Thunderfly now, or CF w/ Doors later?

[Malcolm]

I'll be replacing my 2.5 lb tarp soon, and would like some opinions. My options are Thunderfly or CF with doors (other suggestions welcome; I definitely want more end protection from rain than a hex tarp offers). Of course, the CF tarp is more than twice the cost of the Thunderfly, at around half the weight.

I could definitely save up to spend more, but I'm also not really sure that the weight savings would be worthwhile. I'm not ultralight, though I might try to get there someday.

What do you fine folks think? Tell me what to buy!

[Trail Runner]

If you're not dedicated to being an ultralighter I'd go with the Thunderfly. You're still getting a tarp that weighs less than half what your current tarp does. Plus, I found HG's Standard w/Doors to be not wide enough for truly blustery weather and have upgraded to the Winter Palace (or just Palace now). If memory serves that's an additional $100 compared to the Standard w/Doors.

[Tyroler Holzhacker]

If you can afford to save and have time to wait, you might want to save up for an HG palace cuben fiber tarp w/doors. looks sweet, and you will never have to buy another tarp or have that feeling that you wish you bought the lighter tarp. Its part of the big three.

On the other hand if its merely for hangs and car camping, then consider the warbonnet superfly with doors. A great hammock for the price. There are other cottage vendors that offer reduced price tarps as well in Sil-poly or sil-nylon. I myself have an OES MacCat Ultra I bought new for $132, then later craved doors, so I paid 2QZQ to mod it at a cost of $106 shipped for center pole mod and 2 door ends. Also spent $29 at quest outfitters fora carbon fiber center pole, thus I spent $268 total, and my modded tarp weighs 29 oz. not including my solo carbon fiber tent pole. If I could go back in time, I should have saved up and bought the cuben fiber palace tarp by HG. That said, I do very much like my OES Maccat Ultra with doors. It is very versatile, although not the lightest tarp for backpacking. I especially like setting up in porch mode with the center pole mod. I will probably have to buy another tarp for my lightweight hiking rig.

I initially wanted to get a lower weight pack as my reason for starting to hammock camp, but have come to realize that you have to compromise when it comes to hammock camping. My 4 season dbl lyr 2.2 oz/sq. yd HEX70 XL hammock, the DH Sparrow weighs over 56 oz all up. It is super comfortable and has zero stretch has 500 lbs payload, but is it an ultralight hammock? No. you will find you have to get more than one hammock if you want a light weight hammock. My next lightweight hammock I am eyeing will be under 20 oz and have a bugnet only. Now, since the sparrow is modular, I can reduce that weight by leaving the bugnet or overcover at home, but I usually have one or the other in my kit.

Hope this helps. Welcome to the addiction...err I mean hobby. DIY may also be a way to go. check out Ray Jardine designs. Also Jellyfish has videos on you tube. Sean "Shug" Emery as well.

[johnspenn]

IF you are trying to work down to being lightweight/ultralight, IMO, save up for a CF tarp. If you want true 4 season coverage save up for a true CF winter tarp, and you'll still come out lighter than the Thunder Fly. One man's opinion, no wrong answers because the Thunder Fly is a great tarp as well. Good luck!

[Red Wing]

Cuben no doubt. Just wait. Last big weight savings I got was from my CF and it put me over the edge as far as how light my pack feels now. A cuben hex weighs less than 6oz.

[sidneyhornblower]

I was doing a similar upgrade, going from my 26 ounce tarp to something else. I ended up making a spreadsheet to look at dollars spent per ounce saved. For example, a 13 ounce tarp that cost me $130 would mean I was spending $10 per ounce saved. The math (and hitting a Hammock Gear sale) meant that cuben wasn't as cost efficient as what I ended up with. Cuben would have cut the weight more but didn't make sense to me on a dollars per ounce saved basis. I ended up spending about $7.50 per ounce saved and cut my tarp weight in half.

That's one method that might help you think about it in terms of a cost-benefit analysis.