Getting ready to pull the trigger on a new tarp.
Looking for feed back from anyone with experience with it.
Like the title says ugq winter dream 12 looking at possibly getting the pole mods with it as well.
Getting ready to pull the trigger on a new tarp.
Looking for feed back from anyone with experience with it.
Like the title says ugq winter dream 12 looking at possibly getting the pole mods with it as well.
If it were me, I'd stick with an 11 foot tarp as long as you are using an 11 foot or shorter gathered end hammock. Pole mods are really nice to open up space, but if you're a backpacker, they add weight and take up space. Could you open the space up using your hiking poles either over the ridgeline connected to the pullouts or by staking out the center pullouts?
Still my favorite tarp !!
12' vs 11' -- I have the 12' for an 11' hammock.. Would 11' tarp have been enough? yes. As I do most of my usage w/ low miles or via canoe or in back yard, I like the 12' tarp. It's nice to have extra room in storms. Ref - I'm 6'3" 195lbs I am glad I have a 12' tarp in the line-up! It only weighs 1.3 oz more than an 11' !!!!!
Pole Mods -- Internal End Pole Mod -- THIS is the reason it's my favorite tarp! Love the free floating porch mode! You can go from wide open vistas to hunkered down and shut in a minute w/o leaving the tent. In straight down rains, you have the ability to keep your view open as much as you like to enjoy the shower and a view from the hammock or chair under the tarp. So, despite the weight, I like the end pole mods for this reason.... love it actually!!! The end poles weigh 16 oz... so if really counting weight for a trip, you can leave them at home. Most trips for me.. that 1lb either doesn't matter or it's 100% worth it to me to carry it !
Many options for hardware or suspension.. here's what I use. Dutch Stingerz on each end for hanging it. Dutch Fleaz on each corner, larksheaded to a small cord loop attached to the rings at the 4 corners. I leave my lines locked into the Fleaz when taking down the tarp (into a tarp sleeve from SLD). The other end of my cordage has a bowline for hooking over the stakes.
The pole mods add to a relatively inexpensive tarp, but they were so worth it and am 100% glad I got it setup this way. I've heard / seen options to get poles outside of UGQ to save a little, but I did get mine from UQG.
My other tarp is a Thunderfly from WB w/ external poles. Also like this tarp for my lightest weight option, does give good coverage, have not used it in storms as much. Still take the UQG WD 12 80% of the time and 100% of the time storms are predicted.
In the last image, I setup on a side hill with the wind and rain coming from the up-hill side... even in the rains, I was able to rotate the tarp w/ the door closed towards the uphill / wind side and enjoy the view down to the valley below.
In the 1st two images, it rained every night for 3 days, sometimes very hard... a few light showers during the days and mornings... it was so nice to be able to lay in the gentle morning rains while enjoying the views of the BWCA!
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Last edited by Us5Camp; 11-22-2019 at 09:43.
Sometimes even 12ft can seem too short. Ounces here, not pounds.
If you prepare for failure you will probably succeed.
Exactly..... 1 oz to 1.3 oz heavier depending upon which silpoly fabric !!!!
I have a 12' WInterdream and was going to share some thoughts on it, but I don't have much to add that wasn't said in Us5Camp's post. I echo almost everything there.
I ordered my tarp with the center and end pole mods to the tarp but didn't get any poles at the time. A while later, I bought the center pole. Then a while after that, I bought a set of end poles that a forum member here was offering at a good price. If I had to make this decision over again, I'd just get the end poles. After using both, they're a clear favorite for me - again, referring back to Us5Camp's post for the reasons. I've never tried using all 3 poles together, and I'm not sure that would offer any advantages.
Another thing I might do differently is consider getting the Winterdream XL instead for the extra width. There are times I've thought about ordering another one in 13' RL & XL width to use with my Ridgerunner. But I don't use the RR all that often, and with an XL tarp I'd have to special order the end poles, so I've not made that a high priority. Maybe someday.
I've got the 13' and it's cut & sewn from only two panels with only a single ridge-line seam. all of my other tarps the doors are sewn on separately, which gives it an added failure point.
In winter, you basically toss weight considerations out the window, because everything is so much heavier anyway and you probably aren't carrying it on your back in snow country anyway.
For a winter tarp, interior space becomes the primary consideration, moreso in a base camp situation. you need a place to keep everything from getting buried, a place to dry stuff out, and you need a place to get dressed.
during a snow storm, the panels of the tarp get weighted with snow and swing inwards closer to the hammock giving you less room regardless of the poles... without the poles to resist the weight of the snow, you quickly find that the cold air coming off of the snow covered tarp is much more noticeable, because you wake up to the panels being right next to the tarp under the weight of the snow. this can be alleviated by periodically getting up through the storm to knock the tarp clean.
and no, Amsteel lines do not prevent this. the weight of the snow covered tarp is enough that even with the ratchet strap ridge-line that I use in winter, the whole tarp sags which slackens the guylines and allows the sides to come in, shrinking your snow covered world to only a little bigger than your hammock
of course, you go out and tighten everything to compensate, but it's easy to forget to loosen everything again once the snow is gone, and that puts extra stress on your tarp and increases the likelihood of a tear.
EDIT: just want to clarify that I love every minute of it those end poles are a life-changer though. Every new tarp I get, I go bigger and more features... nothing says you have to use the poles, if you keep your options open when you order it. I wanted extra ridge-line loops like I had Marty put on my OMW, but they wouldn't do that for some reason. I never had any issues because of them, and they wouldn't interfere with the poles, so IDK why they refused.
I think, if I was to go extra wide, I would want a wide panel on only one side. An off center ridge-line, with the wide side designed to be a permanent porch, maybe with detachable doors. because what I really want is more space to one side of my hammock, the side I get out on.
as the snow piles up at the base of the tarp from knocking it off all night, the pile creeps inward under the edges of the tarp. extending one side out to standing room would help keep the snow back, provide a place for snowshoes and gear.
Last edited by WalksIn2Trees; 11-22-2019 at 11:19.
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