This is a cheap tarp, if you hang it along the diagonal. Functional but not the best coverage.
You can also probably sew yourself a bugnet on the cheap but amazon has some options for those as well. Good luck!
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Cheers!
http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Survival-Technologies-BASE-Orange/dp/B00FB7XYRS/ref=sr_1_3?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1431121380&sr=1-3&keywords=chinook+tarp Does anyone have this tarp? It's pretty damn cheap, but I don't want to buy it and discover it's crap.
I just pulled the trigger on this as well. I haven't had a chance to even set mine up yet, but I'm super excited.
I went with this:
I like it because I can use it to make a floor if I want, or just a really huge roof if I don't need a floor. The only downside is my tent has zippers and keeps my dog in the tent, not sure how I will manage that situation when I use this new tarp. I'm thinking the dog will just stay home.
Yeah, but now you know to pitch it with the opening facing downwards. I think I'd be glad that I learned that lesson from it being cold, not cold and wet; one year with the air force guys they pitched a fairly water tight tent with the opening facing uphill, and of course they had put it in the nice gully carved out by previous rains. Tent filled with 3" of water.
Is that the SOL 2 person sleeping bag for your ground sheet? I used to use one of those too. Surprisingly hardy and great at what they do, but kind of a pain in the ass to get it back into the original stuff sack, especially in wind.
I use a UST Tube Tarp, which is a stupid cheap, stupid easy tent to set up that's slightly heavy (~2 lbs) and the wrong color. Also I don't like pulling the wheel off and putting the fork in the dirt, so I typically modify the setup for any photos listed here.
Reference: I saved this from a while back for ideas.
I bought this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FB7XYRS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_82199A2KP6C7D28721Q6?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
It's no longer available tho
If you want a square tarp, I can absolutely understand - I would get a square tarp if I had to replace this with something more $$$.
My motivation was similar to that of a beater bike: I wanted to learn a ton about tarp camping for as cheap as possible with as low a financial penalty as possible. I also wanted to see if I could make a kit for less than $50; although somewhat impractical long term the combination of a SOL Bivy, the UST Tarp Tent and a air mattress/waffle foam pad can be bought for a total of around $60 from Amazon so I think I somewhat achieved that (I ended up slicing my SOL Bivy down one side to encourage a little better airflow; if you've slept inside your bivvy you'll understand why!). I ended up really liking the tent in the end, and to be honest I think for $22 it's incredible value. If you're thinking at any point, "Maybe I want to have a cheaper one because X" I think it's a good investment. Plus it's cheap and small enough that if you have a friend and you give it away, you can get them to try bikepacking too without them dropping a ton of cash.
Also the inside of the tent is lined with reflective material (aluminum) which I thought was a gimmick because what the F is a reflective material going to do when you have both ends open?! Then I pitched it in a different way and was all, "OOooooooo...."
> I'm curious about the zipper on yours though - does it run along the top edge so you can get in from the side? That would be a great feature!
It is a zipper that connects the two long sides of a rectangle. It doesn't quite sit right on the edge of one of the sides; it sits maybe 1" inset, so that the edge forms a small flap, and that flap covers the zipper (making it more water resistant). Along the top there's also 2 hooks at either end that encourage the flap to stay flush with the tube, rather than flapping around in the breeze. If you look at the default product image here you can see the hook visible and one of the other product images shows the flap and the zipper. If it ran along the floor instead of the apex of the roof it would be perfect for getting in from the side, but since it runs along the top it's slightly less awesome (still doable, just slightly less awesome). I've unzipped it in the morning to peek out and see what my buddy is doing before zipping it back up again without having to leave my nice, warm sleeping arrangement.
You can look at UST or Eastern Ridge Tarp as decent budget options.
https://www.amazon.com/UST-Tube-Camping-Shelter-Orange/dp/B00FB7XYRS
And if you can go a little higher to 60 bucks, check out the Chill Gorilla Pro-tent tarp or the costlier Kelty Noah.
I've been using this tarp with an eno single for several months now. Been pretty happy with it so far.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FB7XYRS/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apip_jX2sj4MWh1cmL
I camp in hammocks a lot and you'd be better off just getting a hammock rainfly. They're super simple to make yourself (what I use) too.
Also, consider a set of atlas straps instead of the stand. Find 2 trees ~12-22' apart and you're good to go. I've never had a problem in regular tenting campgrounds, if you're in RV type campgrounds trees can be a little sparse and the stand is a better idea.
This surpasses your budget by a little but I plan on getting this when I get paid this Friday! Ultimate Survival Technologies 1.0 BASE Tube Tarp, Orange https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FB7XYRS/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_EnNqvb0GVMXA0 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FB7XYRS/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_EnNqvb0GVMXA0