Two weekends ago I was out for my second trip out with my new toy (I just switched to hammocks with the purchase of a WBBB XLC). Trying to be cheap on the bits that were not the hammock itself I got a Wise Owl tarp (hex). Got dumped on the first trip and it did marvelously. But, I have realized after this last outing that I have gotten lazy in my backpacking. I know of a few spots that are pretty short bushwhacks (~1mi) that are on rivers in the wilderness. I always go to those and weight is not a big deal as it is short. But I want to start going further and on this last trip I was with my kids so in full scout master mode and the hike was longer (about five miles in the high cascades with a fair amount of elevation). About half way in I decided the weight of my pack needs to go down. When I got back I weighed everything in all the packs. The pack is going for sure and pretty much made up my mind on the Hyperlite 3400 which will save me multiple pounds (I like the Mariposa but worried that with bushwhacking it will not be durable enough). And pitched a few heavy things that are never used (backup tarp/reflector and the battery for the solar panel), learned to tie proper knots (ditch the daisy chain) and there are a few really cheap things to tune for weight (like changing to a Ti shovel)
But that tarp is a little over 1.5lbs and is the second heaviest thing in the pack. At the same time I have been reading the Ultimate Hang (which is awesome and technically have now read it twice as it is sort of required as it sometimes references sections 100 pages ahead). And I am intrigued by the 'tarp origami' with the square tarp. A quick search did not turn up any square tarps that have enough tie outs on the ends to enable some of the more complicated options that make the square tarp potentially desirable.
So with that overly long lead in, do people have advice on square tarps that are relatively light that have a lot of tie outs? All the ones I saw have tie outs on the sides but not on the 'mid ends' which enables some of the other setup options. I may have to learn to sew. I am a hack at sewing and can stitch on a ribbon of fabric to hold a tie for an underquilt (or replace a button) but it is not quality workmanship.
My budget is probably reasonable but I would like to keep it under $150. So probably silpoly or silnylon. Don't think I can justify >$300 for a Dyneema tarp. Really the WO works fine. But if I could half the weight for around $100 that would be nice.
I may also just punt on the origami concept and just stick with WB and get the thunderfly. Also intrigued by Hummingbird. I do not camp in the winter so a full winter tarp is probably unnecessary. Though storms do occur so having the ability to get some end protection would be nice.
Advice is appreciated. Is the 'tarp origami' a bad idea (not sure how it will work with a 11' hammock unless one uses a 13' tarp and still it might not make good sense)? If it is a bad idea, is there a tarp for around $100-$150 that would weigh in at about 12oz that people would recommend?
Ah, the hammock learning curve...
FWIW, I now have four separate lists of weights (not including clothes or consumables): Current (28lbs), simple optimized - ~$25 (20lbs), moderate optimized - ~$500 (16lbs) and deluxe - ~$1150 (14lbs). The deluxe includes the Wooki and the Diamondback but for 2lbs it is hard to justify $650. Simple optimized only works if I do not have my kids with me as it means using one of their packs. So 'moderate' is really the target.
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