Firstly apologies if the pictures don't upload very well. I use my Ipad and Tapatalk and although they look good on the IPad they never seem to upload well.
Anyway I have wanted a Superlight Tarp to go with the Superlight hammock I bought some weeks ago. I wanted a light set up that packed small that I could use for day hikes and for when I go abroad. I rarely go out in heavy weather so this kit was really just for day hikes.
The Tarp had been out of stock for a while but a nice email on Friday from DD informed me that it would be back in stock on Monday so I placed an order. I was a bit surprised when the postman dropped it off this morning. So a big thank you to DD for being so quick but in my experience this is typical of DD's service.
Initial reactions were exactly as I imagined small, compact and very light. Especially when compared to my existing DD 3x3 tarp.
The tarp comes with the usual leaflet. What I did like was that the badge was sewed on the carry bag rather than printed.
It comes with pegs and guy ropes ( no Ridgeline ) these I discarded as is won't be using them.
I have changed my set up for this tarp to go with the light theme and also I wanted to be able to set up the tarp very quickly. I am using a dymeena Ridgeline 6 m with a Caribiner at one end, a Ize figure of 9 at the other to get the taughtness and two figure of nines instead of Prussik knots to tighten the tarp to the Ridgeline. On the dymeena I find the Prussik knots slip. The Caribiner and figure of 9's mean that I can set the tarp up very quickly.
The pegs I bought of eBay, I believe they are an Alpkit clone but are very strong. The guy lines are also dymeena but thinner. I have loops at the peg end for ease of pulling them out of the ground.
So off to find some trees and have a look at the tarp.
The quality is excellent and it is very light as they state. A good size at 3x2.9. It's roomy underneath. The stitching is excellent and each tab is stitched and secured with a black rubberised material which feels strong enough to hold the tabs without fear of ripping. One small observation I would have preferred the Ridgeline tabs to be shorter they are about 6 inches. I thinks 3 would be more than enough.
The seam runs along the top and is well sealed I am confident the tarp will be fully waterproof. It will certainly keep out any showers I might encounter. All in all I am really pleased. The tarp is all that I wanted and the quality is as I expected. It's Superlight and packs down very small. I have attatched some figure of 9's to each corner with some shock cord so there is some give to the tarp in the wind. If you want a light tarp that packs down small you would have to go along way to find a better one. Some may baulk at the price £62 delivered but for me it does exactly what I wanted it to do. Here's some further pics to show my set up.
Figure of 9's instead of prussiks
Loops in the pegs for ease of pulling.
Shock cord on each corner. When using figure of 9's I always secure with a quick release half hitch.
Finally I have changed the storeage bag to a bishops bag. I find it easier to set up with and I don't like to pack my tarps too tightly.
On the third attempt I managed to set the tarp up in just about a minute. This means that if a quick shower starts I can get shelter quickly, providing of course I have a couple of trees.
Thanks for looking and thank you to DD for developing a great product.
Anyway I have wanted a Superlight Tarp to go with the Superlight hammock I bought some weeks ago. I wanted a light set up that packed small that I could use for day hikes and for when I go abroad. I rarely go out in heavy weather so this kit was really just for day hikes.
The Tarp had been out of stock for a while but a nice email on Friday from DD informed me that it would be back in stock on Monday so I placed an order. I was a bit surprised when the postman dropped it off this morning. So a big thank you to DD for being so quick but in my experience this is typical of DD's service.
Initial reactions were exactly as I imagined small, compact and very light. Especially when compared to my existing DD 3x3 tarp.
The tarp comes with the usual leaflet. What I did like was that the badge was sewed on the carry bag rather than printed.
It comes with pegs and guy ropes ( no Ridgeline ) these I discarded as is won't be using them.
I have changed my set up for this tarp to go with the light theme and also I wanted to be able to set up the tarp very quickly. I am using a dymeena Ridgeline 6 m with a Caribiner at one end, a Ize figure of 9 at the other to get the taughtness and two figure of nines instead of Prussik knots to tighten the tarp to the Ridgeline. On the dymeena I find the Prussik knots slip. The Caribiner and figure of 9's mean that I can set the tarp up very quickly.
The pegs I bought of eBay, I believe they are an Alpkit clone but are very strong. The guy lines are also dymeena but thinner. I have loops at the peg end for ease of pulling them out of the ground.
So off to find some trees and have a look at the tarp.
The quality is excellent and it is very light as they state. A good size at 3x2.9. It's roomy underneath. The stitching is excellent and each tab is stitched and secured with a black rubberised material which feels strong enough to hold the tabs without fear of ripping. One small observation I would have preferred the Ridgeline tabs to be shorter they are about 6 inches. I thinks 3 would be more than enough.
The seam runs along the top and is well sealed I am confident the tarp will be fully waterproof. It will certainly keep out any showers I might encounter. All in all I am really pleased. The tarp is all that I wanted and the quality is as I expected. It's Superlight and packs down very small. I have attatched some figure of 9's to each corner with some shock cord so there is some give to the tarp in the wind. If you want a light tarp that packs down small you would have to go along way to find a better one. Some may baulk at the price £62 delivered but for me it does exactly what I wanted it to do. Here's some further pics to show my set up.
Figure of 9's instead of prussiks
Loops in the pegs for ease of pulling.
Shock cord on each corner. When using figure of 9's I always secure with a quick release half hitch.
Finally I have changed the storeage bag to a bishops bag. I find it easier to set up with and I don't like to pack my tarps too tightly.
On the third attempt I managed to set the tarp up in just about a minute. This means that if a quick shower starts I can get shelter quickly, providing of course I have a couple of trees.
Thanks for looking and thank you to DD for developing a great product.
