Hyperlite Mountain Gear Flat Tarp Review

The Hyperlite Mountain Gear Flat Tarp is the great versipellis — a shelter that's able to change its form to fit exactly the situation at hand. Bring along your trekking poles and a few stakes, and you can set up a simple A-frame in minutes. Storm moving in? Transform your A-frame into a storm pitch before your hiking partner even wakes from their slumber. All this in one of the lightest packages in our lineup. You'll absolutely notice the difference when the tarp is packed up, and you're cruising through the miles with light feet.

Performance Comparison

Livability

Tarps are what you make of them, but we can't dish out class-leading marks for the Flat Tarp in this metric, as it isn't fully enclosed, has no footprint, and doesn't have bug netting. It's certainly not trying to be anything it's not. This minimalist approach should coerce you to find a perfect solution to your specific needs or have you question if a solution is needed at all. If there are no bugs in the area, why bring a bug net? If you're bringing along a bivy to cowboy camp, is your tarp only there for when it rains?

When it comes to how many people the Flat Tarp can accommodate, it depends on the pitch. A standard A-frame pitch — the pitch you'll likely use most often — will have enough room for two people. If the ceiling is pitched four feet high, the tarp will cover an area six feet wide and eight and a half feet long (51.5 square feet). A storm pitch could be half of this. Spread flat, you'll have almost 74 square feet to work with.

Weight

The Flat Tarp is a true ultralight shelter system, weighing in at 9.21 ounces for the tarp alone and 11.32 ounces for the tarp and all its included accessories: stuff sack and extra line. That's close to a quarter of the weight of some of the two-pound, two-person tents you also will find in our lineup.

You will have to supply any stakes and poles to complete your shelter system yourself. These aren't technically needed for all pitches, but you would need to be exceptionally clever with your surrounding environment and resources to go without.

This featherlight profile goes a long way toward building out a sub-10 pound thru-hiking base weight. Our main tester thru-hiked the Colorado Trail using a 2.5-pound sleep system that included this Flat Tarp, as well as carbon fiber poles, a <500gram zipperless sleeping bag, and a few 11-gram stakes.

Weather Resistance

True weather resistance with the Flat Tarp will depend on your pitch style and location choice. Both go a long way towards having a great night sheltered underneath inclement weather. It will demand more patience and experience to set this tarp up than it would a full-featured ultralight shelter. The DCF laminate material is waterproof and doesn't stretch, which are both attributes you want to look for to have a fuss-free pitch that doesn't need to be looked at with one eye open during the night. If you need bug protection, you will need a separate mesh system — loops are available to tie and hang such a system.

If foul weather is anticipated, several pitch options are usually employed, including the dart-like “storm pitch” or simply pitching the tarp lower to the ground than you would normally. Both types of pitches will impact the amount of usable space underneath the tarp. That's something to think about if you're sharing this shelter with someone else.

Adaptability

Adaptability isn't just a trait of the Flat Tarp — it's its whole reason for existing. There is no one main way to set up this tarp. Pitch designs and variations are essentially limited to your imagination and remind us of the infinite creations one can create with a square piece of origami paper.

The advantages of the Flat Tarp in regards to pitch flexibility shine especially well in camping spots that are difficult to set up with a regular tent system. Full-on tents that demand a certain footprint dimension can be tricky in places like off-trail sections of the High Sierra Route in California or in Gates of the Arctic National Park, Alaska, where you won't always be in an established campsite. You can experiment with pitching your tarp using trees and another solid object rather than poles or the “big rock, little rock” system in lieu of stakes. This tarp invites you to tinker.

Ease of Set-Up

Some people love to follow directions, while others love to figure things out themselves. The Flat Tarp will attract the latter, as there is no one true way to pitch this tarp, and every night out will be a small adventure in spontaneous shelter building. This does require a learning curve, and as you experiment with different ideas, you'll build up your own favorite repertoire of pitch styles. A tarp isn't for everyone, but it could add a new dimension to backpacking and shape what it becomes to you.

The most basic pitch is the Boy Scout A-frame, which is easy enough for anyone to learn but will be a little more difficult than a highly engineered and perfectly designed tent. It involves staking out the four corners of the tarp approximately 5' apart, then attaching poles to the narrower ends. Your tie-down lines will travel from the middle of the shorter side, wrap around your pole, and then stake into the ground. Having your hiking partner help will greatly simplify setup and speed things up.

The incredible DCF material that makes up the Flat Tarp does need a little more tender loving care than sil-nylon. Make sure not to stuff the tarp in its sack but rather fold it to ensure its long life.

Should You Buy the Hyperlite Mountain Gear Flat Tarp?

If an ultra-minimal thru-hiker is what you aspire to become, grabbing the Flat Tarp may be your path towards camping enlightenment. Ultimately adaptable and exceptionally lightweight, this tarp allows you to use your creativity and ingenuity to erect a most righteous shelter anywhere on your hike.

What Other Ultralight Tents Should You Consider?

For a less expensive and perhaps easier-to-use option, check out the Kammok Kuhli UL. For a fully enclosed system that still screams “minimal!” the Zpacks Hexamid Pocket Tarp should fit the bill. If you need enough room for two people, look into the Six Moon Designs Owyhee Backpacking Tarp. And if tarp-life is too minimal, there are some excellent single-person tents that will still fulfill your ultra-minimal street cred, like the Durston X-Mid 1P Gen 2 and Tarptent Aeon Li.