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Thread: Tent or Tarp?

  1. #21
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    I've often used a poncho hammock, like we used to do in Panama, with another poncho overhead as a roof. Works great most of the year in wooded areas.

    Been running one or two USGI ponchos for individual camping for years. One of those "arctic shield" windshield covers (space-blanket like, for ice- proofing) works as a decent ground mat, when I need it.

    My opinion: for extreme weather, tent's great, but two ponchos are very versatile.

  2. #22
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    Tarps are pretty good for spring, summer, & fall around here. Come winter? I'll take a TENT, please!
    - Either you're part of the problem or you're part of the solution or you're just part of the landscape - Sam (Robert DeNiro) in, "Ronin" -

  3. #23
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    I do a lot of camping and backpacking, and i do like the hammock/tarp combo, but if you are going camping in cold weather, you MUST bring a good hammock quilt or something to help insulate or you will freeze. I trade off between a hammock/tarp and my nice backpacking tent in the warmer weather, but if i'm camping in the late fall or winter, i always use a tent.

  4. #24
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    I agree. Hammock is not good in extreme cold, as you feel cold underneath, where gravity has you pressed down against the bottom surface. Much rather be down in a bag on top of a puss pad.

  5. #25
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    Forgive me - I live where temps rarely get below 40* on our coldest nights of the year.

    What is a 4 season tent, and what makes it different? Tents get pret
    Why do the loudest do the least?

  6. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by Eurodriver View Post
    Forgive me - I live where temps rarely get below 40* on our coldest nights of the year.

    What is a 4 season tent, and what makes it different? Tents get pret
    I have been in my tarp (Kifaru Supertarp) at 2 degrees and snowing prior to getting the stove, 15 is my low with stove.

    I think the biggest thing in a 4 season is the frame and material being able to handle a snow load or wind without collapsing, which I think most silnylon tarps should be able to do so long as they aren't pitched flat or close to it and decent poles (brought along or cut limbs) are used.

    Another thing with winter tents is having some kind of liner to deal with condensation and wind. Short of wind blowing some thing thought it, silnylon is pretty much air tight. Breath and sweat will condense on the inside of a tarp, but will just run down the sides and in to the ground versus puddling in a floor.

    Being able to seal off openings can be helpful, but a tarp pitched in to a lean to with fire out front isn't unbearable.

    My max has been 2 degrees with 4 to 6 inches of accumulation overnight so that doesn't encompass all winter extremes so definitely not going to say that a 4 season tent isn't a necessity in various weather conditions. Will say getting some backyard practice in cold weather is a very good idea to get a feel for what does and does not work.
    Last edited by jsbhike; 11-22-18 at 16:02.

  7. #27
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    3 season vs 4 season... this is more hiking oriented but you get the idea. Not real snow loaded situations.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPEFnEDrD9c

    Also if anyone is looking for some hammock gear... Kammock has 30% for the BF deals.

    https://kammok.com/

    Also several people... mostly boating supply like west marine have dyneema on sale this weekend.

    If you don't know what to do with dyneema check out this guys vids..... also if think you might get stuck alone in a snow storm... he has a couple of vids where that very thing happened to him. You might want to watch them. It was pretty interesting.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0eZz36PRYI

    Also this guy for super lightweight hammock suspension.... plus he actually sells this stuff on ebay for pretty cheap considering the time it takes to make it.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVQTPZ67c5Y -- he has some howto vids
    BTW.. if anyone knows how he ties those "EVO Loops" I would like to know. I can't figure how he gets the button on the end of the continuous loop. I can see the tails are burried so I'm thinking he ties a crown knot ( per Brion toss ) and then buries the tails. I -think- it is a non Brummel loop as well but I'm really guessing.

  8. #28
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    Sub freezing temperature I will take the 4 season tent, especially in open flat desert areas with no trees.

  9. #29
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    I just picked up one of the Lawson hammocks. It seems like a nice hammock, but it is quite bulky for trying to hike light. But I like the built in bug netting:

    https://www.lawsonhammock.com/produc...SAAEgIRnPD_BwE

    Found a couple of nice cheap hammocks on Amazon that pack very small. I'm going to use this in conjunction with a couple of the USMC MARPAT tarps for cover. Big thing to me is that in a hammock, you're off the ground and not wet in a deluge. I've been in a tent a couple times where I thought I put it in a high and dry spot only to wake up in the night soaked by a downpour. It sucks when everything gets wet and your out for a couple days. Hope to give it a try soon before the temps turn lower! Looks like it is going to be a cold snowy winter down here in SW Virginia.

    I was looking for a while for a cheap surplus military tent on Ebay. Funny, surplus items now seem like they command top dollar. Ended up getting a 2 person USMC Diamond brand tent that had a decent BIN price. Easy to set up and it has a fly.
    Last edited by teufelhund1918; 10-30-19 at 06:47.

  10. #30
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    Good tents with full coverage flys will keep you dry even with standing water on the ground. That unless you pitched in a huge puddle/creek.

    The trick is to use them with ground cloth to prevent pinholes from developing in the waterproof floor.

    It's a bit moot if your comparison is a tarp or a hammock.

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