Is it worth ditching my tarp for a bivy?

[Nola Nick]

title says it all? I have a pretty decent tarp but only evee use it to sleep, does a bivy make that much of a difference?

Koi
Depends. I have found bivies are ideal for protection from wind, cold, blowing sand, ect. Tarps are better for more traditional camp rain sun conditions. If you don’t have a bivi that’s water proof you’ll need a tarp as well.

 

[Hudson]

I've always been a big fan of the tarp burrito but it does make it harder to be stealth. Like everyone mentioned the military bivy is expensive but well worth it. If you do get one I highly reccomend waterproofing it with scotch guard or something similar. I did a good decade in the Army sleeping on the ground all over and it worked great. The waterproofing does dissapear after awhile though. And its a bitch to carry the weight of the whole sleeping system in the summer time.


Tarps are pretty good at making an improvised shelter in a bad situation though. Just try to get a dark color one or spray paint it a dark brown. Its a bitch trying to be stealthy with a bright blue tarp anywhere.

 

[Older Than Dirt]

The reason those blue tarps at Walmart are so cheap is that they are really thin, and rip and shred at a harsh look or strong wind, so in addition to being shit for stealth camping, they are lousy for keeping you dry.

The green one is slightly better. The brown/silver one is very heavy duty, but way too heavy for your pack.

Conclusion: do not buy a Walmart tarp.

Here are two very good sources of tarps with good colors for stealth camping:

https://bushcraftoutfitters.com/bco-tarps/

https://www.shop.backpackingadventuregear.com/

And a very cheap ($49) olive drab one-pole (not included) tarp tent with floor and mosquito netting, 2.8 lbs, have not yet bought and tested this because of COVID-19, but looks very promising:

Amazon.com : River Country Products One Person Trekking Pole Tent, Ultralight Backpacking Tent - Green : Sports & Outdoors - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DHYC1F3/?tag=squattheplan-20

If i haven't mentioned in this thread yet how much the MSS digital camo gore-tex bivvy rocks, consider it done.

 

[Desperado Deluxe]

Patrol bag tarp combo is my go to in wet conditions. The bag is water repellant and keeps you somewhat warm when soaked.
Right now im literally just carrying a tarp and blanket. Summer months.
Also sleeping on a tarp gives you the advantage of sleeping on top of natural fibers.
The tarp in the very base of my sleeping gear.
I wouldn't recommend the bivy in summer unless there's a lot of bugs and even then.

 

[Maki40]

I prefer a super light and cheap set up so I use a cheap light $10 tarp and cheap $13 polyester sleeping bag only. I think the bivy is unnecessary and would hate to lay in a bivy for many days of straight rain. If I lose something or gets stolen, it's no biggie and I just get another set up.

 

[Coywolf]

The brown/silver one is very heavy duty, but way too heavy for your pack.

Conclusion: do not buy a Walmart tarp.

I have that brown/silver 10×12 from Walmart, and I love it...dont diss my baby, man! 😭

But ya, getting one of those specialty lightweight tarps is the way to go. Unfortunately if you are riding or hitching, you will destroy one of those pretty quick.

Not even if you abuse it, just the conditions. Riding on top of coal, setting up a shelter in a windstorm in dense juniper, cactus, freeze/thaw, throwing your pack around, ect.

I looked at getting a backpacking tarp, and I'm pretty sure it would be destroyed by now.

 

[Maki40]

Walmart has lightweight blue backpacking tarps in the camping section for $10 unless out of stock which are great for the money. The grommets will pop in a wind storm if you tie straight to them so tie to a lil stick instead or put a rock in the corner and tie around that. For $10 who cares if they break but the tarp itself will last forever.

 

[Older Than Dirt]

I have that brown/silver 10×12 from Walmart, and I love it...dont diss my baby, man!

Different strokes for different folks, i guess. i also own that very same 10' x 12' brown/silver Walmart tarp, and it is unquestionably what i would want if my uses included laying it on coal etc.- it is one sturdy motherfucker. But for hitching/bike-camping, it is overkill, and overweight. I just can't imagine carrying that thing around in a pack.

To be clear, i am not recommending the ultra-light silnylon or cuben fiber tarps. Those won't stand up to much hard use, and are ridiculously expensive. They are very very light. Silnylon will stand up to harder use than the blue, and probably the green, Walmart tarps though, which shred easily, and develop leaks wherever they are folded. I have several semi disintegrated ones i can take pics of, if someone doubts this.

I buy new Walmart blue/green tarps for landscaping shit and covering things every year; my silnylon poncho is going strong in its 5th year, with one failed grommet.

But urethane coated nylon tarps are pretty sturdy stuff- Boy Scouts use poly-nylon tarps, and they are very hard on gear. So do many US special forces units. Definitely way lighter duty than the brown/silver Walmart tarp, but also a small fraction of the weight, which also means you can use lighter lines, stakes, and poles, saving even more weight. My urethane coated Hennessy hex tarp is also going strong in its fifth year, and looks brand new, despite frequent use.

And of course i am way more bourgeois than many here, but a 10' x 10' olive drab urethane coated nylon tarp with 16 tabs (and zero grommets) for $59 is pretty affordable, only $43 more than the brown silver 10' x 12', and so much lighter:

https://www.shop.backpackingadventu...color-483-Std-Tarps-starting-at-CG483tarp.htm

That $43 will seem like money well spent by the second mile of walking. As long as you don't have to lie on coal.

 

[Deleted member 23824]

That’s a good company, OTD.

 

[Jackie 4321]

Tarp seems to be working for me .

 

[Bosse]

Team Tarp here, but really consider getting a bivy now... Only thing that conserns me is how much more weight it would add to my pack. Whats the best way to carry it?