Using Tarps / Bashas in the UK

It was a big mental leap for me to consider 'throwing away' my tent and instead relying on just a piece of fabric for protection.

The driving force behind this was the thought that I could shed over 1Kg from my pack weight by ditching the tent and I could also have something that I could use in a much wider variety of terrain and also be more in touch with nature.

I well remember on several trips to Scotland I was carrying for the time a very light 1.6Kg tent. The problem was that I was having real trouble finding somewhere to pitch it. There was lots of peat bog around but nothing that was remotely close to flat for even a small tent. The problem was always that if I could find somewhere that was not too bumpy I still could not pitch the tent in a way that ensured that the inner and outer would not touch. Now, in retrospect maybe I was just unlucky, but the memory of having a shelter that was 'useless' kindoff stuck with me and was a big driver behind my exploration of tarps and bivis

Flat Tarp or Basha - Low pitch

Although it may seem old-fashioned to use a simple flat sheet I have actually found it to be incredibly versatile and practical - much to my honest surprise.

The picture above is of my tarp in the Brecon Beacons on a recent overnight outing. The tarp is a 2.5M x 1.85M Khatmandu copy of a standard British Army Basha that weighs in around 400g with para cord. It is pitched very low because the wind is quite strong. It is also pitched over a small natural dip so that the headroom is more than you might expect. The back is pitched lower than the front.

I have used two home-made tent poles because I do not tend to carry trekking poles. Most people use trekking poles for pitching tarps when there are no trees around. If I know there are going to be trees around the poles stay at home.

This overnight worked very well and although because of the wind it was a little draughty it was still a comfortable night. On this particular night I was using a pertex bivi bag that was excellent as a wind-proof bag cover.

Flat Tarp or Basha - Two trees and a 'Roof'

In this pitch you string the centre guyline between two trees and tension it up using tautline hitches (see Knots). The tarp itself is then secured via guy ropes on each corner so that you have open sides all around.

Unless you have strong winds this is a pitch that works extremely well. For a luxury height you would pitch at waist height or higher and for weathering a storm you would pitch so that the ridge line was around knee height.

Using the simple tarp above I have been kept nice and dry in a thunderstorm that went on for most of the night when out in the welsh countryside. Because I knew there might be rain I had chosen a spot that was not going to be subject to strong winds and so open sides were not much of an issue.

There was a little bit of splashing from the open ends of the tarp but nothing that caused kit to get wet. Overall I was stunned by how well the shelter had worked. The only tweak I plan to make is to add a beak at each end so that I can stop some of the weather.

Flat Tarp or Basha - A-frame pitch

An alternative pitch is called the A-Frame pitch. Imagine a classic ridge tent and remove the front and back doors and there you have it. Naturally it is a little breezy but it does shed the wind and rain well. In a typical A-Frame pitch the sides are pegged onto the ground so that you have a little tent in all but name. This is comfortable but tends to give you a small covered area.

The A-Frame pitch or some variation (lower at the back for instance) is a standard design feature of most tarptents. In reality it is the one that I have found least useful

Micro-Tarps and Bivi Bag

As part of my lateral thinking about shelter I alo played with ideas of how to make using a bivi bag a more pleasant experience

I like bivi bags simply because you can put them just about anywhere and be sure of staying warm and dry for a night. The major issue that everyone has with them is that if it is raining there is nothing that you can do but lie there. There is nowhere to cook and nowhere to sit up.

If it is raining when you make or break your 'camp' then it is virtually impossible to keep yourself or your kit dry whilst doing this.

I thought about hooped-bivis but that initially struck me as the worst of both worlds - the weight of a tent for the space of a bivi. Instead I wonderd about adding a little bit of shelter to an ordinary bivi bag - hence the Micro-tarp

The photos show two prototypes of micro tarps. The mark 1 (in black) It is just big enough to give you a windbreak and a dry area for your head and shoulders, somewhere to dump a small pack and somewhere to cook.

If anything, the Mark 1 black prototype is a tad too small but at 140g (2oz PU ripstop nylon) I'm not going to complain too much.

I have been very impressed by how it has performed. On a recent trip to the Brecon Beacons it acted as a wonderful windbreak and allowed me to cook despite the wind and to leave my bivi-bag lid open without a gale going into the bag. On that particular night there was heavy rain but everything underneath the tarp stayed completely dry.

[Update] The Mark 2 prototype (in blue) is made using spinnaker fabric, is around 20% larger than the Mark 1 and weighs in at 120g. The main differences between the Mark 1 and 2 is that the 2 has a larger covered area, more peg points and can be used with two poles. Using two poles greatly increases the amount of usable space but it is only worth doing if you normally carry two poles. I have two Carbon Fibre poles on order which with a combined weight of 70g may justify the two-pole setup.

When I am planning to camp in exposed places my tendency now is to pack a light micro-tarp and a bivy bag. The bivy bag can be used anywhere and the tarp can be pitched to provide a very good windbreak. I have survived several windy nights with this tarp and also have been able to cook using the windshadow of the tarp.

The Mark 3 (in Camo) is roughly the same as the Mark 2 (in Blue) but is designed to be a bit less blatant.

There is a Mark 4 on the drawing board ;-)

Tarp with Beak

On a trip into the hills I took with me a flat tarp that had been modified to include a beak front and rear. This made a huge difference to the amount of weather protection offerred.

On this particular day it was pitched very low - around 60cm at the front because of the wind. This did make it tricky to get in and out of but it was very windproof. I also used a pertex/nylon bivi bag (200g) as both a groundsheet and a windproof cover for my bag. This combination worked very well.

Having both beaks very close to the ground did seem to result in a very small amount of condensation on the inside of the sheet but nothing compared with what I see in many tents.

This is another option that works very well - To just close the rear of the tarp with a triangle - it's like 75% of a tent. The result is plenty of ventillation and still very weatherproof.

Condensation and Ventilation

In general I do not think it is an issue. The normal airflow under the tarp seems to be sufficient to prevent large build-ups of condensation. It is definitely less than in a tent - although their is a risk of you getting slightly damp if you touch it (which is unlikely in a tent).

If you have a fully sewn-in groundsheet then condensation is totally unmanageable - and I have two dead prototype tents to prove it. Providing that there is airflow under the sides of the tarp everything seems to be fine. There will be a tiny bit of condensation on the inside of the tarp sometimes but it can be lived with.

The best combination I have found for using a tarp is to use a flat tarp maybe with one end closed off (as above) and to use a bathtub groundsheet that has reasonably deep sides (7-10cm). The deep sides of the bathtub groundsheet means that all your kit stays dry and driving rain does not get onto it. It also assists with the airflow under the tarp since it forces the air up slightly and onto the underside of the tarp.

Overall

I think I will use a Bivi bag (and perhaps a Micro-tarp) when it is too windy to pitch a full tarp and I will use a tarp when I can find a place to pitch it and can make it suitably stormproof. I think in the colder weather that beaks are an essential requirement.