tarp shelter advice.

Hello everyone. I am new to this site and this is my first post. I have been slowly building a survival pack for just everyday use when hiking, hunting, and when I am just out in the woods with not a lot of gear. I want to add a tarp to my pack so that way I can build a quick and effective shelter. However I am still pretty new at all of this in regards to what I should look for in a good tarp. Does anyone have any advice or maybe a product that I should look at. I am 6 feet 3 inches, and I want a tarp that I can make a lot of different shelters with, and still be able to store all of my gear underneath, and it needs to be strong and durable. I don't want to spend any more then 15-20 dollars. Anyone have any thoughts?

I don't know of any tarp I would personally use in a pack that would be big enough nor cheap enough that you describe.

Do you know what I should look for in a tarp?

I like square tarps. And one that would comfortably fit in a pack the size of a football or so would be much more expensive.

For the square tarps, I like to do the adirondack lean-to as it will give you walls on three sides and you can have a fire in the front. You can raise or lower it to deal with rain and wind. Set up perfectly square, you will have an opening and floor space that is about 5x7. This one would cost you around $115 at http://www.bushcraftoutfitters.com/G...0x10-mc-g2.htm. Might seem expensive for a tarp, but they have other models in the same size that are cheaper, but not as fire resistant.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...a/DSCF3264.jpg

This was a shelter i just threw up for the fun of it using a 6x8 tarp from walmart, one pole and a single line of paracord.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...A/DSCF2951.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...A/DSCF2949.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...A/DSCF2947.jpg

I also have one of the Sportmans Guide tarps but have not put it through proper use. I do wish they re-arranged the tabs on it though. These are unfortunately sold out.
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/produ...reen?a=1507126

Hunter63 saying Hey and Welcome.
There is an intro section at
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...-Introductions
RX maybe contact Crash on the pic's...?
Says guests can't see them...

Anyway remember ....a good tarp is not a cheap tarp.....

I fixed them.

Has anyone here researched or been able to own the UST Tube Tarp. And if so is it good and or worth the money. Also what should be the ideal tarp size for a man of my size(see original text for size).

I used a canvas 6x8 tarp for a few years, bought it at Menards for 25 bucks i think. Used a Military shelter half for before that, small tarps leave something to be desired though and rectangle tarps aren't very versatile in the ways you can set them up.

https://scontent-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/...ce&oe=5508A706

Just recently picked up a 10x10 oilskin tarp from tentsmiths, weighs 5.8 lbs and costs $240. Lots more options to set this one up and very spacious, could easily sleep two people under it set up in diamond fashion or 2 people and a child.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-5...-no/14%2B-%2B1

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-w...-no/14%2B-%2B1

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-S...-no/14%2B-%2B2

*These pictures don't show the size of this tarp very well, it has a big footprint set up like this

Hi from Malaysia and welcome. Well aa perfect shelter depends on the person using it. This is what I would use, which may not be ideal for you. I am 5'10", 54 years old and sleep off the ground (as I am in Malaysia).
It depends on which situation:
1. Camping: I carry two tarps...a bigger tarp 6'X10' for me to put above my Henessy Hammock A Sym so that I have extra protection from the rain when I wann sit, lounge or eat my meals.
I put up a smaller one nearby at a higher height for me to have my cooking area and also dry my clothes.

2. Survival: I always use 2 pieces of 7eleven disposable ponchos and also a Sea To Summit Tarp/Poncho.

I am very concerned about the weight and also getting wet in the rain. So the tarp, a net hammock, fire making kit are the most important part of my survival kit.

Thanks that helps a lot more. Quick question though...... what is classified as a poncho because I think that I am getting my terms mixed up.

You could try your hand at making your own oilskin tarp. A good king size cotton sheet, boiled linseed oil, mineral spirits and time.

okay I think I will that sounds like a good weekend project.

A poncho is something like a tarp but has a slit with a head cover where you put on when its raining..(sorry for my bad english).....I prefer something light and thin, so that it does not make you sweat and easy to pack.

See example or google..Sea To Summit Tarp /Poncho

Okay then it is what I thought it was i just thought I was going insane.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fort fireman

You could try your hand at making your own oilskin tarp. A good king size cotton sheet, boiled linseed oil, mineral spirits and time.

---

Kyratshooter has a good tutorial on making an oilskin, I went with tentsmiths because I don't have the skill to make something as nice as this tarp lol I love mine

Okay, lets roll back to the original post. SI228, you said you were looking for a tarp just to have around for emergencies and that is $15-25. Go with a cheap plan old tarp. They are typically blue, but the one I have is brown one side and green on the other. It is a 10'x12' and rolls into a 6" diameter and about 1' long. I have 35' of paracord, a couple of carabiners, and 4 cheap tent stakes wrapped into it too. I paid less the $10 including tax for the thing, probably about $15 if you include the extra stuff I put with it. It is more than enough to get you through an emergency while hiking or hunting. In fact, I did use it for hunting once this year. Sure, they don't last forever, but I still usually get 1-2 years out of them and I can buy 15-25 of them for the price of the expensive ones mentioned. If something happens to it, I don't care as much. I just go down to the store and put down another 8.99+tax.

Look up videos on youtube. There are tons of different ways to set up a tarp shelter. A 10'x12' should be sufficient for you as I can fit me and my gear under it and still have about enough room for another. Keep it simple, keep it cheap.

