I'm just building up my first set of gear and haven't decided on a tarp yet. As much as you all seem to end up with piles of various tarps, I'm hoping to buy 1 and be done. I've been doing a bit of car camping with my current setup and just avoiding inclimate weather but I intend to use my setup for a bit of backpacking as well so I'm interested in weight and packability but not to the point of driving costs to the upper limits. I'm in North Carolina and expect to use the gear primarily in this general climate, occasionally using it all 4 seasons. I also camp with a couple dogs and kinda like the idea of leaving them sleeping on the ground, maybe on a sleeping pad or something, inside the tarp with me.

I've started off using a ENO Reactor (their two layer hammock) along with their Atlas straps, a sleeping pad, and a sleeping bag as a top quilt. I've recently gotten a 20 degree HG Phoenix UQ and plan to continue using a sleeping bag unzipped as a TQ up until I really want to reduce weight. I also have a Hammeck Envy (10' single layer) coming so I figure I'm pretty well set at the moment other than a tarp.

The Warbonnet Superfly seems very popular and I like the idea of integrated doors which got me comparing to other tarps that I thought were comparable. I figure this style of tarp will give me all the features I might ever want other than going smaller for weight reduction (at which point something in cuben fiber might make sense).

Reviewing all the 4 season tarps with doors, I've gotten the impression that they are all roughly the same so I wanted to pick your brains in case I'm missing something. I've been comparing the Warbonnet Superfly, OES 4 Season Tarp, Wilderness Logics Oldman Winter, UGQ Winter Dream, and SLD Winter Haven. I skipped over the HG Winter Palace due to the cost associated with cuben fiber.

As far as I can tell they are all available in roughly the same sizes (~11' RL and ~10' wide) thought some are available in longer or shorter RLs as an option. All have about 10 tie out points and either come with, or you can add, 4 pullout points. All are close in weight (19-25oz) and there's some variety in color options from one maker to another. Prices all seem roughly equivalent ($130-170ish).

Having never seen any of the pieces in person I can't get a good feel for quality but suspect they're all top notch.

Are there any cool features that I overlooked, any standouts in quality or warranty, or anything else I should be considering to decide between these? I'm leaning towards the SF because of it's popularity, and it's on the lower end of the price range for what appear to be very comparable items, but I didn't know if you all might have any other points to take into consideration.


Here's the notes I've made so far on my tarp shopping: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing