Tarp Camping Tips and Tricks: Picking a Camp Site, Pitching, First Trip
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
- Follow along with me as I find a campsite and setup my tarp in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
Some of the gear in this video:
Tarp: Paria Outdoor Products Sanctuary Siltarp 10x10
Stakes: MSR Groundhog
Backpack: ULA CDT
Sleeping bag: Thermarest Parsec -6C
Sleeping pad: Thermarest NeoAir XLite NXT long wide
Water filter: Platypus QuickDraw
Kettle: MSR Titan
Wood Stove: Vargo Titanum Hexagon
My winter essentials: • Essential Winter Gear ...
6 Pieces of gear you need for winter camping and backpacking: • 6 Pieces of Gear You N...
My cold wet weather backpacking footwear and boot system: • Ultralight Backpacking...
Connect with me: / kane_does_outdoors
#backpacking #hiking #wildcamping #ultralightbackpacking #gear
Your tarp shelter discussions are nice. Haven't myself yet, but I picked up privately a Mountain Hardwear Stingray II.5 (catenary cut) and a S2Summit Nano Mosquito Pyramid net. I did a first pitch with it using given poles. I also have a COOP 12.8'x9.5' Guides tarp. Gives me the willies that a driving rain could sneak in. I guess I'd use my Int Designs bivvy as assurance. I'll keep watching. You did a great comparison on MSR stoves.
Having that that porch mode with fire going river side is a fantastic usage of tarp camping. Great demo video. Yes a bet the cool temperatures and breeze cut down on bugs tremendously. Beautiful campsite. Very convenient configuration for setting up your sleeping area, accessing gear and shutting down for the night in bed with the fire still going in view. Thanks
Thanks for the feedback - it was definitely a great spot to camp & perfect conditions for a tarp.
I commented back a bit on your video providing tips from your 15 years of tarp camping. I’m the guy who’s been practicing out in the back yard for the past year.
I can affirm to anyone one considering this for the first time: Your own backyard is the best place to practice tarp tenting and all skills needed for wild camping. There is no shame in it. It’s a safe environment. If something goes wrong, you can bail. Get back out there and do it again. You get a little fearful, you can bail. Get back out there and do it again. Little by little you overcome and you gain more confidence.
I have since mastered at least five different tarp configurations, three of which I like the most, two of which are my go to, one of which is my main preference - the A-frame hexamid. This is a 90% fully enclosed configuration which done properly provides good air circulation as well. Last week I purchased an inexpensive One Tigres single man closed in screen with a bathtub floor, which sits inside exactly 1/2 of my A-frame.
I started out with regular construction tarps, which I still really like because of their extreme durability, but last fall I graduated to a fairly inexpensive tarp, that being a Red Camp 10‘ x 12‘. This tarp is within the $30-$40 price range US dollar. I tested it and heavy winds and rain, and so far, knock on wood.
My second favorite pitch is quick and easy. If bad weather is coming, or if it’s a really nice night, and I just want open access to everything, then that would be the Holden tarp tent. I do all my tarp tents with walking poles, or sticks if I need to.
Of course, I’ve been sleeping out every single night this week since I got my bug screen… great excuse to get out there again. The weather‘s been really nice here in New England. And I’m doing it on work nights as well!
Looking forward to finding someone I can go out there and do some real camping with soon, but it’s still enjoyable out in the backyard. It’s a lot of fun. You build up your confidence. And the more you build your tent over and over again, the more you practice, the easier it gets, and it becomes a quick system. I’ve practiced building tarp configurations in the dark with just a headlamp to see if I could do it in an emergency. I can honestly say I’ve given myself an A+ each time.
I sit by mini campfires, I cook meals, practice my fire starting skills and buttoning, etc.
Start with an inexpensive, construction tarp tent, and get out in your backyard. And if you have kids, include them. I wish my kids were younger, because they be doing this with me right now! Oh well.
Yes I remember your comment - I like the simplicity of the A frame, just a personal preference. Your approach is similar, master a few configurations and you’re good to go.
Sandy and gravely means flood plain
So it could flood in a flash flood
Get a tarp with pull outs in the body of the tarp
Adding side pull outs is on my list of things to do. My old 10x9 diy tarp has them and it really helps in the wind.
I hear what you’re saying and flooding does happen, like the one that completely reshaped that river in 2013 after 8 inches of rain fell in 36 hours. Pretty unusual though.
@@KaneDoesOutdoors
My comment is aimed at people that don’t understand flood plains and how suddenly they can flood in small amounts of rain because the volume can be from miles and miles up stream
You are experienced and know that local river
thanks
I've never slept under a tarp but kind of attracted to the idea of not having to deal with bug screen zippers and keeping the dirty outside/clean inside distinction. Like lying down with shoes on for a break from the sun or rain etc. siltarp I've used for 10 years is on 5x8 though. Guess I;d have to upsize
There’s definitely something appealing about the simplicity. 5x8 is a little small, 9x7 would be the minimum for me and either a 10x10 or 8x10 is perfect. Some people use 5x8 though!
Now is the season for tarping in the valleys! Nice spot!
