Torrential Downpours and Wind Under a Tarp

[dirtbag]

Companion forum thread to: Torrential Downpours and Wind Under a Tarp

The weather reports were calling for severe thunderstorms with heavy continuous rain fall from early evening,  throughout the entire night and into the morning- afternoon the following day…

[jscott]

Great, great video Dirtbag! thanks for this.

Good old Event bivy!! and you clearly know how to pitch a tarp. good stuff.

yeah, it’s that “sleeping in a half inch of water” that will… umm discomfort (ha!) or kill you. Unlike you, I use down bags. My BAgnes sleep pad raises me up a bit, just like yours, and it’s saved me once or twice from unexpected swamping.

The soil at altitude in the Sierra Nevada is super thin. As a result, any brief thunderstorm–and there are a lot–will saturate and flood the ground. Prolonged thunderstorms happen a fair amount–rain and lightning all night long and into the next day. Finding a well positioned campsite with potential flooding in mind can be hard or impossible. But you know all this! again, kudos for your great video!

[Jerry Adams]

Great video and report.  Type 2 fun?

That’s happened to me before – A frame tarp with rain blowing in – I now have the edges of the tarp next to the ground all the way around – that is, a mid tent

That’s what I don’t like about a bathtub floor – I don’t want to sleep in a bathtub of water

Once it was like that – heavy rain at night.  Where I put my sleeping bag was a slight depression, which became a 1/2 inch deep puddle.  Fortunately, I was on a 1 inch thick pad so I stayed dry.  I am now more careful not to put my sleeping bag in a depression.

[Terran Terran]

Not what I think of when I think of New York.

[Monte Masterson]

Most people who haven’t traveled throughout Upstate NY during the warmer months don’t realize how beautiful the Empire State truly is.

[dirtbag]

Thanks everyone!  I was only sleeping on my Nemo Switchback ccf pad, which was inside the bivy, and under the bivy I had a MLD thin light 1/8 pad. I have found that combination to work well for me outside deep icy winter conditions. I will never give up my tarps. I do have a Duomid XL that I love but rarely use it, along with my Gate wood Cape, another favorite of mine. However,  time and time again I seem to always grab one of my tarps and bivies. I just love laying on Earth and grounding myself and absorbing the energies that she offers. Also the views!! I can see everything all around.

[Arthur]

Am I missing something?  So the bathtub functioned as a true bathtub holding gallons of water and the tarp did nothing to keep you dry. Only the bivy saved you.  How is this better than a good tent?

[Jerry Adams]

A frame weighs less

If wind doesn’t blow rain into it, it works good.

[dirtbag]

I had it pitched very hi!! Had I pitched it lower to the ground, it would have stayed completely dry underneath. Having the eVent bivy, I intentionally left it pitched hi to see how it would handle the exposure. Its better then a tent any day/night for me. Definitely not for everyone though and I understand your fears and concerns. 90% of the time I don’t even pitch the tarp, so that right there is better then the tent. And in that situation which I intentionally put myself in, I stayed 100% completely dry, warm and comfortable, as did every piece of my gear. I don’t want this to be a tent vs tarp debate,  but I will say anything short of below freezing conditions and a raging blizzard on the side of an exposed mountain top, I will take my tarp over tent 100% over and over again. If I wanted to keep my bivy and bathtub floor dry in on this night, I would have lowered the tarp and been done with it.

[Terran Terran]

I like it.

[Megan W]

I watched your video while setting up for work this morning, and while finishing up this afternoon – thanks for making my day better! Looked like a beautiful walk.

I use a tent, so don’t have anything to add to the gear discussion – other than it was good to see how a bathtub floor sets up with a tarp. I had wondered.

[Adam Kilpatrick]

Thanks for this video! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Nice to get some nature and watch some good type II fun while I’m stuck at home.

[Monte Masterson]

@dirtbag, I made a net tent for a 6′ wide tarp last year but it’s just a bit too large, however it would fit perfectly with your 7′ X 9′ Borahgear. The end triangles are waterproof so it would block most rainspray from the open ends of your A frame tarp. Floor is 20D silpoly (RSBTR 2000 mm) and the total weight is 8.6 oz. Features a 2 zipper front entry. This would allow you to hang out in a bug free environment with decent space and would keep you dry in all but most hard blowing rains. If you want it just PM me your mailing address and full name and I’ll send it to you free of charge.

[Jeff McWilliams]

A frame weighs less

If wind doesn’t blow rain into it, it works good.

But does it when you have to also add the bathtub floor and the bivy?

