Bought my first tarp
Ultralight here I come.
Preface: Me writing is probably not going to happen, I’ve tried before and I’ve failed before. But this blog platform is simply too cool not to write at least one post in.
So a month ago when my pack of guidebooks arrived I started doing some research about the countries I’m going to visit. Of course I had expected many of them to be expensive, but I never expected so many of them to be so expensive. Seems the entire Arabian Peninsula with the exception of Yemen (where I have to pay for a guide instead) only accommodates luxury traveling, meaning a hostel costs upwards $100 per night. $100! Even if I had that kind of money to spend, out of principle I could never pay such an amount for sleeping in a room one night. I’d rather just wander the streets.
Alright, fair enough, the countries are amongst the richest countries in the world so what should I have expected. As some of you know, I’m quite a hectic traveler and the countries are quite small so at least I can travel through them relatively quickly, but at some point I do need somewhere to sleep comfortably. The answer to my problem is obviously camping (I’d like to avoid CouchSurfing actually…)!
So I decided to set a budget of ~$300 to spend on lightweight camping equipment for my trip. If I camped for three nights it would pay back the cost of a sleeping in hotels/hostels. However finding a lightweight tent at that price isn’t such an easy task.
From researching tents in Kyrgyzstan I already knew about some really fancy tents such as the Terra Novas Laser Ultra tent (oh yes that’s the name) which weighs in at 0.6kg packed and costs £800.
Extremely cool, but that’s not gonna happen…
Tarp tents
Thankfully there’s this awesome site called Outdoor Gearlab which reviews a lot of ultralight travel equipment, for instance tents http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Ultralight-Tent-Reviews. After reading through some reviews and general tech specs about materials and types of tents I came to the only logical conclusion, the only worthy backpacker tent is the flat tarp.
Pitches with 1-4 poles. The lightest, most adaptable, most versatile type of tent. Also the safest and most durable for use in serious three-season storms.
$325
Now that hit the spot on each and every decision factor I have… except for value. The flat tarp awarded with the Editor’s choice award costs $325. Yes even though it’s a rectangular piece of tarp it apparently costs indecent amounts! Oh well, the research continues.
Materials: SilNylon vs Cuben fiber
Turns out there are two main materials to choose from. Either the cheaper but very durable SilNylon or the expensive but indestructible cuben fiber developed by nuclear weapons physicist (beginning to see how addictive this sort of gear mania could be?).
Cuben fiber is lightweight, highly durable, and is 50-70% lighter than Kevlar, four times stronger than Kevlar, and allows flex without losing strength.
In my case as I’m still somewhat of a budget traveler, this is where I had to draw the line. I do appreciate the strengths and awe factor of cuben fiber, but for my use it’s simply not worth it. SilNylon is still an awesome fabric and at a much lower price. Thanks to the online forum at BackpackingLight, I finally found my vendor, SimplyLightDesigns who sold a goregous 1.5 × 3m flat tarp tent for $69.95. Of course I still have to buy guylines, a trekking pole (oh yeah, tarp tents can be pitched with a trekking pole to save space) and some other gadgets, but that’s a worthy price in my opinion. It would pay for itself in one night at the price of hostels in the Arabian Peninsula.
In addition to the tarp itself I also ordered some guylines, stakes and a ground cloth (for keeping my ass dry in the desert) weighing 73g. This wasn’t enough though and I still needed sand stakes, a sleeping bag and a trekking pole to complete my camping gear list.
Next up, the sleeping bag.
The sleeping bag was the next big purchase which required some more research. As I want to use this gear in the Caucasus as well as South America I decided to go for a somewhat waterproof sleeping bag. Not really waterproof, but made of a synthetic material which dries and doesn’t get ruined by water like down is. Once again Outdoor Gearlab rescues me with a great review of the Mountain Hardwear Ultramina 15, ultra’s right there in the name.
Sleeping bag
I’m not sure how useful this bag will be while camping in the desert but I’m sure it will be worth its price in future travels to the Caucasus and South America. At least I’ll have a somewhat lightweight (definitely not ultra though) sleeping bag that I do not have to avoid water with. Having to worry about not getting a sleeping bag wet while camping in a tarp tent as a beginner is not something I want to trouble myself with.
Merino wool tshirt
I’m a huge fan of merino wool since my previous travels. It dries fast, it’s easy to clean, it’s lightweight, it adapts to the temperature and most importantly it doesn’t smell. I’ve worn shirts for 2 weeks without them smelling like sweat (who wears deodorant while traveling?). For this trip I’ve purchased a new tshirt and an additional pair of merino wool underwear so I don’t have to bring more than 2 pieces of every cloth item.
Sand stakes
Camping in a desert is probably going to be quite difficult with a tarp tent so I decided to buy some sand stakes that hopefully will get a grip in the sand (I’m still in doubt, I might just wake up with the tarp wrapped around me like a blanket).
Trekking Pole
Shit! As I’m writing this I realize I forgot to order my trekking pole in all the confusion… Damnit!
Oh well I’ll have to find one while I’m in Japan or Korea. Anyways the plan is to go with a single trekking pole as I’m not sure how much I will actually be using them. People tell me they are invaluable while trekking but I’ve managed so far… Still it’s worth a try as they can be lightweight and I do need a pole for my tarp.
That’s it for my equipment so far. Next up is finding some talented craftsman who can patch up my backpack which has seen better days.
