poncho/tarp question

[dirty ben]

Hi all,just a quick question,what is the biggest army poncho, im looking to set up a covered area over the front of my tent so the wife and i can sit out,cook,or as is normally the case drink wine and watch the stars,would a poncho be too small,and should i just get a tarp

[Large Sack]

hi db
how big is the tent? 2 man, 3 man or family size. got a model. might be easier to give an idea with this info in mind.
For my smaller tent trips I use a 3m x 3m DD tarp with my Force Ten and this gives us plenty of room. A ponco would work too though, but just not as much space. however, the porch on the tent is really quite small so the extra space under the tarp is very useful.
Cheers
Sack

[dirty ben]

its a 2 man tunnel tent from a high street shop,same style as a vango tempest,dead chuffed with it it has a big porch,so the tarp/poncho would be for shelter and cooking if the weather turns crap.

[sandbender]

The old British Army 58 pattern ponchos clip together, so that would give you a largish shelter and a poncho each. :)

[RAPPLEBY2000]

most army (and civilian copy) ponchos are around 7ft x 5ft (give or take 6" each way).

I've used 3 different sorts:
US army, British 58" green, German army, they vary in shape slightly (but enough that they don't fit together no mixed combination works :( )

some are "squarer", some are more "rectangular". but in essence put next to each other they will all look roughly the same dimensions.

sadly, you will find even though they all have poppers to attach to another , you can't join poncho's from different armies (I've tried!).

[lannyman8]

i would say the currant isue one is the best with the webbing loops all the way round which allows more options when setting it up....

it would work well with a small tent and 2 x walking poles would be awesome to keep it up.......

hope this help......

chris....

[RAPPLEBY2000]

I have them, agreed, better design and multi use.

but, you can use the poncho as a waterproof jacket... ;) (is the standard reply)

[dirty ben]

me and the wife have waterproofs already,and not sure if she is keen on a poncho to wear,not this seasons fashion,i am leaning towards a dd tarp 3mx3m will easily cover the front of the tent and some,not sure about walking poles but the bivvy poles seem a bit short for a comfortable shelter height

[bilmo-p5]

...,not sure about walking poles but the bivvy poles seem a bit short for a comfortable shelter height

They've been mentioned here before, and I use them with my Big Tarp sometimes and that's Wilkinson's clothes props. They're about 4' long and extend to around 8'. Easy enough to shorten if you want - just pull the end caps, cut both parts to reqd size and replace the caps. Easy!

[dirty ben]

sounds like a plan,defo cheaper than bivvy/walking poles,are they strong,im looking at extending them upto about 1.2m for a decent sit down headroom

[bilmo-p5]

1.25m closed up & I've found them plenty strong enough.

[dirty ben]

cool so if chop them down to say 70cm that should give me a stable extended height of 1.2m then,result

[bilmo-p5]

The less you cut off, the more versatile they are. There may come a time when you want to set up your tarp differently; like a dining shelter, say.

[dirty ben]

i am going to use mine on the wild camp front so size and weight are a bit of an issue,and at 3 quid a pop i might be able to stretch to a few,still need to thin out my kit list,i am thinking i am right handed and how many times do i use my left hand got to be a couple of kilos saved

[Raikey]

for civvy camp use Decathlon do a belter for about 14 quid,..

its 3 x 2.75 and has poles and guys included,..

my mate tarps out with one regular and it does what my DD does,...and we use it as a porch when civvy camping too,...

[dirty ben]

just looked at the weight for the decathlon tarp and it says 2.2kg,thats obviously includes the poles but thats almost as much as my tent,looking at keeping the weight down a bit

[Raikey]

just looked at the weight for the decathlon tarp and it says 2.2kg,thats obviously includes the poles but thats almost as much as my tent,looking at keeping the weight down a bit

drop the poles out ( they're steel tha see,s) and its the same if not less than the DD