Going a bit stir-crazy here. Done as much hoovering as one can possibly do. Tidied the loft again. Well I say tidied, really it's just moving things to different positions. Some of the stuff has been there for 30 years since we moved in. And I'm sure it was in my previous loft for the 6 years before that.

Anyway, got one of the tarps down and thought I'd have a play. There's something very satisfying about putting a tarp up, which you don't get with tents. Therapeutic. Calming. If you're a TarpMaster (C) you can even do it blindfolded apparently . Of 50 BaM's I've used a tent twice, neither time preferable to a tarp.

As we know there's limitless ways of bunging a tarp up, but I've had a go at nine this afternoon. Who can come up with the most eccentric, er, erection? This tarp is a Trekkertent custom 9x7. Teaching grannies to suck eggs for many on Here, but maybe the tarp-shy might find some inspiration. Apologies, some erections, er, messy - lawn not wide enough.

1, Yer basic lean-to. Not that keen personally as only shelters one side (unless there a handy wall or walls). Stuck some lifters on for tautness.



2, Yer basic A-frame. Pretty bombproof, use a wheel at the rear if you forgot a pole. Extra protection at rear with shorter pole.



3. A-frame, dropped rear for 3-sided shelter. Messy pitch, sorry.



4. Cave, dropped A-frame rotated 90 degrees. I find quicker to pitch than A-frame but not so nice somehow. Rear pole is BBB World's Lightest Shelter Pole at 48g.



5. Flying V / Diamond, tautline-hitched to the washing line, not very well pitched. Stacks of room, 3-sided, very fast to pitch and a nice view.



6. Getting a bit moist out there? Just add a Stu shower curtain! Spinnaker fabric.



7. Really becoming quite aqueous? Add another Stu curtain then! Cuben fibre, 20g to you Sir/Madam.



8. Ad-hoc. Stick a few poles and lines wherever you fancy and see what happens!



9. Bomb-proof, for that "Total Lock-Down" 'look'. Hmm, might as well have brought a tent .



So let's parade those erections and see whose is the most impressive/unusual

Your erections are both far superior and more unusual than mine - words I thought I would never ever write

Looking at these pics reminded me of a tv programme when I was a kid. It was called Origami, somehow due to the weird way I'm wired, I even remembered the name of the presenter which was Robert Harbin. Then I googled it and discovered it ran from 1968-72 so was possibly in black and white. Imagine a similar programme being pitched today, it would probably fold after the first episode. As previously mentioned, I'm here all week.
Edit, done a bit more googling and it was actually in colour.

"fold after the first episode" ...creased me up!! Scored with that one

Cut it out you lot, I like your angle but there's no point to it...

Funnily enough I've got an origami book in my lockdown pile waiting to be read. Not sure how far one would get attempting it with a tarp. I always used to like making the "flapping bird" one, amazing what they came up with.

RIP wrote: ↑Wed Apr 01, 2020 5:53 pmFunnily enough I've got an origami book in my lockdown pile

I bought a cribbage board about a month ago as I recall many hours of fun with my grandfather back in the day and thought it'd be a nice diversion for my teenagers. But do my kids want to play? Do they feck!! Flat refusal from both of them.

Speaking of tarps ... I may well take a break tomorrow to give my VBAM set up a test run. The weather round mine is looking positively BAM'ly (see what I did there?) so I may go for a view of the stars.

Good work Reg, I'll try and do something to add - although the lock-down hasn't presented me with any additional free time, just the usual slightly manic chaos of flitting from one job to another

I think I have "large tarp small garden" syndrome, it's a thing, Google it!
Alpkit r I g 7 that is 2.4m x 2.8m that is about 8 foot by 9 foot for traditionalists.
With 3 poles from Stu I have made a very cosy shelter, virtually tent like.
In an open space it pitches much better than the photos suggest.
It got the neighbours curtains twitching anyway!

Excellent stuff 'Pusher. I'm really liking the picket fence! No need for pegs at all. You've got me thinking. I'm a big fan of incongruity, and I'd like to get out somewhere really remote with the tarp and create a little homestead round it. The picket fence would mark the borders, plus you could have a swing, some flower beds, a pond maybe, and some gnomes. I'd sit in a deckchair with a cup of tea, outside my tarp. I'd probably need to take the trailer though as it may well not all fit into the seatpack.

I tried something similar when I did the TransCam yonks ago. I was in a junk shop in Rhayader and noticed a nice little teapot, which I duly purchased. There was also a milk jug so that went in the bag as well. By the time I'd left I'd added a proper cup and saucer (one of those lovely low-slung ones like your Auntie Win has, totally impractical as the tea goes stone cold immediately due to the large surface to depth ratio), plate, and a sugar bowl. Quick visit to Spar provided the sugar lumps and some cake. Like an idiot I carted the whole lot up past Elan, and stopped for a brew at the gate at the top end of Claerwen. Had my own brew, then made another, perching everything on a little grassy mound - teapot with fresh tea, milk in the jug, cup and saucer, cake on plate, sugar. Then rode off and left it! Definitely not LNT, but something to ponder for the next contestant who wandered past .

