The Tarp-tagged-onto-your-tent Thread

[nikki]

On the subject of awnings for yer tent: I've not yet found a good online resource, so starting one off here.

Shop-bought or DIY molished. What have you tried and why? What worked well for you? What will you never try again?

[Kim]

Not something I've really found a reason to do.  Either you're using a small tent to keep the weight/bulk down, or you want a tent you can sit around in, in which case why not just use a tent you can sit around in?

Actually, I suspect this comes down to my general inability to sit on the ground for more than a short period without pain.  If you can comfortably do the cross-legged thing, or use one of those thermarest chair kits, the idea of extending the awning of a lightweight tent to keep the weather out becomes a lot more attractive.

So for me, it's all about altitude.  Got to fit a person on a proper chair under it.

[Domestique]

I have seen quite a few people with this type of set up in Netherlands. If you can get it to work it actually looks like a win win with plenty of space to sit under the often showery sky.
Watching with interest.

[nikki]

I bought a Big Agnes Seedhouse SL2 tent last year. I still like it a lot, but the porch has been bugging me a bit (the end of the inner is a bit exposed when you open the door, and I'm a shortarse so opening the door can mean a face full of wet nylon if it's raining) so I wanted to experiment with adding a canopy. Also for a cooking shelter option and that.

I got an Alpkit 3.5 tarp for Christmas, but whilst I was waiting for some poles to arrive from China I also spotted a Gelert Mini Tent Canopy on sale for a fiver so I bought one of those too.

I was car camping last week so I took both along to have a bit of an experiment with.

Experiment #1: Gelert Mini Tent Canopy
These photos are from the second day after a bit of fiddling to try and reduce the gap between the sides of the tent and the walls of the canopy. I didn't manage to get it as taut as I had done the day before, but it was always a bit saggy.





Verdict: Lots of space and the shade kept my coolbag cool for aaaaages. By 'eck that pole flexes a lot in the wind, though! It's not really the right thing for the shape of the Seedhouse, but I might try it on the more rounded front of some of my bigger tents.

Experiment 2: Tarp
When the wind got really strong I thought discretion would be the better part of valour and I relocated to a different part of the campsite. I took the opportunity to ditch the Gelert canopy and try the Alpkit tarp instead.





Ahhhh! That's better!

A lot smaller than the Gelert, but a much better match.

As a Ginger I really liked the way this also gave me a shady spot to lounge around in in front of the tent. I'd only considered tents giving me shelter via the inside before, so this was a bit of a revealation! 

A bit of extra shelter from that wind, too.

It rained overnight, but the door was perfectly dry when I had to make the early o'clock wee jaunt. Brilliant! 

Less brilliantly, my lie-in was rudely interrupted after the wind shifted to the front of the tent and picked up a bit. Okay, a lot. 20+mph going by the Met Office app. 

The tarp got blown down and I had to go out and wrangle it into the car. 

Experiment 3: Tarp at a jaunty angle
I think part of the problem was that one of the poles had worked its way through the hole in the tarp. I think I need to invest in some of those little plastic top hat things (are they a thing, or did I imagine that?). Later in the day when the wind had started to swing back round towards behind the tent again, I improvised by winding masking tape around the poles beneath the tips to increase the diameter.



I then tried this rigging:




Sort of okay-ish, but the wind was still a bit too sideways on and my cheap poles were flexing a lot so I reverted to something similar to the first attempt with a lot smaller side area.

Experiment 4: Like Experiment 2, but different
In Experiment 1, the back edge of the canopy was held in place by quite a lot of downward force. I wasn't really happy with this. For Experiment 2 I'd provided most of the backwards tension by running a line from the foot of the tent, along one side of the ridge, through the mid-edge hole in the tarp, then back down the other side of the ridge to the same peg at the foot.

Informative photo:


Arty photo:


This eliminated the sideways slightly-worrying-tending-towards-a-sawing-motion I'd noticed the wind causing with #1, but I'm still a bit worried about the potential for wear from the thicker material surrounding the hole and the rope where it goes through it.

