The Ultralight Tarp: Is It Enough Shelter

A tarp is the lightest shelter you can carry, and for the right hiker it is all the home you need. For everyone else, it is a drafty gamble with the weather.

Decide if you are a tarp person.

• Tarps shine in dry climates and fair weather
• They demand practice to pitch well in wind
• They offer no bug protection without a bivy
• They reward the weight savings with openness

Try a tarp on a short fair-weather trip before committing. If you love the open air, it will be the last shelter you ever buy.

Set the tarp up in the backyard a few times before the trip. A tarp you can pitch blind in the wind is a shelter, and one you cannot is a sail.