Tarping in Wales???

[Fredcompanybushcraft]

I'll be camping by the sea in Pembrokeshire with my Explorer group in August.

We have to make our own sleeping arrangements.

I have three options:

• A tall, very old tent (with a single "arch pole" setup)
• An old tent with a much lower profile but two broken poles
• My DD 3x3m tarp

If I was to use my tarp, which would be my preferred option, what setup could I use to keep out the Atlantic wind and weather?

 

[SimonM]

I used this set up in really strong wind and it worked really well...

...tarp was a 3 x 3m DD.


Used properley, tarps offer just as much protection as a tent. Youtube is your friend in this...there are loads of videos on how to set up a tarp...enjoy!

Simon

 

[Fredcompanybushcraft]

Thanks Simon.

I forgot to mention that there are nor trees at the campsite, and I have to leave early next week and I'll be away from home till the camp

I'll carry on looking on Youtube.

 

[Harvestman]

The good thing about Wales is that the wind direction is usually predictable and constant, so once you work out where it is coming from, a simple lean-to style shelter will be adequate, unless things turn really nasty. I've had great success with that basic set up.

 

[bilmo-p5]

 

[Fredcompanybushcraft]

Ian that's exactly what I was thinking of doing!

 

[Dougster]

Neatly done - how big is the tarp?

I used this set up in really strong wind and it worked really well...

...tarp was a 3 x 3m DD.


Used properley, tarps offer just as much protection as a tent. Youtube is your friend in this...there are loads of videos on how to set up a tarp...enjoy!

Simon

I always mean to get that way sorted, haven't as yet. Great setup.

 

[bilmo-p5]

Neatly done - how big is the tarp?

Thank you. Look here, and scroll down a bit.

 

[eel28]

I have found these two videos quite informative for a couple of styles
[video=youtube;PFUaefaPAhU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFUaefaPAhU[/video] [video=youtube;nrekvG4HEog]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrekvG4HEog&feature=related[/video]

 

[Melonfish]

The one pole setup works well, especially if you carry a staff. i stand my staff and run a ridgeline from it to the ground just over 3m away. tarp over the top and peg down the corners. similar to what simon has posted but much flatter. it allows you to snuggle right in and as your low to the ground it really protects you from the elements. i'll post a couple of pics tonight (don't have em in work) to show you what i mean but i rate it as very effective.

as for what Simon has posted, thats my next setup challenge, i've been wanting to try that for a while.

 

[Fredcompanybushcraft]

Well I'm getting a trekking pole today, so I will have a much more versatile tarp setup.
Edit: Got the pole for £7.99 from Decathlon

 

[KingsleyK9]

I have found these two videos quite informative for a couple of styles

considering tarps myself, very useful video's thanks eel

 

[John Fenna]

Where in Pembs are you going to be?
I live and play in Pembs and normally just use a standard "flying roof" over my hammock, a "lean-to" if ground dwelling or an "endless-ridge-tent" if the weather is bad and I am ground dwelling
Are you going to be in trees or on open pitches?
Lowland or in the Preselis?
Tarp would be my choice for it all anyway!

 

[PDA1]

My memory of camping in Wales (Snowdonia and the Lleyn peninsula) is of horizontal rain, so I would want the protection of a half pyramid rig. Here are two pretty good Vids of the structure.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzJHuWlEAtk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir-5R9PCIok&feature=related

 

[lucan]

I did some of the Pembrokeshire Coast walk last summer with a couple of Friends, We were all camping down there on one of the campsites, A few of us decided to wander off for a couple of days one of the lads with us used a tarp and single pole setup , It worked well, But then the weather was nice. We had an overnighter in a Wood just off the path at New Hedges which was relatively secluded so hardly any wind to speak of. It's a beautiful part of the country

 

[John Fenna]

You must have visitted between December and November - that is the Gog rainy season

My memory of camping in Wales (Snowdonia and the Lleyn peninsula) is of horizontal rain, so I would want the protection of a half pyramid rig. Here are two pretty good Vids of the structure.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzJHuWlEAtk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir-5R9PCIok&feature=related

 

[John Fenna]

It's a beautiful part of the country

That is why I live here!
If anyone is visiting the area I am always up for giving local advice

 

[PDA1]

@John
"You must have visitted between December and November - that is the Gog rainy season "

I was there many weekends for about 15 years - usually between April and September, when not in the Lakes. Either way, it rained... a lot. That and midges make me definitely an enclosed tent person, with horizontal rain and bug protection

 

[xylaria]

Bits of pembrokeshire the weather is closer to cornwall, than wales.

 

[John Fenna]

@John
"You must have visitted between December and November - that is the Gog rainy season "

I was there many weekends for about 15 years - usually between April and September, when not in the Lakes. Either way, it rained... a lot. That and midges make me definitely an enclosed tent person, with horizontal rain and bug protection

Aye - April and September are between December and November ... the hight of the rainy season!
South of the Landsker the weather is much more Mediteranian....