Mil Tec Flecktarn Tarp - opinions and sources?

[Early P]

Looking to replace my British Army DPM basha with something that's lighter and a little less bulky. I opted for the Mil Tec alternative because my other gear is Flecktarn and that that pattern works best in the Peak District and at under 500 grams its less than half the weight of my current one.

I have read the review by a member here but they have not given a report of how it holds up in the wet other than to say the seams are not sealed. So, I would appreciate some feedback on whether it is indeed waterproof and if not what is the best way to increase its waterproofness. I am also having difficulty in sourcing one in the UK, can any one suggest a source?

 

[C_Claycomb]

For reference for other folk, this is the review.

Mil-Tec Flecktarn Plane Tarp - First impressions

Introduction: I wanted a lighter weight tarp as an alternative to my genuine issue DPM basha (~1.1kg). Something camo to reduce my visible signature when camping. I've long been a fan of Flecktarn as a camo pattern for use near the forest floor in the UK, ever since I got myself a Flecktarn...

bushcraftuk.com

 

[C_Claycomb]

Would this be suitable for a UK source?

Mil-Tec Multipurpose Plane Tarpaulin 'Basha' Flecktarn

Multipurpose Plane Tarpaulin 'Basha' in flecktarn camo from Mil-Tec, ideal for camping and festivals. Available now at Military 1st, the UK based online store. Delivery across Europe.

www.military1st.co.uk

I don't have the tarp, but I have ordered other stuff from this site and they have good service.

Typically, with tarps, if it isn't water proof there is little that can be done to make it more so without increasing the weight. I have had some tarps that I wanted to shed water better, they were waterproof, but slow to dry. I tried silicone sprays and Nikwax sprays with very little change. Some folk say they have re-proofed worn tarps with silicone builder's seal and white spirit, but I have used that sort of mix for seam sealing and do not fancy the mess and weight of adding it to a whole tarp.

All that said, I would be surprised if a tarp leaked anywhere other than the seams, and since those are easy to seal oneself, I wouldn't let that stop me getting one.

Chris

 

[Early P]

Would this be suitable for a UK source?

Mil-Tec Multipurpose Plane Tarpaulin 'Basha' Flecktarn

Multipurpose Plane Tarpaulin 'Basha' in flecktarn camo from Mil-Tec, ideal for camping and festivals. Available now at Military 1st, the UK based online store. Delivery across Europe.

www.military1st.co.uk

I don't have the tarp, but I have ordered other stuff from this site and they have good service.

Typically, with tarps, if it isn't water proof there is little that can be done to make it more so without increasing the weight. I have had some tarps that I wanted to shed water better, they were waterproof, but slow to dry. I tried silicone sprays and Nikwax sprays with very little change. Some folk say they have re-proofed worn tarps with silicone builder's seal and white spirit, but I have used that sort of mix for seam sealing and do not fancy the mess and weight of adding it to a whole tarp.

All that said, I would be surprised if a tarp leaked anywhere other than the seams, and since those are easy to seal oneself, I wouldn't let that stop me getting one.

Chris

Thats about the only source i can find and usually if its on that site i can get it at least 25% cheaper by looking elsewhere. I had an MFH one which was basically the same material as a cheap fly off a tent and managed to waterproof it by using some spray on product. I am guessing that it would be fairly waterproof anyway.

 

[forrestdweller]

i'd stay away from any mil-tec products as their quality isn't exactly the best...

 

[Early P]

i'd stay away from any mil-tec products as their quality isn't exactly the best...

I have a few of their products and have never had any problem with them.

 

[TLM]

i'd stay away from any mil-tec products as their quality isn't exactly the best...

Their quality varies a lot, one can never guess beforehand ...

 

[Early P]

Their quality varies a lot, one can never guess beforehand ...

Like i say so far so good my guessing has been spot on.

 

[Erbswurst]

In Germany we call them Müll-Tec, what means Garbage-Tec.​

Most of their products, if not all, fail very soon. Like MFH and Brandit they mainly sell factory new rubbish.

