Following on from the cheap tent topic here's some sample tarp set up ideas. Some of the angles maybe slightly out on my sketch ... you'll get the idea though. If you struggle to get a nice tight ridgeline you can try running a full guy under the tarp rather than attaching guys to the tarps edges, it sometimes helps.



The first is a simple 3 fold that'll give you a full groundsheet. Obviously you'll require something at each end to hold the guys, trees, poles, walls or whatever. Pitched side-on to the wind you should stay nice and dry whatever the weather.

Next up is again a 3 fold affair. You'll only have a partial groundsheet (how high you pitch it, will effect how much ground cover you get). Can be handy in blowy rain as the extended 'beaks' tend to help keep the rain outside. If you used poles to hold the thing up, you could move them inside the tarp and drop the beaks, helping to improve weather protection.

Fig 3 is slightly more complex but you do get a good sized groundsheet (again height will effect just how much, as will your folds) and plenty of protection. You only require one guy point too, which might be a bonus. Using a pole (fig 3a) and moving it inside the tarp gives you the option of a dropped 'beak' and very good weather protection.

s8tannorm,

brilliant - nice one fella!

this'll come in VERY handy indeed.

one question.....any suggestions on what to use for poles (e.g. maybe you know of some nice cheap lightweight telescopic trekking poles?) for use in areas where a simple tree branch might not be available (obviously the bike can always be used for one end)???

looking forward to getting out and trying some of these out.

gairy.

Bike one end, front wheel the other works well in the open. Especially if you have a 29er.

Si

Si means like this.

any suggestions on what to use for poles

You've a few options, firstly you can butcher an old tent ... seems to work okay.

You can buy a cheap telescopic bivi pole. They don't pack very small and are (in the great scheme of things) quite heavy but they are cheap and robust. For some set-ups they might be a little short.
http://www.rvops.co.uk/bivi-pole-extend ... l-955.html

Or there's these, light, pack away easily (I store mine down my seat post) but they're that bit more expensive.
http://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/ ... _pole.html

... and another thing. What are you doing making a trip to Wales for the Dyfi Enduro rather than coming a month later for the WRT ?

s8tannorm wrote:... and another thing. What are you doing making a trip to Wales for the Dyfi Enduro rather than coming a month later for the WRT ?

i'd love to but the Dyfi just happens to coincide with one of our bi-annual trips back to the uk.

also, in June, i've got the Ardechoise road race (more of a ride for me) which will need all of my attention if it's not going to kill me!

take a look at stats/profile of the route i'm doing:

http://blog.ardechoise.com/en/parcours/gorges/

but.....i am currently laying the groundwork to ensure that our autumn uk trip coincides with the Bear Bones 200 as that sounds like a doozy!

as for the poles.....i like the idea of using the bike/wheel to support the bike.

is there a reason that i shouldn't rely solely on this method?

obviously i'll try it out before committing to it for my big trip - just as soon as the weather gets a little warmer round here (we live at 1100m alt and so it gets pretty cold round here in the winter - down to -20 some nights).

gairy.

gairym wrote:as for the poles.....i like the idea of using the bike/wheel to support the bike.

should read:

as for the poles.....i like the idea of using the bike/wheel to support the tarp.