Bushwalk Australia

Hi all.

I an looking for a tarp.
I want a simple rectangle with some eyelets to attach strings to, so I can put it up between trees or whatever, only to use as a day shelter to cook / stand around under, if I need shade or to get some rain off me.
It's not for an overnight shelter.

I need it to be lightweight.

Size? I don't know, bigger than the space blanket but it doesn't need to be huge.

I contacted Franco from tarp tents but they only do tent stuff.
I contacted Terra Rosa Gear but they are terribly low on stock at the moment.

So where does one go to obtain a good, lightweight tarp suitable for my needs?

Any advice appreciated, thanks & regards.

Wilderness Equipment and Hilleberg make them.
http://www.wildequipment.com.au/tents.p ... nd%20Tarps

zpacks is the first to come to mind but maybe you wanted to spend less which is fair enough.
A cuben tarp would be very light and the size options from zpacks would suit. It will block the sun to a degree but it's pretty translucent.
He doesn checp postage from the US if you want.
http://www.zpacks.com/shelter/tarps.shtml

I don't care too much about price, first consideration is weight.
3 metres square for 700 grams, is that what is classified as light? Genuine question - I don't know, I was hoping for maybe 2-300.

I see the zpacks website has some lighter options, happy with either of these, or something similar -



Now to figure out how to get one in a week.....

Another option could be to email Brian at OES tarps to see if he has anything in stock.
His communications can be anything but crap at times though. If he has one in stock in a size that might suit he could post express.
A little heavier but cheaper.
http://www.outdoorequipmentsupplier.com ... _tarps.php

Same with zpacks. But they are swift on the comm's. They could have something in stock if you asked. Fire off a few emails and ask if they have "something" roughly to you size required. You might be happily suprised.

I have a spare hberg UL10 that will probably end up on ebay Adam. Heavier but slightly bigger, better shade and stronger.. Not quite big enough for us..
Another option- in Cuben these would be Very easy to make .. If someone had the time and space..

Getting any of these from the US in a week is going to be either difficult, expensive, or impossible.

Is this a permanent thing Adam, or a one-off? I have a ZPacks Hammock Tarp with doors I would be prepared to loan you on repair/replace terms. 310g seamsealed with guys and ridgeline, no pegs.

Last one on this page: http://www.zpacks.com/shelter/hammock_tarps.shtml

photohiker wrote:Getting any of these from the US in a week is going to be either difficult, expensive, or impossible.

I would challenge that comment...especially from zpacks. I regularly receive deliveries from them within 6 working days....providing they have it in stock. And I'm sure that if you ask for uber fast shipping they would try their very darndest to honour your request.

Also... + 1 on the zpacks tarps...they are rock solid, super light, and the CF is a sexy material....just sayin'.

Quite overwhelmed by the assistance & offers I have received to this with numerous PM's and the replies. The links are most helpful.

Still deciding & need to research, but only on tapatalk iphone app at the moment - just wanted to say thanks to everyone.

quicky wrote:

photohiker wrote:Getting any of these from the US in a week is going to be either difficult, expensive, or impossible.

I would challenge that comment...especially from zpacks. I regularly receive deliveries from them within 6 working days....providing they have it in stock.

Good to hear. My last order took a month to make and over 2 weeks to deliver. Joe will always move you up the queue if you have a valid reason but he can't send something he hasn't got, and I don't think he carries a lot of stock - people often ask for custom mods.

The fastest service Zpacks uses is USPS Express mail.
With that service I get parcels in 5 to 15 days , note the 15 days bit
(about half of my parcels arrive in 7-8 days)

I use a tent footprint for this purpose, somehow I ended up with an extra so now its my lightweight, all purpose tarp

Hi Adam, I'll put in a vote for the Wilderness Equipment tarps as I've had one of their standard overhangs for years now and it's still going strong, top quality gear. Two of the guylines needed replacing earlier in the year so I emailed WE and asked where I could get some of their reflective cord and they sent me out a whole set compiments of the house, pretty happy with that!

I have the standard model which is 3x3m and just over 1kg http://www.wildequipment.com.au/tent_de ... ode=WEOH75 and out of all the tents and tarps I've had (apart from canvas) it is the most solid and goes on every car camping/kayaking trip.

the 3x3m UL model might be closer to the weight your after at 700g http://www.wildequipment.com.au/tent_de ... de=WEOHSIL

I also have a 3x3m Terra Rosa Gear tarp which is about 350g, the materials not as robust but it's still a great tarp

I have decided that 700 grams is too heavy for what I want it for, I really need to do more searching to see what tarps are being used for... A tarp with doors, think I'll stick with my Nallo for sleeping arrangements.
I'm sure they'd be great, just too heavy for my purpose.

