[pct-l] Tents vrs Tarps - Numbers do not make sense

[Kevin Cook]

I use my hiking poles to pitch my tarp when there are no trees. Of course, I would ONLY be putting up the tarp if it was bad weather. I usually wouldn't camp above treeline in bad weather. Lower is warmer. If there are no trees and clear skies, I'm cowboy camping!

You're right though, I see far more thru hikers talking about using tents these days. I don't understand why though.

I'm a pretty strong advocate of tarps though. There is a simple reason I prefer tarps. When I go to the backcountry, I don't want to close myself off from it. Why would I leave the shelter of the city just to try and reproduce it in the wilderness? Tarps allow me to feel more like I'm in nature. I want to be able to still enjoy the view I worked so hard to get to. A tent doesn't let me do that as well. 

On Fri, Feb 4, 2011 at 4:16 PM, Jim & Jane Moody <moodyjj at comcast.net> wrote:

Not everybody.  Most of the thrus I hiked with last year used tents.  A variety of tents to be sure, but tents none the less.  One consideration that might not have been mentioned with a tarp is the need for something (or somethings) high to tie off of.  With most tents, this is not the case.  And in the desert and above tree line in the Sierra, tie-off opportunities are scarce.