Thoughts on This Tarp for Dining Fly

[Brad P]

What do you folks think of this tarp in 10×12 as a dining fly? Price/weight/reviews all look good to me.

Paria SilTarp

[TAG in AZ]

Not bad. 22 ounces. I would use some better cord for the tie outs and maybe some real ground hog stakes. But, otherwise, that should work well for your crew. Certainly smaller and lighter than the Philmont tarp. And, as long as someone in your crew is using trekking poles, you should be good to go.

[Steve G]

Brad P — That looks like a really good product and I think it would work well at Philmont.  My crew used a 12-foot Noah’s Tarp with trekking poles and that worked great — this is even lighter and may be easier to set up.  Go for it (!)

[Bob Shuff]

I like how they include the dyneema cord, line-locs and stakes.  If the photos are really representative they look to be decent quality. These look like ground hog copies – no?

TAG…Philmont’s tarp is listed as the same 12′ x 10′ size, 35 oz.  I don’t think that includes the cord or stakes you would need to use it, so it should be a solid 12 oz of weight savings, plus some free cordage and stakes.

It say 5,000 mm of hydro-static resistance.  Is that good?  My only concern would be the quality of the tarp waterproofing and construction.  This is a very good price – by comparison Bear Paw Wilderness sells a 12×10 30D tarp for $130.  Note their weight is 24 oz.  OES costs more.  These are not big companies, so how is Paria doing it for this price?

 

[David Thomas]

Looks good enough to me that I might pick one up, too.

12′ x 10′ is a generous size for a tarp.  Which is good protection from the rain, but can sag if you set it up as a single shed roof.  A stick or two (padded with a cup or water bottle) could rise one or two points in the middle of the tarp to shed rain better.

When not raining, you’ll find it’s still popular for the shade it provides.

Any time you spend at home playing with different configurations will help you a lot once you’re making camp.

[KEVIN W]

Bought the same tarp for our Crew for July.  Took it on 2 prep hikes and world great.  Replaced the stakes with Groundhogs just to be safe and also got some tarptent 56 inch? poles to use instead of / with trekking poles.  With both you can set up a bit of a porch.

[Brad P]

There are a lot of positive reviews on Amazon including some pictures of it set up.

I don’t know if the included stakes are any good, but they have to be better than the cheapo aluminum stakes that come with a lot of tents.

Right now, my son and I are the only ones with trekking poles and mine will be used on my Duplex. Our trek is in 2019. I’m putting together a document to send to parents/scouts guiding them on backpacking gear since we’ve mostly car camped. I’ll tell them trekking poles are optional but highly recommended. I forget where I found these trekking poles, but they’re a thrifty price for what you get.

[KEVIN W]

here are the poles we are using: https://www.tarptent.com/store/vertical-support-pole

We are trying the <b>Double Rainbow : </b>56 in / 142cm; weight 4.75 oz/ 135g (using two).  Great weight and decent height.  Right now we are using these for the ridge line and if we want to open up a side of the tarp we use trekking poles.

 

 

[David Y]

The tarp looks well-made and those look like descent stakes and cords. If you intend to set it up the Philmont way you should have 10 stakes and longer cords. But otherwise you’re good to go.

[Jeffrey Peters]

Brad P -Really any silnylon tarp will work for Philmont. My crew carried two tarps. Most times we only set up one but when it rained it gave us plenty of room to cook and hangout under instead of stuck in tents.  I would encourage the rest of your crew to use treking poles. We had several that did not use them and regretted it.  My son was one of them. This summer we are going to the Bob Marshall Wilderness and one of the first thing he now grabs when packing for shakedowns is his poles.

[Brad P]

I will be sending out something to parents about personal gear choices. I won’t make trekking poles mandatory, but strongly recommended. I’m sure we’ll get enough on the crew using them that we won’t need separate poles. They other 2 adults will likely have them and are not using trekking pole tents (unless they upgrade).

[Parker]

That tarp looks like a great deal.  I have been taking the Sea to Summit Escapist Tarp.  We have the large size, so 10×10.  Weight is right at 15 ounces including all the cords.  Downside is it is much more expensive.  I picked it up on sale a few years ago for about half-off.  Normal price is $200, which is a bit absurd for what it is.  It is super nice though.