As they also trade with real military surplus we find them in nearly every German surplus shop. Of course every German bushcrafter already bought ones such a product and almost always it failed immediatly.

I think four years ago I suddenly needed a tent and couldn't reach my own equipment. So I bought a Müll-Tec 2 man dome tent, that was surely made of the same fabric like the tarp we talk here about.
In the first heavy rain it rained through the fabric and afterwards it wasn't waterproof at all.

If you set up a tarp correctly and just use it in light rain it's quiet possible that you don't realise that your tarp isn't water proof. That really happened to me!

I bought a polyester fabric sunsail from Aldi for a few Euro and used it a couple of weeks like a waterproof shelter. I grew up with cotton tent sheets and so I always set up my tarps in a 45 degrees angle.
But ones I did it more flat and suddenly realised that it was raining through the fabric. I tested it and could blow everywhere through the fabric! Of course, it was sold as a sunsail, not as a tarp!
I simply hadn't thought about that, as I bought it with some food for a tour to France where I had to teach all the time a new colleague how to do our job. - My fault, not the fault of Aldi.

But the Müll-Tec tent I bought as a waterproof tent of course, and it wasn't rain proof. That's it.

Usually Müll-Tec products just fall in pieces after a few days of use.
The stuff is the worst and cheapest they could get in Asia.
Every Aldi or Lidl outdoor product is far better than the products of MFH, Brandit and Müll-Tec.

If you are interested i can look later which Flecktarn tarps I can find that surely are made in a better quality. I know the German market very well and would find it pretty soon. I just don't have it in mind, because I usually use just a poncho or directly a tent. But I have seen such tarps.

 

[Early P]

In Germany we call them Müll-Tec, what means Garbage-Tec.​

Most of their products, if not all, fail very soon. Like MFH and Brandit they mainly sell factory new rubbish.

As they also trade with real military surplus we find them in nearly every German surplus shop. Of course every German bushcrafter already bought ones such a product and almost always it failed immediatly.

I think four years ago I suddenly needed a tent and couldn't reach my own equipment. So I bought a Müll-Tec 2 man dome tent, that was surely made of the same fabric like the tarp we talk here about.
In the first heavy rain it rained through the fabric and afterwards it wasn't waterproof at all.

If you set up a tarp correctly and just use it in light rain it's quiet possible that you don't realise that your tarp isn't water proof. That really happened to me!

I bought a polyester fabric sunsail from Aldi for a few Euro and used it a couple of weeks like a waterproof shelter. I grew up with cotton tent sheets and so I always set up my tarps in a 45 degrees angle.
But ones I did it more flat and suddenly realised that it was raining through the fabric. I tested it and could blow everywhere through the fabric! Of course, it was sold as a sunsail, not as a tarp!
I simply hadn't thought about that, as I bought it with some food for a tour to France where I had to teach all the time a new colleague how to do our job. - My fault, not the fault of Aldi.

But the Müll-Tec tent I bought as a waterproof tent of course, and it wasn't rain proof. That's it.

Usually Müll-Tec products just fall in pieces after a few days of use.
The stuff is the worst and cheapest they could get in Asia.
Every Aldi or Lidl outdoor product is far better than the products of MFH, Brandit and Müll-Tec.

If you are interested i can look later which Flecktarn tarps I can find that surely are made in a better quality. I know the German market very well and would find it pretty soon. I just don't have it in mind, because I usually use just a poncho or directly a tent. But I have seen such tarps.

It would appear you have been unlucky, whereas i have already said i have been lucky. I have two mil tec smocks that have lasted 5 years now and still going strong. Mil Tec ranger boots thats have not split, had the soles fall off or the stitching come out. My Brandit rucksack has burst no zips or failed despite the abuse it gets. But if you have a link to any other brands let me know. Obviously with postage to add onto the purchase price i think its going to be uneconomical. The reviews i have seen so far all appear positive and a blast of silicone liquid should help improve any waterproofing issues.

 

[Erbswurst]

You obviously have been very lucky!
That's of course possible because there are a lot of different makers behind this brand.
But generally they have in German bushcraft circles the worst reputation one can get as a seller.