Borah Gear 7×9 Tarp: 9.8oz and $102
MLD Sil Bathtub floor: 7-8oz and $75
MLD eVent Bivy: 7-12oz, and $185-$285
Total: 22.3oz-27.3oz and $362

Durston X-Mid 1 double wall, silpoly, bathtub floor:   25.4oz and $239.00
Durson X-Mid2 double wall, silpoly, bathtub floor: 31oz, $289.00

I’m not trying to rain on Dirtbag’s parade.  There’s a certain attractive aesthetic to sleeping under an open tarp, and I enjoy seeing posts like this and previous posts/videos from Ryan Jordan showcasing his tarp camping adventures out in WY.  I did some open-tarp camping here in Michigan before tick prevalence and Lyme disease increased substantially, including using a “Borah-Gami” Borah Gear tarp with a bug-bivy and my quilt.  I still own the gear, but I found the X-Mid1 significantly less fussy, and the weight gain was negligible.

For windy/rainy conditions such as Dirtbag experienced in upstate NY, I wonder if the MLD Trailstar wouldn’t prove to be a more bomb proof tarp-like shelter.

Great write-up and video by the way.  I’ve been to the Adirondacks on multiple occasions, and I’m overdue to visit again.

 

[Terran Terran]

In the YouTube comment section, you mention another video in which you explain your bathtub setup. I couldn’t find that video.

[Jerry Adams]

Good calculations.

I like to cowboy camp when it’s not raining.  A bivy is good because it keeps out wind, dew,…

I don’t like the idea of a bathtub floor myself, for one thing, water can get in and stay.

[jscott]

“I don’t like the idea of a bathtub floor myself, for one thing, water can get in and stay.”

Good point. but the whole idea of a bathtub floor is to keep water from coming in in the first place. Which is also why I like double wall tents, or single wall, that can pitch close to the ground. I’ve been in plenty of wind driven, torrential storms with various tents that matched this criteria and always came out dry the next day. Except once, when the  trail situated well overhead and twenty yards away overfilled in a heavy storm and sent a sudden rivulet directly into my tent. It all happened very fast. and yes, the shallow bathtub floor of that Zpacks Hexamid solo plus from years ago did indeed collect water. I had to get out and start a new pitch all over again in the driving winds and rain and very cold temps. Not good.

[Jerry Adams]

Occasionally i cowboy camp and at 2AM there’s a downpour and I quickly have to pitch tent

[dirtbag]

@Terran Terran.  The video is called “Never the Same”.  Approximately 27 minutes into it. Its my smaller tarp and smaller foor.. and its a short explanation and show of it.

https://youtu.be/CV4OU-xRX14?si=fpUguLjc6-51sQpX

[dirtbag]

Weight and pack size are negligible, for me at least. If you enjoy a tent or mid, bye all means use one.  If you enjoy a tarp and/or bivy,  use that.  There is no debating what is better or works better or more simple. Using my bivy I love that I can just lay it down wherever I am comfortable and rest/sleep with nothing else covering me and not needed to pitch anything.  Or Use my tarp as a sun block if needed. Im sure tents and mids have their good/bad points too. Its like IPhone/Android debate here, or air pad/CCF pad.  Truth of the matter is, use whatever YOU are most comfortable and MOST safe using and know how to use, it doesn’t matter, at the end of the day as long as you are out there and getting a solid night’s sleep in nature. I do own and use a tent at times, so I won’t sit here and pick apart tents or question why.  Just use what you have. Pack your pack and get out there, if even for a short simple overnighter. Dont find the time.. MAKE the time! Dont let bad weather deter you either,  that’s part of the fun. Sometimes you tend to remember the bad weather times more then that beautiful perfect sunny day where everything went absolutely perfect and as planned.

“Blessed be the earth beneath my feet,
The sky above, the air so sweet.
The waters flow, the fires glow,
In nature’s dance, life will grow.

Blessed be the roots that ground,
The leaves that whisper, soft and sound.
The flowers bright, the vines that climb,
The trees that stand the test of time.

I thank the herbs, the buds, the blooms,
The fragrant air, and the garden’s tune.
For every seed, for rain and sun,
For nature’s gifts, for lifes begun.

Mother Earth, so wild, so free,
I honor all you give to me.
With open heart, I humbly stand,
In sacred trust of earth and land.
May green things grow, both wild and free,
As I give thanks—so mote it be!”

[Paul Wagner]

^^^

Nice summary of so many discussions about gear. I’m a tent guy, (Henry Shires tarp tent) but I’ve often cowboy camped. Bivy’s get too much condensation in the Sierra, where I hike. I love the perspective of those who use tarps, so it’s all good!

 

[dirtbag]

[Terran Terran]

You can sit in a tent and watch a movie or sit under a tarp and watch the rain.

[dirtbag]

[Paul Wagner]

Um.  That’s quite a fire for someone in a solo tarp.  Expecting company?

I backpack in the West, where in many regions fires are prohibited…for obvious reasons.

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