[Edgar M]

I encourage bringing trekking poles as well, especially for those of us with knees over 1/2 a century old ; )

However,  the poles may no longer be needed as tarp supports at philmont.  In 2013, nothing was to be tied to trees except bear ropes, using the twigs to protect the bark.  In 2016, our ranger allowed the scouts to demonstrate their skill in setting up the tarp with trek poles,  but the said we were now allowed to tie tarps and clothes lines to trees add long as we used the twigs protectors.  We definitely took advantage of this new policy.  I’m not sure yet if 2018 has changed back.

[David Y]

In some camps there may not be a good, near level with good drainage spot near trees within the Bear-muda Triangle to pitch your dining fly so it may be necessary to have poles and stakes for the ridge line. And if you have to cook in the rain you may need your dining fly nearer the Fire Ring where all food preparation and clean-up is to be done.

[Steven McDowell]

 

What we brought to Philmont in 2008,2012,2014. Picture from Philmont.

 

[Brad P]

That’s pretty nice!

I ordered the tarp I mentioned in this thread. It arrived yesterday but after being at a Sons of Apollo concert late Sunday night, I was too tired to even bother opening it.

I’m not too old to rock. I’m not to old to rock. I’m not zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

[Tim P]

Steve,

Do you have any details on your tarp design?

Tim

[Stephen Everson]

Steve- how big was your Tyvek fly? Looks really big…

[Steven McDowell]

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From my post from 2012. Not much more I can say. My son is now in college so I am not sure of its exact weight. I do know in 2014 the troop went back and brought with them another one.

In 2012 the Tyvek Fly worked well during two big storms the group encountered.

Nothing special about the design. No real cutting, taping, sewing beyond using about ~12 feet from the ~10foot wide roll the stuff came on and adding 4 grommets on each side.
Prior to adding grommets placed some clear duct tape at each spot for some reinforcement and put the grommets in about an Inch…

Also second time around using this Fly at Philmont.  The setup in the picture was done by the  Mountain Trek Ranger that was assigned to one of our crews

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[Brad P]

After our issues with the Voile straps trying to connect 2 trekking poles, this is how our dining fly looks.  I got rid of the ridgeline, which seemed to serve no useful purpose.  I’ve done a lot of searching on setting up tarps, and I don’t see experienced people using them.

I didn’t use any of the side guyouts for this test.  There are 3 on each side, but I currently only have stakes for 2 of them.  Any thoughts on if this is acceptable?

[Bruce Tolley]

To the topic  “I’ve done a lot of searching on setting up tarps, and I don’t see experienced people using them.”

?? Not sure what happened with your search terms. There are many tarp campers on BPL and lots of threads about tarps both shaped and rectangular.  About 1/3 of the content of the Backpacking Light book edited by Ryan Jordon is about tarps and bivies. There was recently a whole thread about various pitches to use with a square tarp.

“didn’t use any of the side guyouts for this test.  There are 3 on each side, but I currently only have stakes for 2 of them.  Any thoughts on if this is acceptable?”

If there is any wind and or the ground is very soft or very hard, you will need to use all the guy outs.  When I expect high wind, I use two anchor points for each end of the ridge points and do NOT use a cord under the ridge line.

To wit: >——–<

 

[Brad P]

• I meant my research didn’t find many running a ridgeline. People do what I did.

[Bruce Tolley]

@ brad

Re: ” I meant my research didn’t find many running a ridgeline. People do what I did.”

Ok my apologies for mis-understanding your point. In my experience, the only utility of a cord under the tarp ridgeline is when you have a tarp with grommets –not webbing tie out points –since the use of the cord under the ridgeline removes any stress from the grommets.

Your Philmont trek must be scheduled soon. When are you going? Have you seen the reports that mosquitoes are the worst folks have ever seen? ( I only saw one mosquito on our trek and never used any Deet from the 1/4 oz bottle I took).

[Brad P]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>When are you going? Have you seen the reports that mosquitoes are the worst folks have ever seen? ( I only saw one mosquito on our trek and never used any Deet from the 1/4 oz bottle I took).</p>

We start 7/28, so I’m in panic, what did we forget mode. 😜

 

Yes, I have seen the skeeter reports. We’ll bring Deet.

[Bruce Tolley]

@ Brad

The trading post at base camp sells almost everything and the commissaries sell basics (although the tent pegs they sell are worthless).

Have a great trip. I am sure your Scouts will have a wonderful experience.
YiS

Bruce

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