Tarp brand & Tarp mil thickness?

[mtnmutt]

On another thread, it was mentioned to put a tarp over your tent for snow, rain and extra warmth. I am going to try this for at least September's base camp. I have a 3 season BA tent. I have not experienced snow yet with this tent and never had a problem with warmth. Lately, CO has had some pretty warm dry Septembers.

What mil thickness would you use 5 or 10 mil?

Any tarp brand that you recommend? Some of them do not appear to do well under the intense UV.

[>>>---WW---->]

Most guys use just those blue renforced plastic tarps that you can buy almost anywhere. They are slick and shed snow plus they give a little insulation factor. But these are heavy and mostly used by base campers or horse people and outfitters. For backpacking you might want to consider a silnylon tarp. I think mine weighs something like 13 ounces and I can pitch it just by itself for a good shelter.

[mtnmutt]

Thanks WW.

I will only use the tarp for base camp.

My backpacking BA Fly Creek UL2 did just fine with a heavy frost last year and I am too lazy to add more weight when backpacking. I think it would be fine by itself with some snow, especially with the steep pitch.

[Z Barebow]

For base camp, any hardware store tarp will do.

I have a BA Fly Creek2 also. I have a 5x7 siltarp and if I remember it weighs around 6 oz. If nothing else, I can use it to cover my gear.

I think I bought mine from GoLite.