenault.
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Sep 29, 2016 at 3:40 pm #3428601
I’ve been toying around with the idea of picking up a 5x8ish flat tarp just to play around with some basic configurations, and since I’m also playing around with the idea of putting together a more minimalist kit, I’m looking to grab a poncho tarp with those dimensions for shorter trips and other times when the conditions and terrain support it. I already have a Borah Gear bivy for rainsplash and would be using it under all of these.
From looking around, I have my eye on four different shelters (below) to a varying degree, and my market research is stalling to the point where I’m not going to really learn anything more without seeing some of these in person.
- MLD Simple Silnylon
- Not super interested in the Pro version, since it seems to have a more limited set of pitching options.
- My Trail Co (Golite)
- Sea-to-Summit NanoSuperMicroWhatever Sil
- Equinox/Campmor
I’ve done quite a bit of searching on here, and it seems like people have been more or less pretty happy with whichever ones they’ve used (obviously, GoLite seems to have been the popular choice, but I’ve seen all of the above mentioned). At this point, am I overthinking my market research trying to find meaningful differences between them? I’m not really seeing a lot of difference, with the exception of slight variations in weight/size.
Aside from general durability, good tieout layout, etc., my biggest area of interest is how these are going to fit as rainwear. I have a Gatewood Cape now (yes, I know it’s also a poncho tarp) that I use as a shelter, but is just way too long and flappy to use as rainwear for my 5’8″ frame, even with a full pack on under it. The flatter tarps seem to make for smaller, better fitting ponchos (at least in pictures), and the MLD in particular seems at least somewhat sized for smallfolk like me. (They also note that the hood is in a different place than most poncho tarps, but I’m not sure if there’s any meaningful difference.) If all of my options are really unwieldy or too long, I’ll probably abandon this little lark.
Quick aside: Gatewood Cape is a great shelter and I know this will be a downgrade as far as overall protection goes. I’m looking into a smaller (and flat) tarp to spend some time learning various pitches, and to get a bit more experience with more minimal shelters.
Finally, just as a caveat since this is a poncho-tarp thread – I’m not planning on using this as an “all the time” shelter. This will mostly be for trips where I’m pretty confident in the conditions and in more moderate terrain.
Right now, I’m leaning towards either the MLD because I really like the company and know from experience that their stuff is top-notch, or the Equinox, because I have $30 in Amazon points, so it’ll be really cheap. I assume that the MLD is substantially better-made, but I’m not sure that it’s enough so to justify the cost. That said, I’d rather get something more expensive that holds up than spend less on something that doesn’t. I’m not super keen on giving MyTrailCo any of my money unless there’s a pretty good reason to, although there’s nothing stopping me from hitting up Gear Swap.
After all this, I guess the TL/DR version is really that I’m not really sure how different any of these are in real-world use, so thoughts are appreciated.
Sep 30, 2016 at 6:25 am #3428659I use a hood-less MYOG tarp-poncho I made out of RBTR 1.1 oz silpoly PU4000. I’m 5’9″ tall and I made it 9.5′ long. (One of the advantages of MYOG is that you can customize the length). It is critical that you use a cord around your waist to avoid flapping but also this helps reduce how low it drapes as it takes some fabric in at the bottom of the pack. (as a reference I normally use a Golite Jam / 50 liters backpack). I found the extra length when compared to other commercially available tarp-ponchos makes a welcomed difference in coverage.
Here is a video of a guy using a golite (now mytrail) tarp poncho using the cord around his waist. Mine drapes down to my knees in both front and back because I shorter than this guy and also as I mentioned before mine is purposely made longer for better coverage when in tarp mode.
As I mentioned my tarp-poncho is hood-less. I found I tend to overheat when using a hood out of silnylon so I much rather prefer to use a wide brim hat or an Umbrella. The umbrella as you can imagine provides maximum breathability and comfort and also doubles as a “door” to close down the opening when set in tarp mode.
Sep 30, 2016 at 8:00 am #3428664I am also 5′ 8″ and recently bought an MLD poncho tarp, size medium. I’ve only tried it around the house but it doesn’t seem too long and the shock cord belt seems very effective in getting the bottom half of the poncho to stay where you want it.
Sep 30, 2016 at 9:06 am #3428674When in doubt it’s hard to go wrong with MLD. I have their Cuben Poncho and like it very much. I’s surprising how fun it is to see what configurations it can be set up in.
Sep 30, 2016 at 9:56 am #3428682I slept on it last night, and I think I’m going to go with the MLD. I’ve always been impressed by their quality, and I like the fact that they’re using a 30D (instead of the 15D on the S2S and MTC/GoLite) fabric for what seems to be a pretty minimal weight penalty. The Equinox was tempting, but the BPL review from back in the day wasn’t the most favorable thing in the world, and I’d rather get something good for $100 than waste $60.
Sep 30, 2016 at 10:57 am #3428693I slept on it last night, and I think I’m going to go with the MLD.
What color? I got the poncho in “yellow” but to me it looks almost blaze orange. I got the Monk tarp in brown – it is a very DARK brown. The MLD standard “gray” is hard to describe but to me looks like a kind of dark green or dark olive green.
Sep 30, 2016 at 11:20 am #3428696Probably just the standard gray. I tend not to be super fussed about colors for shelters unless it’s something super obnoxious.
That said, if there was a hot pink option, I’d totally rock that just as a conversation starter.
Sep 30, 2016 at 3:29 pm #3428729I don’t think much has changed since I did a SOTMR on these years ago. Back then MLD material and construction quality was miles ahead of anything else, while Golite was the budget king. No reason I can see to get anything besides one of those two. Equinox build quality was horrid.
- MLD Simple Silnylon
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