Which size of tarp are you looking for and which weight do you imagine?

 

[Early P]

You obviously have been very lucky!
That's of course possible because there are a lot of different makers behind this brand.
But generally they have in German bushcraft circles the worst reputation one can get as a seller.

Which size of tarp are you looking for and which weight do you imagine?

2 or 3 metres square and less than 500gs hopefully. Just after i posted the previous reply the postman delivered my laptop bag i got on ebay. Another mil tec product! a sturdy nylon bag with what appears to be a separate Gore Tex outer bag and an inner padded bag, not bad for under a £10. I will have to see how it holds up as a work bag obviously but i have to say that i have no complaints about their products yet.

 

[TLM]

For heavens sake don't tell Sturm that they have made something that lasts, they'll change the spec instantly when they hear it.

 

[Early P]

For heavens sake don't tell Sturm that they have made something that lasts, they'll change the spec instantly when they hear it.

They are already rewarding me by providing me with the good stuff.

 

[forrestdweller]

In Germany we call them Müll-Tec, what means Garbage-Tec.​

Most of their products, if not all, fail very soon. Like MFH and Brandit they mainly sell factory new rubbish.

As they also trade with real military surplus we find them in nearly every German surplus shop. Of course every German bushcrafter already bought ones such a product and almost always it failed immediatly.

I think four years ago I suddenly needed a tent and couldn't reach my own equipment. So I bought a Müll-Tec 2 man dome tent, that was surely made of the same fabric like the tarp we talk here about.
In the first heavy rain it rained through the fabric and afterwards it wasn't waterproof at all.

If you set up a tarp correctly and just use it in light rain it's quiet possible that you don't realise that your tarp isn't water proof. That really happened to me!

I bought a polyester fabric sunsail from Aldi for a few Euro and used it a couple of weeks like a waterproof shelter. I grew up with cotton tent sheets and so I always set up my tarps in a 45 degrees angle.
But ones I did it more flat and suddenly realised that it was raining through the fabric. I tested it and could blow everywhere through the fabric! Of course, it was sold as a sunsail, not as a tarp!
I simply hadn't thought about that, as I bought it with some food for a tour to France where I had to teach all the time a new colleague how to do our job. - My fault, not the fault of Aldi.

But the Müll-Tec tent I bought as a waterproof tent of course, and it wasn't rain proof. That's it.

Usually Müll-Tec products just fall in pieces after a few days of use.
The stuff is the worst and cheapest they could get in Asia.
Every Aldi or Lidl outdoor product is far better than the products of MFH, Brandit and Müll-Tec.

If you are interested i can look later which Flecktarn tarps I can find that surely are made in a better quality. I know the German market very well and would find it pretty soon. I just don't have it in mind, because I usually use just a poncho or directly a tent. But I have seen such tarps.

we already called them "muell-tech" in the last millenia when i found myself wearing camo and lugging an assault rifle (not voluntarily) for the government of what's not my home country -- the opinion about them fell under "incorrect lingo".... their reputation on the civilian market wasn't any better and i'm surprised they still in business...

 

[Erbswurst]

Sturm buyes real military surplus in large amount in auctions and sells small lots to small surplus shops. And with it they sell their own products.

I bought hundred times real military surplus from my little surplus shop next corner. I always got a great deal.
I became friends with the shop owner.

And now I buy, because the original item is currently sold out, a Müll-Tec product for 20 €. It falls in pieces after half a year but just 10 days of use.

I don't go to my friend into the shop to make noise. He probably has less money than myself in the pocket. Perhaps he indeed warned me before. The guy saved me with the real military surplus equipment so incredibly much money, compared to usual outdoor shops, that I simply forget the 20 €, and that's it.

Or somebody brings it really back into the shop, gets his money back, and buys immediatly something else for it. The shop owner now has a +/- 0 result.

