I know this topic gets brought up around here and almost beaten to death, but I just returned from a weekend trip doing the Standing Indian Loop and would like to report my position on the matter. On Friday night, lows got to around 30 (Didn't bring my thermometer because as my friend, Shwack would say, every molecule in your pack counts!....actually, I just forgot it) with a nice dusting of snow. Saturday night was windy but we were in a wonderful campsite just north of the Standing Indian shelter that provided us with a lot of protection from the gusts, but we still got plenty of wind.
The forecast called for wind, but no rain both nights.
The age-old argument is should you just get a proper winter tarp or use the UQP to supplement your less-than-palacial tarp.
I have a HG standard DCF with no doors as well as a HG Palace.
For the following reasons I decided to bring the Standard and the UQP instead of the Palace.
1. Bulk: Although the combined weights are about the same, the combined bulk of the smaller tarp and the UQP is about half of the palace. It's also much easier to fit two small items into nooks or crannies in the pack than one big one.
2. Porch mode/view-friendly and wind protection at the same time. If I didn't have the UQP, I would've had to pitch any tarp-standard or palace- low to the ground to protect me from losing heat due to all the wind. Since I was fairly certain of no rain, I pitched my tarp out wide to give me great views of the sky and terrain instead of just looking at the bottom of my tarp. If you've ever seen the video of the Jacks R-Better dude pitching the concept of how his down sleeves + down hood + down vest is greater and more versatile as a group of components than just a hooded down jacket, it's the same concept. The Palace could've protected me from the wind but at the cost of not being able to see out.
3. Simplicity: This may not be the case with others, but to me, having a tarp without doors is much more simple than trying to manage the doors and worrying about whether they overlap properly, etc. The UQP is basically a "set it and forget it" deal and sometimes I even leave it attached to the UQ. As the great philosopher, Lynyrd Skynyrd advised, I try to be a simple man as much as possible.
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