Poncho tarp setup

Read on to learn all about poncho tarps and how they can improve your next outdoor adventure. As its name suggests, a poncho tarp is a piece of hiking gear that doubles as both a shelter and a rain poncho. A poncho tarp can also make for a great pack cover. Poncho tarps are designed to be minimalist. The whole idea of combining both your rain gear and shelter is to save weight and space in your backpack, of course. A poncho tarp is great for situations where rain gear or shelter is unlikely to be needed.

Ultralight hikers find the multi-functional nature and the gossamer-weight of poncho tarps to be very appealing. The average poncho tarp weighs only 8 oz about grams. That said, everything looks good on a spreadsheet. Admittedly, not every backpacker will be thrilled with a poncho tarp. Poncho tarps are not the best solution in extremely harsh conditions.

If you are thinking about getting a poncho tarp, here are a few boxes you should tick first:. While a poncho tarp can make for a decent shelter in rainy conditions, it offers very limited space. If you get caught in a lengthy storm, you should know how to pitch a poncho tarp tautly and in an appropriate spot.

That said, taking a poncho tarp on a long journey where the weather is constantly wet and windy e. Though, it can be useful as part of your wild camping kit.

The same goes for trails where there are a lot of overgrown meadows and forests or a lot of rugged-cross country terrain. In places like these, your poncho tarp is more likely to snag on a bush or a branch than a lightweight backpacking rain jacket. In many situations, bringing an ultralight bivy as well as a poncho tarp is a great idea. An ultralight bivy can provide an extra 5 to 7 degrees of warmth for a weight penalty of between 5 to 8 ounces. It also does a great job of minimizing drafts.

Some bivies have a waterproof bottom, so you can even leave your groundsheet at home. Poncho Tarps have one noticeable downside—they start flapping when the wind starts blowing. The easiest way to prevent this is to wrap a bungee cord around your waist and join it together with a mini cord lock. You can eliminate most of the flapping issues with this simple and ultralight accessory. Some sort of a makeshift belt is a must if you want to give poncho tarps a try. When it comes to wet weather ventilation, poncho tarps are tough to beat.

Here is a step-by-step breakdown of the process:. Site selection: When backpacking with a poncho tarp in unfavorable weather, picking the right campsite is more than half the battle. Identify sheltered campsite options before setting out. Try to work out how long it will take you to get there. In case Mother Nature is preparing a surprise for you, devise a Plan B. It will keep you dry and warm for a few minutes, just enough for you to set up your shelter. As with pegs and guylines, be sure to have it within reach.

When your hands are cold and wet, this is way easier than messing around with knots. If chances of rain are slim, you can leave the carabiners attached to your poncho tarp.

The idea of combining both your shelter, which can weigh a lot, and your rain gear, which can also weight a lot, in to one lightweight package is an excellent way to save weight. It gives you the security of having both while freeing up a considerable amount of weight and room in your backpack. Poncho Tarp Tent Features The typical poncho tarp tent is a square or rectangular cut piece of fabric, often Spinnaker but any kind of lightweight waterproof fabric will do.

In tarp mode the head hole must be closeable in some way, and usually the corners will have tie outs so that the poncho tarp tent can be staked down or tied to something to form the tarp. Lightweight backpacking enthusiasts will often use their trekking poles to help create the structure of the tarp tent, but anything from a handy tree to a piece of dead-fall can be used as a stand in. In poncho mode the poncho tarp tent functions much like a typical poncho. Depending on how wide it is it may or may not give very good weather protection to the lower arms.

One of the bonuses of a poncho tarp tent though is that there's plenty of fabric to drape over your backpack, which means you can protect your backpack from the weather Not having your rain gear pinned between your backpack and your back means that air can circulate better too, keeping sweating to a minimum.

If done properly this will allow us to tie the blanket to a stake. Stakes can be made out of readily available materials. Here we make one out of branches from a fallen tree.

We prefer to use "Y" shape branches. Mylar comes in different thicknesses but, the majority of the emergency blankets sold are made of thinnest materials. It is a good idea to find out what 'mil' or thickness the blanket is made of. A reflective tarp is a good alternative. This lean to would block some of the wind if the temperature dropped. Although it should help you to keep warm, it is not an ideal shelter by any means. It is unlikely the thin mylar would keep its structural integrity during high winds or heavy snow.

We would build a wooden lean-to frame with several sticks to help hold up the Mylar blanket. We would use the Mylar blanket to help keep the rain out and reflect heat from the fire.

An alternative to a mylar blanket is the use of a tarp. Tarps can be purchased in department stores, hardware stores and lightweight tarps can be purchased from camping stores. Some survival tarps are sold with a reflective side which should help reflect the heat from your body or a fire. We have used the reflective tarp to help block the wind while cooking and to reflect heat from a fire in a lean to shelter.

With the fire to the front of us and the reflective blanket behind us to block wind and reflect the radiative heat. The material on the tarps and ponchos is thicker and less likely to tear. They usually have grommets installed. This simplifies building our shelter and makes it less likely to tear from the wind. Tarps can be purchased in different sizes. If the poncho includes snap closures they can easily be attached together to make a larger shelter. Lean-to Super Shelter This shelter uses both a tarp and a mylar emergency blanket.

Mors Kochanski designed the super shelter. Commonly seen in a dome-like geometry, it can also be built using a lean to. With some slight modifications, we built a raised bed to allow room for a cold well, filled the gaps with leaves and used a parallel log fire to keep us warm throughout the night. Had they been available, we could have added hot rocks in the shelter to raise the temperature further. One of the many advantages of this shelter is the option to dry our clothes and gear.

An a-frame shelter can be built using branches and leaves. This would be referred to as a debris shelter. One of the reasons we prefer to carry a poncho is the built in snaps that allow multiple ponchos to be easily attached.

Attaching two ponchos together we are able to quickly set up a poncho a-frame shelter. If a larger tarp is carried, the shelter can be built by simply attaching cordage in between two trees. The a-frame shelter is simply two lean-to shelters facing each other. First we use the snaps on the ponchos to attach one poncho to the other.

Snap the two ponchos together. There are two different ways to tie the ponchos to the support trees. Use the cordage as a spine to the shelter ridge line.

Tie each end of the poncho through the grommets.