Supertarp vs DST

[Just Over That Ridge]

I unexpectedly drew a high country Nevada tag for this year. I will be hunting September 8 - 16. We had planned on using a DIY pyramid on a Colorado hunt this year, but that tag is being turned back in. Being familiar with that area in CO, campsite locations were known that would accommodate the large footprint of the mid.

Being in an unfamiliar area in NV (been in the unit before but not the area I’m going to be hunting), we are planning to each bring individual tarp or tarptent shelters to ensure that we have more camping locations available to us. I think I have narrowed it down to a Kifaru Supertarp or Seek Outside DST. We will be camping at 9,000 - 10,500 feet.

As I understand it, the supertarp would be bombproof and be the choice for really rough weather, at the expense of being more cramped for most “normal” weather conditions. Conversely, the DST would be more roomy (thinking the diamond style pitch that folks seem to love on the DST pitches thread) for most nights but would be less stormworthy on a rough night.

I’m leaning towards the supertarp, because leaving early due to my shelter not handling the weather would be tragic on a once in a lifetime type hunt. But that comfort factor of the more roomy shelter over a draining 9 days could help with morale under the most likely conditions to be seen.

If you were in this situation, what shelter would you choose? Thanks for the recommendations.



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[Tim in Wa.]

I had a Super Tarp for years. I have a DST now. I would definitely go with a DST

 

[Tim in Wa.]

Or you could get a seek outside Silvertip and it would withstand storms better than either of the others.Super tarp is no fun with 2 guys

 

[Just Over That Ridge]

Thanks for the replies. Each man will have his own shelter. I was leaning towards the tarp style instead of tipis/mids, because we will potentially be spending a few nights in kicked out deer beds.


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[mrbillbrown]

I had a Super Tarp for years. I have a DST now. I would definitely go with a DST

Tim, what makes the DST so much better? I’ve got an 8x10 flat tarp and a SuperTarp and always grab the SuperTarp for shelter and the 8x10 for shade or gear cover. TIA, Bill


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[FlyGuy]

I have a supertarp and if you are using it solo there will be more than enough room. I'll be hunting with 2 in it backcountry for the 1st time this Fall, with a tut for a truck/basecamp. But my wife and I used it, with a wiggly 7 year old between us, for a few nights this spring and it was plenty big enough. For 1, anything larger is just a waste and extra lbs.

Plus, as far as comfort goes, I'd much rather have a stove over extra room in my shelter. Just my .02, good luck on that tag! I'd love to hear how it goes.

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[Tim in Wa.]

Tim, what makes the DST so much better? I’ve got an 8x10 flat tarp and a SuperTarp and always grab the SuperTarp for shelter and the 8x10 for shade or gear cover. TIA, Bill


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Its a fraction of the price ,You can pitch it in many different ways depending on the conditions including just like a super tarp pitch only without the extra space at the foot end that I could never find a use for any way

 

[wind gypsy]

Thanks for the replies. Each man will have his own shelter. I was leaning towards the tarp style instead of tipis/mids, because we will potentially be spending a few nights in kicked out deer beds.


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Is your thought on deer beds that ground is too uneven for a mid? You could do a duomid or similar for comparable weight to a DST and it seems like a better full coverage shelter. However would probably need to be used if you wanted MLD because of lead times.

 

[Bulldawg]

Thing about a super tarp is you could pitch it off the ground quite a ways and have all the room in the world and pitch it lower to the ground if some weather comes in. I've been rocking a paratarp for a few years now and haven't had it pitched to the ground except for a couple times when the wind was blowing pretty hard and it was making me cold.

 

[mfllood3800]

I was looking at both these models for an emergency shelter, mostly to set up in a heavy rain. I was actually after these in a smaller size, but couldn't find what I wanted. I already have a SO shelter for sleeping. I made a card stock model and sent it to William Hansen and he is making me a smaller version of a diamond shape set up to my spec's. It will handle one guy and all gear easily enough, come in under weight of others, and allow emergency shelter and sleeping if needed. So many good options out there it gets so hard to choose a "one and done" type shelter.

I really like the ability to reach out to a supporter of RS and request exactly what I am after and not have to settle.

 

[mfllood3800]

Duplicate

 

[rgrmike]

The SO Silvertip is really cool and I think it would handle the elements really well. That would be my pick.

 

[mcseal2]

I don't have a Supertarp, but do have a Paratarp, Megatarp, and DST. I would go DST out of the two you listed, but I don't think you could go wrong either way. I've used my Megatarp quite a bit and really like it. I like the room, the design, and I have never been wet using it. It's great to crawl in and sleep, but less versatile as a quick glassing or rain shelter. I just got the DST and spent my first night under it last Friday while catfishing the river. I set it up on an exposed sandbar and it handled the wind and rain well. It rained about 2" between 8pm and 5am and I stayed dry through it all. I used the flying diamond pitch, and had the front about 6.5ft high to get enough height we could put a couple lawn chairs side by side under it and fish under shelter while it rained. When my buddy retreated to his tent later that night I used the back of it to sleep under. I wanted to see if it would keep me dry with the high pitch and it did. Lowering the front would be better for a sleeping shelter in the rain, but it worked fine. I like the versatility of the DST in my limited experience with it. It's just easy to do different pitches to match the conditions. The Kifaru tarps have proven themselves tough to me and you would not go wrong using one of them either, your options setting them up are just a bit more limited.

 

[desertcj]

I'm curious why every one is raving about the dst? Versatility? OK, but no different than any other square tarp. Seek Outside has the Colorado tarp that's a couple ounces lighter than the dst.

 

[Tim in Wa.]

there are a bunch of tarps available but other than a Cooke Custom Sewing Tundra tarp I'm not aware of any others ( in 10' X 10') with a reinforced area for a pole

 

[desertcj]

there are a bunch of tarps available but other than a Cooke Custom Sewing Tundra tarp I'm not aware of any others ( in 10' X 10') with a reinforced area for a pole

OK, so it's the reinforced pole area that is the big deal?

 

[Tim in Wa.]

And it was the tarp the original poster asked about

 

[mcseal2]

The Colorado isn't a square tarp either, although it's close. The square tarp seems to work better with several pitches than the 8x10, 8.5x10, and 10x13 tarps I have in other brands. The re-enforced patch is a darn nice feature too I think. FWIW I have not used the Colorado to see how it does in the same pitches as the DST where it's almost square.

 

[desertcj]

And it was the tarp the original poster asked about

Yeah, doesn't seem like a big deal to me. My 10x10 tarp is more versatile than I need. I've got a couple setups I use and none require a reinforced pole patch. I also have a 7x10 which is enough for one person, but just barely! 10x10 is luxurious for one person and OK for two.Just wondering because I've been seeing so much talk about "dst" this and "dst" that...