Basics of Tarp Shelters
Understand the basics of tarp shelters to build your shelter skills.
If you’ve browsed this website much, you may have come across the idea of deconstructing camping tasks. Deconstructing tasks can be a useful way to know where your skill level is. Basically, you begin reaching an outcome using the highest possible technology available and slowly take away the technology to see where your competency ends. In the case of shelter skills, you could break it down like this:
Car Camping
Tent Camping
Tarp Camping
Bivy Sack/Bedroll Camping
Natural Materials
As you can see, the further down the list you go, the less technology there is. As a result, you have to develop more skills and knowledge to create adequate shelter. In this article, we’ll take a look at the basics of tarp shelters. This should be helpful for people who are confident tent campers, but who may be looking to build their skills and travel lighter. Once you’ve traveled down the list, you can go back up with no problem. The reason is that you have built within yourself skills that technology will assist and amplify.
History
Before getting into the details of the basics of tarp shelters, it might be worth a little discussion about the history of these simple shelters. The idea of using a simple piece of cloth for shelter is very old. Historically, there are examples of mountain men using similar shelters. Here is one journal entry from George Ruxton first printed in 1847:
“A hunter's camp in the Rocky Mountains is quite a picture. He does not always take the trouble to build any shelter unless it is in the snow season, when a couple of deerskins stretched over a willow frame shelter him from the storm. At other seasons he is content with a mere breakwind.”
The idea of just throwing a few deer skins over a willow frame is essentially the same idea as building a tarp shelter. In addition, an artist named Alfred Jacob Miller also painted scenes showing the concept. After heading West in the 1830s, he created numerous paintings of what he saw. One is the painting you can see. I like this painting because it illustrates just how simple things can be. In this case, it’s not a fancy shelter that takes an hour or an engineering degree to set up. It’s literally a blanket draped over some branches. And guess what…it works!
Tarp shelters, or tarp-like shelters, have been used for a long time because they are so simple and can be effective. In a world before light polyester tents, shelter was cumbersome. To avoid the work of hauling heavy and bulky tents, a simple sheet of canvas would work fine in many cases. Keep in mind, if you were packing horses or mules, your pack cover could double as your shelter. The concept is durable, multiuse, and simple. Although it lacks some comfort, it affords enough benefits to be effective.
Tarp Shelter Materials
When it comes to the materials you can use for your tarp shelter, there are two main choices. You can use a poly tarp (plastic) or a canvas tarp. Here is a quick breakdown of the pros and cons of each.
Poly Tarps
Poly tarps are probably the most common for several reasons. For their size, poly tarps are very light. Kits selling tarps, stakes, and guy lines can weigh around two pounds. They are also extremely waterproof. This, combined with their ease of setup, makes them very handy. In the past, when we’ve gotten caught in a rainstorm, we simply pulled a plastic tarp around us and created adequate shelter in less than a minute. Another advantage poly tarps have is that they are mold and mildew-resistant. This is in direct contrast to canvas tarps that do have a problem with mold.
On the downside, compared to canvas tarps, poly tarps are not as durable. They do come in different thicknesses, which has a big impact on their durability. Tarps do seem to last longer if they are put up in a more permanent situation. If you’ve ever watched the TV series Alone, you know that contestants universally start with a tarp shelter that lasts for several weeks. These shelters are usually semi-permanent and are also tight. By tight, I mean pulled snug to any poles. Tarps will wear out quickly if they rub against a wooden pole.
Another downside related to their durability is repair. Once torn, these tarps can become useless rather quickly. At best, they are difficult to repair, if not impossible to repair while. inthe woods. Despite these disadvantages, poly tarps are probably the most widely used by today’s outdoorsmen.
Canvas
The second most common type of material for tarp shelters is canvas. Canvas has been around for perhaps over 3,000 years. You can imagine that it has withstood the test of time for good reason. There are a few advantages that make canvas a good choice for outdoorsmen.
First, canvas is a very durable material. Same as poly tarps, the durability can be impacted by the weight of the canvas. Canvas weight is determined by the weight in ounces of the canvas per square yard. A square yard of 16 oz. canvas would therefore weigh a pound, while the same size of 8 oz. canvas would weigh half a pound. The increase in weight does make the 16 oz. more durable. For outdoor use, canvas of 12 oz. or heavier is usually used.
Another advantage that canvas has over poly is that it is more breathable. Where poly is an impenetrable barrier, canvas allows some airflow. This not only makes it more breathable, but it also helps with condensation build-up. This is helpful in situations where you’ll want to make an enclosed tarp shelter.
The disadvantages of canvas are the things that poly tarps do very well. To begin, for canvas to be suitable for outdoor use, it has to be heavy. A 9’ x 9’ canvas tarp of 18 oz. canvas would weigh at least 13.5 pounds. That is much heavier than the poly counterpart. Additionally, since it is a natural material, the canvas will mold and mildew easily if stored while damp. It is just another thing you have to be aware of when storing your canvas tarp.
Basic Tarp Shelter Styles
When it comes to basic tarp shelter styles there are essentially two varieties. You can either construct an open style or a closed style. Open-style tarp shelters would be like a standard A-frame or lean-to. These styles of shelter are good for camping in fair weather and allow a lot of airflow. Essentially, they are good at keeping the sun, wind, and rain off, but other than that they provide little protection.
On the other hand, closed shelters can offer more protection. These designs, like a center pole structure, can essentially create a tent that fully encloses you. Typically, these take a little more time to build, but they do offer more protection and an increased sense of security.
Once you dive into the world of tarp shelters, the countless different styles can get a little overwhelming. Rather than sort through hundreds of different designs, a person would be advised to learn one style of both open and closed design. Learn each one to the point where you can construct them with ease. After mastering them, then you might branch out and try something new. The reality is that if you can build one open-style tarp and one closed-style tarp, you can construct an adequate shelter in most conditions.
Anchor Points
Regardless of what style you build, another aspect of the basics of tarp shelters is to understand how to create anchor points. Anchor points are the points that you attach your ropes to the tarp to anchor it down. One way you can do this is by installing metal grommets in your material before leaving. Grommets are great because they are easy to use. Simply thread the rope through and you are ready to tie off.
An example of an improvised anchor point.
If you don’t install grommets, or they break on a trip, you can still anchor your tarp with natural materials. You can do this by wrapping a rock, marble, or similar object in the material. Make a loop with your rope, and draw it tight around the material and under the object. If you do it properly, the rope should be drawn tight under the object and not allow the tarp to pull away. Using this method, you can easily change anchor points depending on what style you decide to make. The downside of this method is that you can wear out your material. Still, it’s a good thing to know even if you have grommets installed.
Conclusion
Knowing how to build adequate shelters out of simple materials isn’t difficult once you understand the basics of tarp shelters. However, unlike more modern approaches, they do take some skills and knowledge to make useful. You need to understand how to construct the shelter, as well as have the skills to set them up according to your needs. The advantages of tarp shelters are that they allow your gear to be simpler and more multiple-use. The downside is that they may not provide the luxury or sense of security that a regular tent does. Becoming proficient in tarp shelters does require more time to develop the necessary skills and knowledge. However, their track record in history indicates they are probably a useful shelter to be familiar with. As with everything, practice building these shelters before you head to the woods. The more you practice, the more you’ll build your skills and knowledge. These are things nobody can take from you and you can take with you wherever you go. In the end, that is the purpose of deconstructing these skills in a world where technology tries to do everything for us.