Kifaru megatarp review

mcseal2

WKR
Joined
May 8, 2014
Messages
2,671
Just got back from a canoe fishing trip to the Algonquin Park in Canada where I used the Megatarp. We camped for a week and had several days of rain, once a steady soaker for over 12hrs, and I stayed dry. I seam sealed the tarp as recommended by Kifaru before the trip. I really like the tarp it sure has lots of room for it's weight. I also like not having an attached floor to try to clean out or dry. I have a separate bathtub floor, I believe by Seekoutside, but I'm not certain. I didn't see it on their current products list. It leaves me about 10" of uncovered ground between the floor and edges of the Megatarp for condensation to drip off into. Really works nice. For bugs I bought a USGI net off Amazon that I will link below. It covers plenty of area for me to sleep under and is 6" or so longer than it needs to be, so it stays on the ground. I tied it to the poles I had holding the tarp up, and set some heavier gear in the corners to keep it open and off of me. Downside of this net is it's bulk, but it is cheap and does the job. I used 2 hiking poles and Kelty 8" Nobendium stakes to complete the shelter. I took 3 extra pegs and some paracord for each side to tie to the loops on the sidewalls of the tent. Using these loops gives the tarp a straighter wall and really increases the usable space inside. I took the annex but never needed it this trip. I really like the Velcro opening on the back of the tarp. I used the area behind the rear pole as gear storage and accessed it through this Velcro opening. My floor didn't reach that far, so it made an ideal place to store wet or muddy gear. The Algonquin park does not allow campers to damage any green vegetation so I took hiking poles in with me, not sure what I'd find that was dry that would have enough length and be small enough diameter to fit the hardened spots for poles, while still being strong enough to support the tarp. I did find some that would have worked while gathering firewood, but not right away. When the sun did come out, opening both ends of the tarp created plenty of airflow and dried the tarp out quickly. With the bulk and weight of the mosquito net and hiking poles I'm not sure this configuration saved me much weight over a conventional tent, but it has more room than any 3 man tent I've been in. I love that I can use it like this for a summer trip to a buggy area and then throw in the annex and stove in place of the netting for colder months. I'm very happy with my purchase. Kifaru did say I will need a longer stovepipe for my Parastove to use with this tarp, the one I have is for the Paratarp. Need to get that before fall.

link didn't work, it is under USGI Mosquito Net Bar Military for $12.75 on Amazon. Should come up with at search.
 
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