Tent vs Tarp

Shotgun

Shotgun

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So I use a tent in the summer mainly to keep the bugs off me while I sleep. My girlfriend and I are going to start camping in the late fall and early spring when the bugs are gone so I'm reconsidering tarp camping. My question is mainly about warmth. Do tents provide any warmth at all or do they just keep the rain, wind, and bugs off? Any drawbacks to tarps that I should know about? Can tarps be used effectively in cold weather without a fire?

Edit: Also, it's possible to encounter snow at these times. Is it doable with a tarp and how would you set it up?
 
tagged. and I hope I'm not hijacking this thread but I'm looking for this info also. Honestly, I have camped for years, car camping, but nothing that involved hiking in for miles. Biggest concerns are: Bugs! I hate them and they are drawn to me. How do you stay dry from sideways rains in a tarp if the wind is swirling?
 
Tents do not provide any warmth per sae-as much as they prevent the wind from striking you and that lowers your temp.
That protection is even more valuable when it's raining.

Take it from me---Unless your girlfriend is HARDCORE--Bring a Tent.

Even if you do not use it--having it there will give her great piece of mind.
 
keyser223 said:
tagged. and I hope I'm not hijacking this thread but I'm looking for this info also. Honestly, I have camped for years, car camping, but nothing that involved hiking in for miles. Biggest concerns are: Bugs! I hate them and they are drawn to me. How do you stay dry from sideways rains in a tarp if the wind is swirling?
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There are ways to set the tarp up so it's mostly enclosed. I'm no expert but I've seen a lot of different setups over the interwebs I'd like to give a try. I really got to thinking about it because my tent's rain fly has kind of a crummy vestibule. I bought it before I did a lot of camping and didn't realize how nice a big open vestibule would be when it rains and you're wet and muddy. Trying to contort myself under it while taking my boots off is a PITA. So I was thinking why not throw a tarp over the tent and then you can have a vestibule you can sit under. Then I had a V8 moment. Why not just do the tarp thing and scrap the tent. :D
 
Sent an Email with a link to a thread in another forum. Not sure if I can post the link up here. They are debating this very subject pretty thoroughly.
 
IMHO, by the time you button up a tarp against rain and wind, and throw down a groundcloth, you've pretty much got a ... makeshift tent. ;)
 
Tents are warmer (simplest answer) and are straight forward to set up in any Terrain they Can also be comforting to new campers. Tarps can be slung a lot of ways and using a heat deflector (assuming a fire) they can be quite warm. I spent several years in the army using a poncho and a liner for my bedding and stayed mostly dry and mostly comfortable even with out a fire. However I would strongly recommend taking a tent you can use the tarp as extra cover while you practice with it. Learning to use a hammock and a tarp can be grate but not so good when taking a girlfriend. Hope this helps
 
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Tents are definitely warmer than just a tarp. If you have a rain fly on the tent it will trap in heat. It may not feel like much extra heat, but it's there. This is especially true if you have a tent that doesn't have a really high dome ceiling. If it has a lower ceiling you'll feel the heat more.

I'd say save yourself the effort of setting up a makeshift shelter and just go with a fairly lightweight tent. If it rains or snows you won't have to worry about the wind and the extra cover is always nice. There are plenty of tents that weigh 5-7 lbs and set up easily. I have an Alps Mountaineering Vertex 2 that I really like. I can set it up in probably 5 minutes by myself.

By all means if you want to give a tarp and groundcloth a shot go for it. Maybe try going on your own first and see how you like it before trying it out with your girlfriend.
 
Bah, the only time I put up a tent is when it rains, and then you need the rain cover on it anyway. What's the purpose of the tent compared to the tarp if the tarp offers multiple rigging options? I haven't packed my tent since last fall. There are plenty of cold-weather specific ways of rigging a tarp to keep you warm at night, see Ray Mears' elevated lean-to and longfire. Super easy to set up and very effective. I spent three nights in one last weekend at 19 degrees Fahrenheit in a 35 degree sleeping bag. The only time I can see this being an issue is if you don't have access to wood, such as desert or grassland.
 
Tents and tarps, not much of a difference. One's fancy, the other's a make-it-your-self. i go camping every month and i could have sworn a tent was better. But, i tried a tarp and loved it. I like putting it up better you get a better sense of worth. tarps are lighter, and most of the time dont have to be rain proofed, they can be set up really fast too if you know what you are doing. If the weather is right, and she's up to it, go with a tarp.
 
I prefer a freestanding tent to a tarp, as the tent is typically fully enclosed. Much easier to set up in a couple of minutes and it keeps everything out when I am in. I do pack a tarp for an emergency shelter on day trips because it is lighter.

pete
 
I'm not trying to sound dumb, but what about the bugs. I plan to do alot of my hike/camping in the spring in heavily forested area's and will have to contend with rain and bugs. I would love to have a light setup, but mosquitoes, chiggers, and spiders are miserable to deal with.
 