For this variant I brought the line up and over the rear edge of the tarp to go through holes off to the side and then through a fabric loop that was along the central line but not on the edge (hope that makes sense - see the photos). This meant I could fold the tarp under itself to give a bit of protection. I then added a carrier bag too, 'cos I'm classy like that.

It looses a bit of length in the process, but I think it'd still be useful in the wet. Certainly I made use of the sun protection!





Experiment ++: Next steps

Now I sort of have an idea what guylines I might be using, I'm going to make some proper ones with some mini line-loks I have (rather than the ones I robbed off the Gelert and some quick bodges).

I think I also want to try two separate lines coming off at the sides at the points where the line does in #4.

I'll see how that goes and then look to see if I need to add padding or a sacrificial wear layer or something where the tarp crossed the central spine. It's a bit of a faff, but I was really sold on the benefits of an awning so at this stage it still feels worth it!


Supplementary question:
Does having a rope or a tarp in contact with the outer skin of the tent promote water ingress (in the same way that touching the sides of a tent from the inside would)?

It did occur to me that I could buy another two poles and just have a flat awning table-top style above the tent and not in contact with it, but that feels wrong somehow!

[sizbut]

Tarp and a tent is a fine combination. In fact we've been know to tarp, tent and windbreak. It makes it much nicer to sit out regardless of the percipitation, plus nice for campsite people watching and cooking. The combined set is smaller and lighter than most large tents (fine since we don't need sleeping space for 4 or 6). Being regular folk festival attendees the tarp also helps mark out 'our' space when competing against those who do bring those gargantuan 'family' tents.

Also, in the infamous "I thought you brought the tent poles" incident of 2014, the tarp allowed a very very flimsy borrowed tent to survive two nights of heavy rain.

Currently my only gripe about the tarp is the steel poles we use with it, so I keep writing myself notes to hunt out some lighter replacements.     

[Butterfly]

Here is our set up last summer. I think it is a Vango adventure tarp. It works pretty well. I'm not sure if the tarp was the cause but we had some water come into the porch when it rained overnight at Easter. I like the look of the Gelert one. 

2014-08-07 09.59.48 by misssherriff, on Flickr

[Polar Bear]

Hmmm.  I would like a tarp for our Nammatj 3GT but it is a side entry tunnel.   I'd need to look at a few to decide what's suitable but it could feasibly lay over the tent spanning the centre and front hoops and curve down gracefully to the ground whilst providing some porch space.   I guess in reality that would require a properly shaped tarp made specifically for the job.

[Kim]

Here is our set up last summer. I think it is a Vango adventure tarp. It works pretty well. I'm not sure if the tarp was the cause but we had some water come into the porch when it rained overnight at Easter. I like the look of the Gelert one. 

2014-08-07 09.59.48 by misssherriff, on Flickr

I like this setup: it fits the tent neatly, and tall enough to make use of a Helinox.

[nikki]

The combined set is smaller and lighter than most large tents [...] Being regular folk festival attendees the tarp also helps mark out 'our' space when competing against those who do bring those gargantuan 'family' tents.

I think the Seedhouse + tarp + poles is coming in as being lighter than the Vango Tempest 200 tent I was using before, and it's a lot more flexible.

I did notice the feeling of having a white picket fence when I first put the Gelert up 

Currently my only gripe about the tarp is the steel poles we use with it, so I keep writing myself notes to hunt out some lighter replacements.   

These are the poles I've got for now. There's a bit of play in the joints so they're a bit rickety, but they're very light and fold down to something that'll probably fit in a pannier. I'd like to have a play with the Barebones bivvy poles for comparison: has anyone used them?


Butterfly and PB: I'll try and bring the Gelert to Wattlington/Long Itch for further cross-experimentation...

[Kim]

Hmmm.  I would like a tarp for our Nammatj 3GT but it is a side entry tunnel.

I think a potential issue with side entry is that the wind's always going to be pointing in the wrong way for something.  I can't imagine adding a tarp to an Akto working very well for much the same reason, but as I said earlier, why would you want to?

[Kim]

The combined set is smaller and lighter than most large tents [...] Being regular folk festival attendees the tarp also helps mark out 'our' space when competing against those who do bring those gargantuan 'family' tents.