He doesn't try to get his money from Sturm. He depends on Sturm because he can't buy large amounts of military equipment directly in an auction. He already did send the Müll back to Müll-Tec and never got his money back and he knows it. On top of the loss he lost the shipping costs. And he has to accept it.
His shop concept nearly works like a franchise shop. He has no chance.
Most of his clients don't buy new quality products. Even if he knows where to get the original NATO equipment brand new, he knows that his clients don't buy it for the regular prices.

So, he sticks with the +/- 0 result and that's it.
As long as there was a lot of real military equipment available, the surplus shop around the corner could survive like this.

But now it becomes more and more difficult for the shop owners. You enter and find just 20% NATO surplus in wrong sizes and 10% east European cold war stuff in bad qualities. The rest is Mülltec, MFH and Brandit. One of this shops after the other dies, because the clients get the original surplus material in the large internet shops that can buy in the auctions or are simply better informed where to get the stuff. The shop owner sticks with Sturm and MFH and Brandit until the bad reputation of these products destroyed his own name in his town and he has to close his shop definitely.

But no problem for Müll-Tec, MFH and Brandit. They easily can sell the stuff via internet shops and surely will survive like that another decade.

But of course threads like this here in internet forums point out that the competition usually offers the better deals, because their products last longer.

And as Decathlon offers for similar prices hunting clothing in far better quality and slowly gets into the bushcraft business too, the business with factory new rubbish could also end relatively soon. That's a good reason to buy even worse stuff that looks like military surplus and sell it with a huge win as long as possible.

More or less like this works the business concept of Müll-Tec, MFH and Brandit.

Their main problem is just, that Solognac and Helikon Tex products slowly become well known in the community and that there are a few Chinese that developed pretty good stuff and sell it directly to the clients.

 

[TeeDee]

Didnt someone make a Flecktarn tarp with a reflective silver space blanket type side on the inner?

 

[Erbswurst]

I don't own any of these tarps, I just know the ponchos, because I use ponchos with bivvy bags instead of tarps.

But I assume that they all are better than the Müll-Tec tarp.

That here is a factory new original Bundeswehr special forces tarp made of a Goretex similar fabric. Pretty heavy, two sizes. I guess that's the same fabric as the BW Flecktarn rainsuit.

BW Mehrzweckplane Spezialkräfte Tarp mit IRR Beschichtung

BW Mehrzweckplane Spezialkräfte nach TL aus 3-Lagen Laminat. Das Tarp Material ist atmungsaktiv, wasserdicht und gemäß TL 8305-0290…

www.recon-company.com

Tac Gear
280 x 190 cm
510g
Flecktarn

TacGear Basha Mehrzweckplane 280 x 190 cm

Das TacGear Basha ist eine Mehrzweckbiwakplane, welche sich zum Bau von getarnten Biwaks oder Beobachtungsposten, zur Abdichtung von…

www.recon-company.com

Helikon Tex
250 x 200 cm
440g
Several camo patterns
There is a larger one in an even more interesting pattern. Perhaps the small one will get it too?

https://www.helikon-tex.com/en_eur/po-sts-po-supertarp-small.html

Särmä TST
Finnish M05 camo
Two sizes
Currently out of stock.

Särmä TST Tarp

Tarps are easy to use, easy to carry, and very versatile. The Särmä TST Tarp meets Finnish military specs, such as NIR compliant M05 camouflage print.

www.varusteleka.com

British army basha 250 x 220 cm
DPM 1000g (Silnylon!!!)

Rare British Gen-1 Shelter Sheet GS. Woodland D.P. | Endicotts

Note: One-off purchase. Rare item in this genre / grade / condition. When they're gone, that's it. Gone.This was THE ORIGINAL post 58-patt poncho shelter system. Manufactured by A.I.L. in 1995.Genuine issue gen-1 old-skool woodland D.P.M shelter sheet - aka basha / tarp / poncho.

www.endicotts.co.uk

DD camo
3 x 3 m
790g

DD Hammocks Tarp 3 x 3

Das DD Tarp 3 x 3 aus PU-beschichtetem 190T Polyester bietet zuverlässigen Schutz und mit 19 verstärkten Befestigungspunkte eine Vielzahl…

www.recon-company.com

SnigelDesign poncho
3 x 2 m
970g
Swedish camo

SnigelDesign Mehrzweckplane Tarp 3 x 2 m

Das SnigelDesign Tarp aus PU-beschichtetem Ripstop Polyester bietet zuverlässigen Schutz und mit 10 verstärkten Befestigungspunkte und mit…

www.recon-company.com

USMC
220 x 200 cm
950g
Here obviously they sell destroyed ones.
But I wanted to mention it. Not so easy to get in good conditions.

