Best CF tarp for 2 people and ground dwelling?

[Boots13]

As much as I hate the thought of going to ground, it is something that is very likely on my JMT trip this year. Right now I am leaning towards the HG winter palace because me and the lady like to hang our hammocks under the same tarp and I figure it would be much roomier. But when we do camp at those high elevations (only 1 night in our itinerary but might be more) I'm worried it might be a pain to ground pitch a bigger tarp. Also I have no experience ground pitching my tarp so this might not be an issue. I have read through a lot of threads on the HG winter palace but haven't seen anyone ground pitch it. I did watch one of Shugs videos where he had pitched his CF tarp on the ground but I believe that is a standard w/ doors.

[Otter1]

As someone who spends a lot of nights on the ground, I wouldn't prefer a hammock tarp for that purpose.

My top choice would be the Duplex or Hexamid Twin from Zpacks - I own several products from Zpacks, including a cuben shelter, and it's my favorite ground shelter. Great design and weight. If you want a more minimalist design, then MLD's Grace Duo would be my choice - simple, elegant, light.

[BigBadJohn]

I also considered the ability to go to ground with my tarp when purchasing. I went with the ZPacks CF with doors for the coverage for one hanger and ability to sleep two on the ground with a bug net. I've only set up once on the ground but there was enough room for two underneath, and if you used the panel pullouts I think it would open up a bit more. I don't have any experience pitching ground shelters but I think with more practice you could dial it in pretty good!

Here are a few pictures of the ground pitch. The corners are staked right to the ground and pole height was about 39". You would have more space if you pitched things a bit flatter. The dimensions are nearly identical to the HG CF w/doors for comparison.
IMG_20160211_131029.jpgIMG_20160211_131034.jpgIMG_20160211_131038.jpgIMG_20160211_131046.jpg

I made this simple excel schematic to get a sense of the space and coverage. Hex tarps aren't great on the ground, but the doors essentially make it a rectangle which works fine. Feel free to play around with this and see how the Winter Palace compares, I imagine it would feel very spacious on the ground!

Tarp Schematic.xlsx

[Boots13]

As someone who spends a lot of nights on the ground, I wouldn't prefer a hammock tarp for that purpose.

My top choice would be the Duplex or Hexamid Twin from Zpacks - I own several products from Zpacks, including a cuben shelter, and it's my favorite ground shelter. Great design and weight. If you want a more minimalist design, then MLD's Grace Duo would be my choice - simple, elegant, light.

Those are pretty sweet but 99.9% of my nights outdoors are in a hammock so I'm looking for something that could work on the ground in a pinch.

[Boots13]

I also considered the ability to go to ground with my tarp when purchasing. I went with the ZPacks CF with doors for the coverage for one hanger and ability to sleep two on the ground with a bug net. I've only set up once on the ground but there was enough room for two underneath, and if you used the panel pullouts I think it would open up a bit more. I don't have any experience pitching ground shelters but I think with more practice you could dial it in pretty good!

Here are a few pictures of the ground pitch. The corners are staked right to the ground and pole height was about 39". You would have more space if you pitched things a bit flatter. The dimensions are nearly identical to the HG CF w/doors for comparison.
IMG_20160211_131029.jpgIMG_20160211_131034.jpgIMG_20160211_131038.jpgIMG_20160211_131046.jpg

I made this simple excel schematic to get a sense of the space and coverage. Hex tarps aren't great on the ground, but the doors essentially make it a rectangle which works fine. Feel free to play around with this and see how the Winter Palace compares, I imagine it would feel very spacious on the ground!

Tarp Schematic.xlsx

That tarp looks pretty sweet! I'd be interested in seeing it setup with the bugnet

[Rouskof]

I made this simple excel schematic to get a sense of the space and coverage. Hex tarps aren't great on the ground, but the doors essentially make it a rectangle which works fine. Feel free to play around with this and see how the Winter Palace compares, I imagine it would feel very spacious on the ground!

Tarp Schematic.xlsx

That's awesome.