As a Wet Coast paddler, I’ve developed a serious fixation with tarps and tarp rigging. Here’s my take on tarps in general and the MEC Silicone Guides Tarp in particular. – Post by MEC staffer Philip Torrens
Mention camping, and most folks think “tent.” Some enlightened minimalists may think “tarp,” but they’re usually imagining it on its own or in combo with a bivy sack. I prefer to use a tarp in addition to a tent, not instead of one. To understand why, here’s how I take full advantage of a tarp on trips.
Kitchen and tent assembly zone
At the end of a long day’s paddle on the coast, there’s a chance I’ll land in heavy rain, wet and chilled. In this case, the first thing I do is set up my tarp. Next, I leisurely rig my tent underneath the tarp to keep it dry as I’m setting it up, and then move my tent to its final site.
With my tent set up, I can then return to the shelter of my freestanding roof to slip out of my drysuit and damp polypro and into warm fleece. And I do all this standing upright, like a civilized human being. Without a tarp, I’d likely be changing in the vestibule of my tent, where getting out of my drysuit demands contortions that would challenge a Cirque du Soleil star.
Now dry and warm (and assured of staying that way), I can contemplate an unrushed, dry supper under my tarp. Soup to start, perhaps? And that lingcod I caught earlier should fry up nicely with butter and onions.
Living room and porch
If I wake to unpaddlable weather (or I’m taking a day off), I can make local sidetrips secure in the knowledge I have a spacious tarp refuge awaiting my return. Or I may opt to just hang out, setting up my camp chair and turning the tarp into a backcountry veranda where I can sip coffee, update my journal and observe how changing weather, light and tides transform my little bay into several entirely different places over the course of the day. I can even bask in the warmth of a wood stove or a small fire. Just try that in a tent.
MEC Silicone Guides Tarp
My personal choice is the MEC Silicone Guides Tarp. I can simply cram the silky fabric into its stuffsack; no need for the time suck of folding and rolling. Once packed, it takes up less room than a catcher’s mitt. In years of use, my tarp has suffered only one small hole (I impaled it on a broken branch during a nocturnal camp set-up). I slapped a puddle of SilNet over the wound, and it’s been bomber ever since.
I bring the MEC Silicone Guides Tarp even on my solo voyages. In theory, it’s oversized for one person, but somehow never too big in practice. Plus it’s neighbourly to be able to offer shared shelter to late-landing paddlers. And it makes a perfect roof for picnic tables as I car camp enroute to and from my paddle trips.
It doesn’t have to be rainy for the Guides Tarp to earn its berth in my boat. On blustery exposed islands, I rig it with one edge to the ground as a wind shelter (Pro tip: run a guy line from the centre loop to create a peak that faces into the wind. This will prevent the tarp from ballooning like a sail into your kitchen.). On sunny days, while the translucent fabric of the Silicone Guides Tarp doesn’t provide full shade, it does take the edge off nicely for lunch stops and siestas (another pro tip: rigging it folded double reduces the coverage area but increases the sun blockage).
The Guides Tarp has been my faithful companion through countless weekend getaways and multi-week paddling trips. It’s become as essential as my sprayskirt to a successful kayak voyage.