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.