Sorry, back again. I feel it's important to clarify the type of cup and saucer. I had a phase of collecting them once, and have about ten in the cupboard. Just like this one:



Marvellous things. Real sense of occasion for a brew. Thumb and forefinger only. Little pinkie stuck out sideways job. I'll bet Stu's got a cabinet full of 'em.

RIP wrote: ↑Fri Apr 03, 2020 3:31 pmI'd sit in a deckchair with a cup of tea, outside my tarp.

Nothing unusual about that is there?

How could I forget Tim's Chair .

RIP wrote: ↑Fri Apr 03, 2020 4:05 pm How could I forget Tim's Chair .

Bloomin ek Reg. You was quiet for a while abd today whilst driving (to a sleepy town who seemed to have not been prepared did noone tell them!! what the heck) for work I wondered if your ok. Gladd you are buddy

*thats gladd with a Welsh accent btw

I`ll see your Cup and Saucer and raise you a Tea set!

Wah hey!


Pole on the long side - quite roomy right enough

As above but pole offset - my favourite so far

A frame with dropped tail - a bit low (I need a shorter pole!) but snug

My first tarp attempt a couple of years ago involved using various bits of bicycle which seemed to be too much trouble. Using a pole (and a handy fence!) makes it much easier.

If possible, avoid pegging tarps directly to the ground, Even a short line used at pegging points will help produce a better (tighter) and more stable pitch. Always think of your erection as a floating canopy.

I find a good strain on mine gets the wrinkles out of it!

Frankie Howard is alive and well!

"Post by redefined_cycles » Fri Apr 03, 2020 3:31 pm
*thats gladd with a Welsh accent btw" - that amused me, very good . Now, just to add to the fun, "gladd" is Welsh for "sword" I believe, so who knows where this is leading us.....

"Post by Bearbonesnorm » Sat Apr 04, 2020 6:52 pm
If possible, avoid pegging tarps directly to the ground, Even a short line used at pegging points will help produce a better (tighter) and more stable pitch. Always think of your erection as a floating canopy. " - I need to remember that. I tend to ground the rear tie-outs and lift up the front ones with lines, but the "floating canopy" thing is the watchword isn't it. Ta for the prod!

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Sat Apr 04, 2020 7:52 pm Always think of your erection as a floating canopy.

It sounds.....mesmerising

What better way to spend a sunny Sunday lockdown that mucking about with tarps. I usually go for an A-frame with a dropped tail, but thought I'd have a crack at some more complicated, less practical pitches.

So here's three variations on a theme using my 3x3 tarp (not the Superlight - that's not for playing): the theme being to make a tent like object from your tarp that gives you a fair bit of room (especially if you use two poles as an A-frame rather than, say, your garden broom as a centre pole) are pretty weather proof, take ages to put up and give you bucketloads of condensation if you are silly enough to actually sleep in them. To be fair, if you Do Like Stu and don't peg them to the ground, you will get air through.


If I'd used the garden broom in this one the door would be narrower and higher. Of the three, this is the one I've used regularly. Done with my 4x4 tarp, using two poles, I've had me and both kids happily protected from the elements.



This is actually a three-sided teepee which is pitched the same as the one below but with the front pegs pulled out a bit to widen the doorway. It flaps like a bastard. Looking at the photo again, it looks like it's about to start crawling away.



This is an hermetically sealed condensation monster, but it goes up in a minute (especially if you have a extendable walking pole, and is extremely storm worthy. I wouldn't recommend it though - it's genuinely miserable in there.



PS: yes, I know. The turf. God man, the turf. It's dying. Should have put more topsoil down. That's where the chicken run was before Mr Fox decided they were better off dead than happily digging for worms, eating my food waste and keeping me in eggs.

quick go with the alpkit 3.5
new guy lines&locks i had from mrs


youngest trying the new ground sheet

htrider wrote: ↑Sat Apr 04, 2020 6:46 pm Wah hey!


As above but pole offset - my favourite so far

Also my favourite after some more playing around on Saturday - easy to pitch but loads of protection and headroom. I think I have the same tarp and guyed out that central lifter to a shorter pole for a little bit more room in the foot end. Seemed to work well.

For a while I've been using that setup with central front pole and a lifter to the rear, called the Holden Tent I believe, but have moved to the asymmetric version.

Symmetric Holden with bike bars as rear "pole" (you can just see the line between bars and tarp)


The asymmetric version.


Not used the latter in anger yet but garden tests (the front left peg was in a plant pot!) indicate it's easier to get in and out of and gives you more headroom where you need it. i.e. your head I can go from lying down to sat up without my head touching the tarp material so handy when there's a lot of condensation/frost.

whitestone wrote: ↑Mon Apr 06, 2020 10:46 am Not used the latter in anger yet but garden tests (the front left peg was in a plant pot!) indicate it's easier to get in and out of and gives you more headroom where you need it. i.e. your head I can go from lying down to sat up without my head touching the tarp material so handy when there's a lot of condensation/frost.

This was my model for trying out this pitch. I was put off by the name initially, as an asymetric Holden sounds complicated, but it was actually pretty straightforward.