Cycling UK Forum

A long gone Vango and the bad idea of a tent the Blackthorn which lasted one trip (poles snapped) I've got a few others I use now

Overnight camp at Once Brewed on Hadrian’s Cycleway.
DD tarp over an old Vango TBS100 inner.

A thing like that would just blow away in our part of the world as would any tarp.

Cowsham wrote: ↑9 Aug 2021, 1:09am A thing like that would just blow away in our part of the world as would any tarp.

Do i understand that you have never been to Hadrian’s Wall or Northumberland in general?

Oldjohnw wrote: ↑9 Aug 2021, 6:44am

Cowsham wrote: ↑9 Aug 2021, 1:09am A thing like that would just blow away in our part of the world as would any tarp.

Do i understand that you have never been to Hadrian’s Wall or Northumberland in general?

The bit that faces the Atlantic ocean no I've not been there.

So you haven’t experienced the almost permanent wind. I’m sure being in the middle of the Atlantic is wild. As is being on the North Sea coast.

Never understood tarps -- unless it was the kind of weather we had here recently, hot with very little wind for a couple of weeks, I could only think it would be useful as a sun shade.

Normally the wind speed is high and there's not the same number of trees here that you have in England.

Might be good in a forest but we don't have many and I'd not be sure you would be allowed or want to camp there.

We live in a continual whirlwind soup of rain in a very exposed landscape and it's Baltic even in summer mostly. ( this year is exceptional in that we had some warm weather -- we are back to cold and very wet and windy now)

I was experimenting the other day with a tarp, a bike and a walking pole - my idea is to use it for "wild" camping off the side of cyclepaths well away from any road (like disused and converted railways)

I’ve never used a tarp in a woods. I have used it on top of Cheviot.

Cowsham wrote: ↑9 Aug 2021, 11:46am Never understood tarps -- unless it was the kind of weather we had here recently, hot with very little wind for a couple of weeks, I could only think it would be useful as a sun shade.

Normally the wind speed is high and there's not the same number of trees here that you have in England.

Might be good in a forest but we don't have many and I'd not be sure you would be allowed or want to camp there.

We live in a continual whirlwind soup of rain in a very exposed landscape and it's Baltic even in summer mostly. ( this year is exceptional in that we had some warm weather -- we are back to cold and very wet and windy now)

Might be an idea to say where you are - obvs if few trees will limit things - am planning to set up a tarp in a wood very soon (southern england).

Sweep wrote: ↑9 Aug 2021, 6:24pm

Cowsham wrote: ↑9 Aug 2021, 11:46am Never understood tarps -- unless it was the kind of weather we had here recently, hot with very little wind for a couple of weeks, I could only think it would be useful as a sun shade.

Normally the wind speed is high and there's not the same number of trees here that you have in England.

Might be good in a forest but we don't have many and I'd not be sure you would be allowed or want to camp there.

We live in a continual whirlwind soup of rain in a very exposed landscape and it's Baltic even in summer mostly. ( this year is exceptional in that we had some warm weather -- we are back to cold and very wet and windy now)

Might be an idea to say where you are - obvs if few trees will limit things - am planning to set up a tarp in a wood very soon (southern england).

Near the county Antrim coast on the west side but on the top of the hills over looking the sea. Like a lot of the hills around here it's exposed to the Atlantic west wind which is the most common wind direction. Seldom get the extremes of weather but it's a constant cold wind and sideways rain.

You could not stay dry in a tarp in sideways heavy rain even if it didn't become a kite.


Was in England a few weeks ago around the Yorkshire dales. We always notice when we're over the amount of mature trees you have compared to us less wind chill and the much more pleasant temperatures.

freiston wrote: ↑9 Aug 2021, 3:19pm I was experimenting the other day with a tarp, a bike and a walking pole - my idea is to use it for "wild" camping off the side of cyclepaths well away from any road (like disused and converted railways)
IMG_5014.JPG
IMG_5011.JPG

Interesting.
I wonder if the footprint (including guy outs) would restrict the choice of site. I'm always surprised when I pitch in the wild how difficult it is to find a suitable site. To this end, small tents with more vertical sides seem to work better for me.

Pendodave wrote: ↑10 Aug 2021, 12:10am

freiston wrote: ↑9 Aug 2021, 3:19pm I was experimenting the other day with a tarp, a bike and a walking pole - my idea is to use it for "wild" camping off the side of cyclepaths well away from any road (like disused and converted railways)
IMG_5014.JPG
IMG_5011.JPG

Interesting.
I wonder if the footprint (including guy outs) would restrict the choice of site. I'm always surprised when I pitch in the wild how difficult it is to find a suitable site. To this end, small tents with more vertical sides seem to work better for me.

I wondered that too but the footprint really isn't that much - it's the length of the tarp (3m) plus a guy rope at either end (which I can make very short) and about 5' wide (please excuse me mixing my metric and imperial). There's not much room underneath but enough to sleep and keep the gear in. I've pitched my tent (Vango Mirage Pro 200 - reasonably vertical sided semi-geodesic design but 2-man so not so small) on the same lawn and there's not a lot in it (but the tent is a lot roomier).

I have slept off the roadside a few times back in the 80s just using a closed cell foam mat, sleeping bag and the old bright orange Karrimor bivibag (like an oversized rubble bag) underneath the mat to be deployed in case of rain (it never did) My thinking on using it was to deploy it thus if it is already raining or obviously going to, to partly to reduce the equipment and partly to pamper to my anxieties of camping exposed on the side of a thoroughfare - I would worry less about the bike if it is "under canvas" next to me and I would prefer to be more "out than in", with a view of anything going on around me.

If I ever do make the trip I'm thinking of, I suspect that in all but the foulest of weather, I will forgo the tarp and just use the groundsheet under the mat (self-inflating - the old foam mat was replaced years ago), ready to wrap the groundsheet over me if it rains.

Cowsham wrote: ↑9 Aug 2021, 11:07pm You could not stay dry in a tarp in sideways heavy rain even if it didn't become a kite.

This depends on how you configure it - a tarp can be pitched so that it is pegged down to the ground on three sides (or two sides of a triangle) and it is possible to pitch it thus to withstand a lot of wind without turning into a kite too. One of the benefits of a tarp is that you can use it differently according to the weather conditions and the site conditions. Ultimately, it is a versatile single skin tent. Don't get me wrong - most of the time, I like to have my Vango Mirage Pro on a site with a washroom nearby and loads of gear but I reckon there are circumstances when a tarp and minimal gear would be a good choice (and I hope to put this to the test before the year is out).

The one I've settled on ...
MSR Elixir 1