USMC Tarp, MARPAT/Coyote, Surplus

A good old tarp, courtesy of the US Marine Corps.

www.varusteleka.com

Solognac tarp
That is a new product. Usually Solognac equipment is very good for the price.
Should it fail they take it back without questions as usual at Decathlon.
Here the French site, it surely will be available everywhere else too pretty soon.

TARP Bushcraft 2,95x2,8 m Imperméable Camouflage Furtiv

TARP Bushcraft 2,95x2,8 m Imperméable Camouflage Furtiv au prix de ★ 50€ ★ sur Decathlon.fr. Notre équipe de conception a imaginé ce tarp, cette bâche 2,95x2,8 m imperméable pour se protéger de la pluie et dormir en bivouac bushcraft

www.decathlon.fr

New current issue Italian army poncho
Defcon 5
200 x 168 cm
350g (without the bag)
I use this combined with Snugpak special Forces 1 sleeping bag (1050g) and its SF bivvy bag (340g) and that works for me very well.

DEFCON 5 WATER PONCHO - D5-PO-02 - Jackets - Defcon 5 Italy

D5-PO-02 - DEFCON 5 WATER PONCHO - Jackets

www.defcon5italy.com

Dutch army poncho
220 x 165 cm
Dutch DPM
I doubt the low weight they tell here.
It's probably rather 700 g???
But if you leave the rainsuit at home that's a lightweight option too.

Rain poncho original Dutch army camouflage Woodland Dutch DPM

Rain poncho KL original Dutch army camouflage Woodland Dutch DPM The original large poncho of the Royal Dutch Army (KL). The hood of the KL army poncho has a drawstring, if you pull it closed and tie the cord around the hood, you make a waterproof tarp. There are snaps on the sides, allowing you to

www.xmilitarystore.com

Anybody sad now because he can't effort it?
The German army poncho is sold used in usually very good conditions by nearly every surplus shop for approximately 20 €. You will find it easily in your country too and save shipping costs. Combined with a British army bivvy bag in good condition it is a very cheap high end quality solution that probably will last you a life time and although we add here 2x approximately 800g that's a lightweight option too, because you usually don't need to carry a rain suit.
Shorten your packing list and get quality stuff!

210 x 165 cm are the correct dimensions

BW Rain Poncho olive used

The BW Rain Poncho is an essential accessory for all outdoor enthusiasts. With its fixed hood, the drawstring and stopper as well as the waist…

www.asmc.com

 

[Erbswurst]

TacGear sellers in Britain

Fachhandel für Tacgear - England

 

[Early P]

TacGear sellers in Britain

Fachhandel für Tacgear - England

Thanks for those. I had a look. The SF was too heavy unfortunately as i am trying to half the weight of my current British Army one. I have a poncho but find it only ever useful wandering around the festivals when it rains. I spend a lot of time on the moorlands at higher elevations where the only vegetation is the heather. That makes stringing up a shelter limited in various configurations very limited. Even in the height of summer on the hottest day the weather can change and what was glorious sunshine and warmth can turn to plummeting temperatures and driving rain coming horizontally with gale force winds. To beat that i need 3x3 meters to allow me to stake it flat to the floor. I like the tacgear one although it seems to be made out of exactly the same material as the mil tec from the reviews i can find. Unfortunately its nearly £80 probably close to 100 with shipping and none of the stockists here have one. I had a look in Decathlon yesterday to buy a new pair of Solognac Steppe 300 trousers quality seemed to vary greatly with their clothing range but i will keep an eye out for their tarps in the future. I like the look of the USMC one but again too small, too heavy and probably several fist shaped holes in them they say!!