Tarps vs tents.

[cmeier117]

I'm thinking about getting a tarp and was wondering if any of you have issues with mosquitoes or other biting bugs during the night biting your face and head? Do you slather the deet on before going to bed, cover your head and face totally with your sleeping bag? Is it even an issue for anyone? How many sleep in a bivy under a tarp to seal the bugs out? Just wondering..

I sleep under a tarp with a bivy but more for a replacement for a ground sheet and to keep drips and weather off my bag, more so than bugs

 

[TJ]

I'm thinking about getting a tarp and was wondering if any of you have issues with mosquitoes or other biting bugs during the night biting your face and head? Do you slather the deet on before going to bed, cover your head and face totally with your sleeping bag? Is it even an issue for anyone? How many sleep in a bivy under a tarp to seal the bugs out? Just wondering..

I would love to get a tarp and may do it someday. Mosquitos are the only reason I don't.

Ever been scouting in the summer or ealy fall when the mosquitos are so bad your only chance to get away from them is in your tent?
Yeah, that me!!!

I have thought about getting a bug bivy to use with a tarp but, to me, weight wise I can't justify it. Oh well!!

 

[fillthefreezer]

i just use my shangri la with the nest til the bugs die, then without

 

[gethuntin]

How well does a tarp work in conditions with snow already on the ground and no stove to melt it away in the inside. This is a downfall i have in my head for tarps that i cant get past. Packing a shovel isnt an option. LOL

 

[fillthefreezer]

roll a piece of tyvek out on top and use a good pad

 

[badkneesbro]

What about condensation in supertarps? I open my door, skeeter net & all my vents on my tarptent moment, & I still get condensation!

 

[justin davis]

I never have issues with bugs. They stay out. Or if they can get in they are able to leave.

As far as snow, I just use a piece of Tyvek to put my mat on.

Condensation has been a non issue for me. If I get condensation, not a big deal wipe off with a towel or just don't touch the walls

 

[Rocky]

I like a tent. My tent and foot print is under 3 lbs. It has dual vestibules. On one side I enter/exit the tent as well as store my extra food and boots in the evening. I use the other vestibule to store my spotting scope, tripod, bow, and pack when we are back at camp for the evening. Inside the tent I have a clean bug free area to sleep and store my extra clothing. I saw some post about having a stove inside your shelter, but that is a nonissue for me because I have a warm dry sleeping bag waiting for me it the weather makes a turn for the worst.

 

[kaboku68]

I used to just use a blue plastic tarp exclusively. I got trapped by a September ice storm in the Talkeetna Mts. near Tyone Creek and had it freeze to the ground and had to chip it out to use. It never got warm after that and it continue to storm for three days. I basically had to build a monster campfire and cut a leanto out of the creek bank. I decided after that that I would always go with a tent.
I have noticed that I am going lighter and lighter and their isn't much difference between my BA flycreek 2 and a tarp. The Flycreek survived the crazy tropical windstorm that hit this September that knocked Anchorage for a loop. So I think technology is moving along.
I have seen GoLite Shangrila's in action and they are pretty decent. I just don't think I would chance it with one in sustained high winds above tree line but I don't know if the Flycreek would do much better in those conditions. I still go back to my Bibler Eldorado when I am going into high exposed ridges.

 

[Lawnboi]

condensation is almost unavoidable in about any tent if the conditions are right (atleast all the tents iv used). Atleast in a single wall shelter like my paratarp i can wipe it off easily. A little rag run over all the sides works well to keep the drips off while i open up it up to air out or start up the stove.

I get condensation in my paratarp, but no more or less than any other tent iv owned. The only tent i can see there not being bad condensation in is a solid double wall tent. Like a kifaru with a liner, hilleberg, or other real 4 season tents.

A bivy has replaced a floor mat for me. I slept on soggy moss covered ground this weekend without a groundmat, also i forgot my sleeping pads (with 20 degree low that night im suprised i stayed warm) and didnt have a problem keeping myself dry. I would be taking a small mat for my stuff had there been snow on the ground.

Another good thing about a bivy is get one with a bug net, then you are bug free while you sleep. Bugs otherwise havnt been a real problem with my paratarp, they come in, but they can get out when they want to and are not trapped.

 

[a3dhunter]

When I know there is bad weather I take the GoLite SL5, if I expect good weather then I go with the tarp and a bivy sack.

I have sat out some heavy storms in the SL-5 without a problem, but I have to find just the right setup with a tarp to make things work. The majority of the problem there is my lightweight tarp is only 5'x7'.