I think the Seedhouse + tarp + poles is coming in as being lighter than the Vango Tempest 200 tent I was using before, and it's a lot more flexible.

The tempest is rather over-engineered sturdy for its size, so I'm not surprised!

I did notice the feeling of having a white picket fence when I first put the Gelert up 

It's not bad for a fiver though, is it?   

Also from the white picket fence department, I should have a proper think about how to use a tarp to add a bit of wind-break to the open porch of the Big Tent.  I know that's borderline caravanning, but I know which tent people will be huddling in when it's cold 

[Canardly]

I seem to recall Butterfly using one of those beach shelters to some advantage a year or two back. Eating outside is one activity which would often benefit from some sort of additional cover.

[Polar Bear]

Hmmm.  I would like a tarp for our Nammatj 3GT but it is a side entry tunnel.

I think a potential issue with side entry is that the wind's always going to be pointing in the wrong way for something.  I can't imagine adding a tarp to an Akto working very well for much the same reason, but as I said earlier, why would you want to?

I do agree that it is likely to have it's problems unless a miracle tarp appears.   

As for why, well the Nammatj is a great tent except, when it has been raining, you cannot open the door without getting wet inside.   The design needs an extended 'eyebrow' like on the early Nallo so that you can open the door without getting wet or letting the wet in.   An added bonus would be like nikki says, though I'm not ginger, for a nice sheltered outdoor spot on sunny days.

I cannot imagine touring with a porch tarp though.

[clarion]

I seem to recall Butterfly using one of those beach shelters to some advantage a year or two back. Eating outside is one activity which would often benefit from some sort of additional cover.

We do have a fisherman's shelter, which we used for cooking in bad weather.  Bit heavier than the tarp option, and the fisherman still wants it back!

[sizbut]

Having said it in my post I finally did it and ordered some hopefully quality aluminium 1.8m poles for the large tarp (a Vango Shelter).

Ordered some Tatonka poles from Germany. They arrived today. First assumed that they must be planning to send each pole individually boxed but turned out that the small package the postie had handed me was all four 1.6m poles. The way the pole segments all pack into each other when collapsed is gorgeous. Yet the poles are reassuringly solid when assembled and don't show any tendency to self-disassemble when picked up. Costly but well recommended and a great weight saving I (as the tent/tarp carrier) will appreciate this summer.

[nikki]

The way the pole segments all pack into each other when collapsed is gorgeous.

Gosh! Hours of fun for all the family!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZasi-lWbt8

[andrew_s]

The way the pole segments all pack into each other when collapsed is gorgeous.

I had a Saunders Jetpacker with poles like that.
Make sure the poles are properly clean and dry before being stored, or you may have great difficulty getting the sections apart. DAMHIKT

[Wowbagger]

The way the pole segments all pack into each other when collapsed is gorgeous.

Gosh! Hours of fun for all the family!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZasi-lWbt8

I didn't follow that bit about a bungee connecting to the two rubber caps. Surely if you did that none of the poles would come out because the bungee would go through them all.

[Kim]

I didn't follow that bit about a bungee connecting to the two rubber caps. Surely if you did that none of the poles would come out because the bungee would go through them all.

I think he meant externally, just so the spare cap wouldn't go AWOL when it's assembled.  I'm not sure that's a good idea, as the rubber will likely tear, and then you're left with a hole in your end cap, and who wants that?

[clarion]

The way the pole segments all pack into each other when collapsed is gorgeous.

Gosh! Hours of fun for all the family!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZasi-lWbt8

We have posted a video to Facebook (can't get it onto Flickr, I'm afraid, so may need to re-shoot for here with a proper camera) of Butterfly demonstrating how our classic Blacks Good Companion pole has exactly the same process.  Nothing, as she comments, new under the sun.

Naturally, Butterfly can actually do it properly, rather than the chap on YouTube.

[Canardly]

Wot no linky?

[clarion]

https://www.facebook.com/tj.alexander.188/videos_by

Does that work?

[Canardly]

Not for me but may for others.

[Aunt Maud]

Linky no worky.

[clarion]