I regret I don't use mine as much as my silnylon and silpoly tarps.
Shug O'gret
I regret I don't use mine as much as my silnylon and silpoly tarps.
Shug O'gret
Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven
With Dutch's bonded tarps now out, I question if I will use mine nearly as often.
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No regrets. I actually just purchased another. As cmoulder said, if you are that concerned with pack volume, a folded DCF tarp is no larger than any other tarp. This photo is of my folded 11' winter tarp.
I use snakeskins because I like them. They do make the tarp take up more space, but, stuffed in the outside pouch of my pack, I don't give it second thought.
Less space for heavy items.
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Last edited by Countrybois; 03-28-2022 at 10:53.
I've found the cmoulder style folded volume of the HG DCF 11' Hex to be acceptable for my personal UL applications.
The first few times I carried it using shockcord or elastic hair ties to keep it rolled up to reduce the weight of skins. It also seemed to roll up and fit back in the HG stuff sack much smaller volume-wise, than my AHE.
*As a disclaimer my AHE Toxaway had a 12' RL and a lot more material on the sides than the HG Hex. I also used solid 3in dia Sil snake skins to swallow it all up.
After 2 days and nights in steady rain conditions I can honestly say I really don't feel the noise level of DCF on this tarp is worth the added argument either. Probably all depends on how sensitive you are to things like that. I don't carry ear plugs either.
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Most previous experience was with an 11' sil-nylon hex tarp from Paria Outdoors (11.4 oz). I'm now 5 nights into my 11' HG DCF Hex tarp (5.22 oz). I initially set up the DCF tarp in my back yard and had 4" snow on the first night out which cause some sag but I'm likely to think it was user error with the pitch as the ground was frozen, and between stake placement options and using the 2 additional middle pullouts, I had a learning curve that I was way behind and it wasn't good fidgeting weather. Nights #2,3, and 4 were spent on a 70 mile hike where I got to camp each day by 5:00-5:30 and had time to practice the hang and pitch. There was rain night #4 and the noise wasn't louder than my old sil-nylon tarps but it was a different tone. It "pinged" but it soon became background noise. It also let in moonlight, which I really enjoyed. Night #5 was this past weekend in the yard again. The weather was all over the place... windy, sleet to snow, snow to freezing rain, freezing rain back to snow. Did I mention it was windy? The tarp did great and the pitch was more dialed in thanks to my previous trip and the time it gave me to practice the nuance of pitching a DCF tarp. I will be sleeping under it close to 50 nights this year alone (there's always at least one or two tent trips in my future) so I should definitively get my money's worth out of use between taking trips and nights in the yard.
No regrets so far. I'm a big strong guy who obsesses over the weight of items so saving ~6 ounces with a DCF tarp was the goal and it took $300 to do it. So I'm also a big dumb idiot that has expendable income. But, no regrets because I'm also a big dumb idiot that can pull a 20 mile day without less pain on my back and feet with a complete UL loadout (8lb summer base/ 9lb shoulder base) which came from making one semi-expensive purchase after another. I think that if I do develop any regrets it will be over not getting doors, but even in the hypothetical future, I won't regret paying for a high quality, ultralight item that was made by American workers.
No regrets here. I was wary when I pulled the trigger on my HG DCF tarp with doors. But it is really nice to have in the rain. The volume issue that some have does not impact me.
I chose a tarp with doors because where I hike, the Sierra Nevada, I tend to run into mid afternoon thunderstorms. The rain lasts a couple hours and can be wind blow at times, depending on where I am in my hike. So doors are a must. Last year we had to stop a couple of times on the trail because the wind and rain was so heavy. I hike with ground dwellers and end up saving the day with my readily accessible tarp.
1. Yes on DCF. No seam sealing. Light!
2. Yes on doors. I can’t predict the wind affect or guarantee I’m camping in a protected place.
3. Yes to CRL for using the pole mod to make my tent roomy.
I’m considering upgrading to the HG DCF Palace as I’m trying out a Banyan bridge hammock and will need a wider tarp. The Silpoly tarps such as the Dutch Xenon bonded or the WB Superfly are nice options, but heavier. I think I will stick with DCF to offset the heavier bridge hammock weight.
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Been using a dyneema ZPacks tarp as a ground shelter for years and I’ll never go back. Not only because of the weight, but because my old silpoly tarps would absorb so much water weight after a rain. A quick shake and a few wipes with a quick dry towel or microfiber rag and it’s back to it’s pretty much dry and without the extra water weight.
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