Tents (real tents) are not nearly as heavy as they used to be. Some are just tarps with inner nets and floors. Light is good if you are carrying your shelter any distance. But it is a compromise with interior space, weatherproofness, ease of setup. I have two of the small tents but my go-to tent for most trips is a larger, heavier freestanding dome that doesn't require a lot of stakes and guy lines, has interior space for three, is weather proof and bug proof and weighs less than five pounds. I lessened it's packed weight by 1/2 pound by ditching the steel stakes and using "no-bendium" aluminum stakes.

I also generally carry an old salvaged tent rainfly that I use as a tarp for expanded outside space protected from rain. It adds another pound or so and takes a few more minutes to rig, but provides me with an emergency shelter if I get caught in a rain shower.

Here in the Midsouth, insects are an almost year-round nusience and most of them like to suck blood. So insect protection is important to me, especially when I am trying to sleep.
 
I find tents warmer simply because you have the air you have warmed trapped better than you do with a tarp. I've noticed tents warm up with the more people you have in them. Whilst that effect is probably measurable under a tarp too I would require apparatus to detect it. Obviously cooking in a tent is going to magnify the difference.

Thing for me is that's a straight tent vs tarp shoot out and that doesn't reflect my reality. I don't use a bivvy bag in a tent but I do with a tarp. That skews it back the other way and the tarp wins. My bed is warmer.

I use a tarp exclusively. In snow I would pitch a steep A to keep the weight of snow off the top.

The only time I've had less than ideal fun with a tarp was in high winds on ground that was rock with a thin cover of green. It was a bitch to get the pegs to hold in any position let alone ideally placed. There were no free rocks to use as ballast and I had to try to cobble some snow anchor type grips to slide in at shallow angles under the mossy stuff. Sticks would have helped but alas... I got a lot of windflap. A tent wouldn't have served me much better. Even a free standing tent would have flapped about madly with just my gear in the middle to hold it down. To my mind that is actually worse 'cos I'd be in a sack that's trying to pull in all directions and bow. Under a tarp in the event of something extreme like complete collapse I'm still in the bivvy bag and have a cosy life support pod 'till morning.
 
WILLIAM.M said:
Tents do not provide any warmth per sae-as much as they prevent the wind from striking you and that lowers your temp.
That protection is even more valuable when it's raining.
Click to expand...
This.

I love tarp camping, it's easy to set up and I just love the free air, also, being able to just look outside all the time. I always have a good dog with me, which also helps security.
But unless you're in fairly dense forest, you will experience a lot more wind under a tarp. So if it's already cool, or even wet, you'd need a lot better gear to keep warm and dry.
Or you need a really large tarp. :D

PS: Mosquito nets are easy to drape under a tarp.
 
I've tarp camped in all kinds of weather.. I prefer it to tent camping.. I don;t fell a tent is Nec warmer.. I;ve never been rained on. but I do get mauled by insects fairly frequently..
I primarily use a lean to or a frame style set up depending on what types of resources there are in the area to exploit...
My wife however will not go unless I bring a tent... Hmm maybe that's why I tarp camp.....
 
I used a tarp -- a 3 mil. sheet of plastic -- when I was a kid. However, I since graduated to tents, for a variety of reasons: bugs (especially in the north), creepy-crawlies (having a squirrel or marmot run over your face in the middle of the night is not conducive to sleep, or domestic bliss, for that matter), and weather. Tents are a lot lighter these days so weight is not so much of a factor.
 
A good tent will indeed keep you warmer. Last year, I was camping in Mid Georgia. The outside temp was 14F, but inside my Eureka Outfitter, it was almost 30 degrees warmer.
 
Tents do provide warmth, and the amount varies by type. A 4 season tent is heavy, retains respiration moisture, etc. I've always done the bivy and tarp thing year round, and typically will leave the bivy open in the summer. However, if you have a good sleeping bag, and it isn't really wet outside, a tarp is fine. Driving rain with anything but a water proof skinned bag won't be much fun.

If your gf is really outdoorsy, I guess a tarp is fine, else, you will be more cozy in a tent with her.
 
how about something in between?- a pyramid shelter, has the lightweight and simplicity of a tarp- looks like a tent when setup (sans floor)- use your existing trekking poles (unless you don't use trekking poles in which case they make lightweight poles)

in the summer when hiking w/ my wife we use my Duomid shelter w/ a inner tent- has a bathtub floor and mosquito netting, when the bugs are gone we ditch the inner and just bring a Tyvek ground cloth- the Duomid w/ guylines weighs in under a pound- sheds snow and wind, really is great 4 season option at a very low weight

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