I have paid for a light-ish tarp 2nd hand from a kind member of the forum who PM'd me, and I am also in communication with zpacks for a lighter one.

I'll let you all know what I think.

The guy from Terra Rosa offered me a loan from his personal collection, & I received numerous other loan offers, all very generous & appreciated.

I now have an OES 4 season cuben tarp on the way from a member of the forum, comes in at 290 grams.
I also have one coming from Zpacks, claimed 3 to 5 business days freight, now tracking as it is on the way.
It's the 2.6 x 3.4 metre Cuben Fiber Tarp, constructed from .51 oz/sqyd cuben fiber fabric. Claimed 204 grams.
Should keep the rain off the meal area on a wet lay day.

So it seems tarps are used for more than a bit of day shelter - people sleep under them in hammocks, or possibly with an internal screen (bit like a large flyscreen bivvy?)

I don't think I'm into ultralight that much but the tarps will be fun to play with.

I found a few photos from my collection, of a tarp the sort of thing I had in mind, also with the sort of use I had in mind for the tarp I want...






My intention is not to worry too much about guy ropes, just string it up with builders line - this stuff... Really light, really strong. Cheap, Versatile (clothes line, emergency boot lace if you platt it, spare tent guy, etc)... Only take the amount you need - not the roll.

Or are guy lines that much better?

Well, nylon line will stretch.

Guylines are just lengths of line. I use 2.2mm Zing-It, which is arborist's throw rope. Strong and light.

If it's just for lunches, I expect the builder's line will be fine.

tasadam wrote:
I don't think I'm into ultralight that much but the tarps will be fun to play with.

Haha, famous last words?? The nallo will seem like a dinosaur!!

Amen to that. It won't take long for the penny to drop!

You guys are forgetting something... I like to be totally enclosed - sometimes it is a neccessity - viewtopic.php?f=5&t=668&p=14041&hilit=mary+creek+plains#p14041
How do you cope with that in a tarp? Or mozzies?

Well yer, I once woke up with a leech jammed into a nostril, only once though..
That was in the days before we added bivy bags (but then, yes, the weight starts to go up for two share)

http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com/sh ... ucts_id=30

tasadam wrote:You guys are forgetting something... I like to be totally enclosed - sometimes it is a neccessity - viewtopic.php?f=5&t=668&p=14041&hilit=mary+creek+plains#p14041
How do you cope with that in a tarp? Or mozzies?

Easy! use a hammock. You're enclosed, warm, protected by your (lightweight) tarp, and out of reach of those pesky leeches.

Unless they work out they have to climb the trees and do a highwire act to get to you, and even if they did all that a hammock with integrated bugscreen will foil them

tasadam wrote:You guys are forgetting something... I like to be totally enclosed - sometimes it is a neccessity - viewtopic.php?f=5&t=668&p=14041&hilit=mary+creek+plains#p14041
How do you cope with that in a tarp? Or mozzies?

Toughen up, princess..

Lady McGuyver wrote:
Toughen up, princess..

A bit grumpy?

Lady McGuyver wrote:tasadam wrote:You guys are forgetting something... I like to be totally enclosed - sometimes it is a neccessity - viewtopic.php?f=5&t=668&p=14041&hilit=mary+creek+plains#p14041
How do you cope with that in a tarp? Or mozzies?


Toughen up, princess..

good call

Miyata610 wrote:

Lady McGuyver wrote:
Toughen up, princess..

A bit grumpy?

Yess, isn't there a rule for grumpiness here somewhere? (not that I wasn't thinking the same )

Yes, very funny.
Go and read the Leech story...

tasadam wrote:.... and I am also in communication with zpacks for a lighter one.

It arrived today.

photohiker wrote:

tasadam wrote:You guys are forgetting something... I like to be totally enclosed - sometimes it is a neccessity - viewtopic.php?f=5&t=668&p=14041&hilit=mary+creek+plains#p14041
How do you cope with that in a tarp? Or mozzies?

Easy! use a hammock. You're enclosed, warm, protected by your (lightweight) tarp, and out of reach of those pesky leeches.

Unless they work out they have to climb the trees and do a highwire act to get to you, and even if they did all that a hammock with integrated bugscreen will foil them

I really like the idea of a hammock for bushwalking, but there simply aren't suitable trees to use in many of the places I walk (Tasmanian highlands). Don't get me wrong, there are areas here where a hammock would work, but I certainly couldn't rely on it, which means I have to take a ground-based shelter anyhow.