Quote:

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I also have one of the Sportmans Guide tarps but have not put it through proper use. I do wish they re-arranged the tabs on it though. These are unfortunately sold out.

---

I have one too. I've set it up but have not really used it. I have a couple of the SG 9x12 tarps that went for about $30 but they seem to have been discontinued. I bought 2 so I could try to make a Whelen Lean-to shelter ( I needed 2 so I had enough material)but have not been able to get together with my brother to help me. He is an upholsterer and would sew it up for me.
Here is a decent write-up about the Whelen Lean-to and the fellow who designed it.

The $10 Wal-Mart one really isn't too bad. I also really like the Warp Brother's Banana Bags. They're large heavy yellow bags made to cover furniture. They make 'em in several sizes but I like the 60" x 108" and 45" x 96" ones. They're cheap, heavy duty, large and brightly colored (yellow) which is great for visibility it you're trying to be found. They're closed at one and open at the other, just a really huge heavy plastic bag.

I just got last night a 8 feet by 10/12 feet tarp that is 10 MIL thick and has a brown exterior and a silver semi reflective interior. I don't think it can reflect heat but it can defiantly be used to signal, I think. I got it for free considering my grandparents came into town last night and my grandpa heard about my little survival kit and decided to contribute. Regardless thank you all for the help it was really insightful.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by survivalinstinct228

I just got last night a 8 feet by 10/12 feet tarp that is 10 MIL thick and has a brown exterior and a silver semi reflective interior. I don't think it can reflect heat but it can defiantly be used to signal, I think. I got it for free considering my grandparents came into town last night and my grandpa heard about my little survival kit and decided to contribute. Regardless thank you all for the help it was really insightful.

---

Congrats! Like I said before, there are lots of YouTube videos on different ways to set them up. Watch some and then just go in the back yard and try them. See what you like, what is comfortable, and what works for that size tarp. You don't want to try to figure it out when you're way out on a hike and it starts to pour. This is my favorite option during rain. If there is a slight incline, I put the opening facing downward. It works well and have used it just to keep gear dry on regular camping trips too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cle8nNB4s0

Tarps are where you find them and limited only by ones imagination and the materials they can find or afford.

I have slept many a pleasant night, and a couple of very nervous ones, in tarps made from every material imagined. Poly, plastic, canvas, waterproofed Egyptian cotton bed sheets, sylon, tyvek, even 4 mil 40 gallon contractors trash bags split and duct taped together. I spent a weekend under a shower curtain once and cheated my way through one historic reenactment under a rubberized window drapery liner.

In the service a poncho was the all purpose shelter and I still keep an OD canvas commie block poncho in each vehicle (the Russians still make them out of canvas), as well as a couple of the polytarps Harbor Freight gives away with any purchase if you have a coupon.

When in bear country, a tactical environment or possibility of a sasquatch attack I prefer a tarp for the visibility and open access/escape.

My favorite is a plow point set up because the traditional lean-too has never worked out well for me if there was any wet or cold weather involved.

https://www.google.com/search?q=tyve...2&ved=0CC0QsAQ

How strong and durable? Do you want it lightweight or is weight not a factor? A canvas tarp is HEAVY. But, it is very durable. A cheap poly tarp is not as durable and a little lighter. A ripstop nylon tarp coated with polyurethane is lighter and more durable than a poly tarp, but costs more. A silnylon tarp is even lighter and costs even more.

Kyrat, I might be wrong, but I thought that Tyvek was only water resistant on the "writing side" of the material. It is my understanding that the blank side always goes towards the structure and allows moisture to escape to prevent it from being sealed in and causing damage. Never used the stuff so I really don't know. I just saw it in your link used many time backwards if I am correct.

Tyvek does have a slick side and rough side.

I have always used the slick side out, but I also have only used tyvek as roof material for debris shelters and not really as a stand alone tarp shelter. Makes an excellent roof for a "half faced cabin".

That is what I used it for when building a "base camp" on the back of my farm a few years ago. It crackles and snaps too much for my approval but it would beat being cold and wet.

It was the "go to" material for shelter building on some of the forums back when TEOTWAWKI was eminent and certain.

They had probably not yet discovered Harbor Freight.

The link was the result of a google search and probably has a lot "wrong" in one way or another.

Anyone remember that Alaskan Survival challenge show that was on a few years back where the contestants used polytarps to build "Yukon packs" using bungees, paracord and web strapping? Each night they unloaded the packs and used then as shelter.

https://www.google.com/search?q=yuko...2&ved=0CD0QsAQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb79ATSEZBc

Tyvek doesn't have two different sides. It is continuous throughout.

You may be correct since I have not touched a piece of it in a decade.

It just seems I remember it having a smooth side and a fuzzy side sort of like tin foil.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kyratshooter

You may be correct since I have not touched a piece of it in a decade.

It just seems I remember it having a smooth side and a fuzzy side sort of like tin foil.

---

They make hats out of Tyvek?

Fuzzy tin foil?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by crashdive123

They make hats out of Tyvek?

---

Hey why not....it's the latest thing.......kinda pricy....


http://www.signals.com/signals/Cloth...ho_HN4022.html

Take a look at bcusa tarps. I've been eyeing them over for a while now.

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