One of the most frequent questions I’m asked is, “How do you pitch your tarp?” and for good reason! Delving into the world of tarps can be a freeing, weight saving experience but it can also be intimidating.
Ditching the “protection” of a tent and opting for the open and free tarp experience is not an easy choice to make. There are many ways tarps can go wrong and many reasons to never give them a chance. It is my hope that through this video and future ones in this series I can make the world of tarps less intimidating. I honestly believe that tarps are one of the best ways to reduce weight in your pack, save money on your shelter, and stay dry & comfortable in the backcountry.
How To Pitch A Backpacking Tarp
There are many important factors to keep in mind when pitching a tarp. Site selection is a critical one but I’ll save that for a future video. This video will show you the physical side of pitching an ultralight tarp. I’ll focus on the little tips and tricks to tarp pitching that I’ve learned over the years and show you how I pitch my personal tarp. More specifically I’ll cover:
- Pitching a tarp in “normal mode”
- Pitching in “storm mode”
- Pitching in “super storm mode”
- …and more!
My Tarp
I’m already getting a lot of questions about what tarp I’m using, so I’ll address that here. The tarp is a DIY tarp that I made some years ago. It has accompanied me on the PCT and CDT and is still my go to shelter. This video will show you the details of the tarp. And this video will show you how to build this very tarp as a DIY project.
The Video