REI Camp Tarp

It's like a Swiss Army knife: lots of uses.

I forget how much I paid for this on clearance at REI, but it wasn't much. Less than $50 as I remember. Like a few others, I'm not one to pass up a good deal and usually find a niche for most of my stuff. The Camp Tarp was no exception.

When backpacking with my wife, we take it along as a sun shade or rain shelter and it easily sets up with a couple of trekking poles. I use two cords on the pole corners and one each on the sides and it's very stable in wind and rain.

We carried it on the Speyside Way and it came in handy more than once. I also us it as a cook shelter during hunting season. I had some poles I'd saved from one of those cheap big-box shade shelters and I use two of those to set up a nice shelter I can cook and eat in and relax in the heat of mid-day.

The tarp doesn't show many signs of wear and still beads water. 

Background

It's the only tarp I've used; I won't need another one.