Great video. Over this past fall/winter I've found out that I really enjoy camping with a minimal shelter. Like you mentioned in your video, there is something very rewarding about using a tarp to create your shelter. I find that I sleep better when Im not confined to a tent, and can enjoy nature around me much more- which is why we camp in the first place.
Now that the bugs are back out, Ive been experimenting with bug nets and bivy's so that I can continue tarp camping without getting eaten alive.
Cheers from NB!
I’ve used a homemade bug bivy for years. Cheap, simple and light. Just a big rectangle of silnylon with a mosquito net top that runs down the middle of the netting along the full length. I think it’s 8 oz.
Love this. Nothing better then tarp camping!! Beautiful place you found there too!! Agree about certain shelters for certain conditions.
Great advice on site selection and the reasons for using a tarp. Its a great combo. When you add a hammock (some extra weight of course) your options open up even more.
Good point, I haven’t used my hammock in ages. I should definitely take it out for a spin.
Solid points, Kane. I've spent a lot of time under a tarp in the army (aka: poncho liner) ... I think I've spent more time under a tarp than inside a tent. Great advice on site considerations too.
Beautiful sharing as usual! Great love and respect from a solo mountain hiker friend from the Hindu Kush Mountains Lower Chitral District of Pakistan!
Thank you Kane for the info. I will start using a 10x10 tarp this year in conjonction with the snugpak ionosphere mesh inner only. I will definitely try to use my tarp also next winter during bug free season.
Thanks for the tips Kane !
Love a 10x10, there's something super basic and so flexible. I like that you can build some pretty great shelters with trekking poles too, which I use now. So I like that I can do tree pitches, or trekking pole only if the spots don't work as well. (because here in Australia you can't trust the branches from gum trees, so it's often better to pitch away from them)
The 2X sticks (or trekking poles) is probably my most used pitch - pretty rare that you find a nice flat spot between 2 trees. Like your said, the danger from above is also an important factor.
@@KaneDoesOutdoors I really like the idea of throwing up the A frame, then pushing up the downwind side with sticks. I'm definitely doing that next time I'm out instead of a lean-to.
❤❤😊
That is what I like about using tarps, their versatility. But where I live, you better have mosquito netting!!
There’s a pretty short bug free season here, but normally I have some kind of netting with me. A couple of mosquitoes did find me though.
Solid advice man. Even though I'm in my 30s, I am just getting into camping and backpacking myself here in Calgary. Just buying my last few items this week.
I've always heard that selecting a location fairly close to a stream/water source will bring more wildlife around your area. Makes sense to me.
You're experienced, no doubt. Have you ever had a sketchy situation with a bear when you set up so close to a water source?
I'm just collecting as much info as I can before I complete my gear and head out this September to begin camping and hiking :)
Any tips on random camping/selecting my first few camp locations will be super helpful!
That’s an interesting question - probably true for areas where water is limited or there is some kind of particularly abundant food source. If you take the location in that video as an example I wasn’t concerned at all. It was on the Elbow River and probably just as likely to cross a bear there as anywhere else in Kananaskis. More likely at the nearby campgrounds with food habituated animals.
When I lived out east and would hike in the Adirondack High Peaks, the habituated bears literally had a schedule and would constantly visit the designated sites. That’s the advantage of random/stealth camping. Keep a clean camp, protect your food (ursack or bear can), stay there for one night just to sleep and you should be good.
I have always been a tent person but have been wanting to try tarp camping to go lighter. I live in Pennsylvania. I am looking at an Aquaquest 9'7" x 6' 7" silnylon tarp.
(Actual dimensions of 10x7)
The tarp alone weighs 14.4 ounces. I will be pairing it with a Katabatic pinion bivy ( 8 ounces). I will be using dyneema cordage and titanium stakes.
I have the bivy, etc but have not pulled the plug on the tarp yet.
In your opinion, is that a good tarp to start with?
Nice set up! I see you brought the parsec bag? any noticeable drafts from the zipper baffles? do the straps fit your sleeping pad?
Yes that’s the -6C parsec. I slept with it completely unzipped that night but otherwise haven’t noticed any drafts… For the straps, I never use them.
How.many guylines do you have pre-attached to your tarp setup, in general? Do you carry a ridgeline or do you use two guylines, one attached to each end tie out?
Just wondering about yhe best way to set a tarp up with guylines that maintains flexibility.
I’ve never used a ridgeline setup, always to the main center tie outs on the ridge seam. Those are usually 8-12 feet of cord that I leave attached, as well as all corners (4 ft). Mid panel tie out are usually shorter, around 2 ft. There are usually 2-3 mid panel tie outs on the edges depending on the size of the tarp. I make sure there’s cord on all of them. On a big flat tarp two of the corners will have longer sections of cord for a lean-to setup.
Hey, what are the lenghts of the guylines you keep on your tarp?
Pretty long. 12ft for each of the ridgeline tie outs and 8 ft for the corners.
@@KaneDoesOutdoors Thanks! I'd be interested in a full walkthrough of how you carry your setup (what lines are attached where) how you stake them most often. A bit more technical than this video.