The Twinn Tarp by Gossamer Gear is one of the best ultralight tarps I’ve come across in a while. I’ve used a standard sil nylon tarp for a while, but wanted to push into the ultralight arena. The Twinn Tarp weighs a total of 8.5 ounces and packs down super small (smaller than a Nalgene water bottle).
Another great feature with this tarp are the tie outs. You don’t need a separate ridge line to go between two trees. The Twinn Tarp comes with cordage already attached to the 4 corners and the 2 centerline points eliminating the need for additional cordage.
In the picture below I used 4 ABS plastic stakes to stake out the 4 corners, but I may entertain replacing those with a few titanium tent stakes. In order to use the supplied tie outs I had to mount the tarp at waist height, otherwise I would have needed to supplement the existing cord with some 550 paracord or something. If you have enough trees or saplings around you could fly the tarp higher up in order to use a hammock or small tent underneath.
From the Gossamer Gear website:
Stay dry while travelling superlight with this 8.5 ounce two-person tarp.
Exceptionally waterproof 7 denier nylon with a computer-designed catenary cut provides a generous 47 square feet of protected area, plus overhangs to keep gear dry. Easy set-up with our optional ultralight carbon trekking poles or our tarp pole set. Tapered front to back for lighter weight and better wind deflection. A great choice when the goal is maximum protection for minimal weight.
This tarp is factory seam taped for complete waterproofness.
Materials
Custom-formulated 7d high tenacity nylon blended sil/pu coating waterproof to at least 1200mm.
Dimensions
- 117” / 297 cm – length of ridgeline
- 100” / 257 cm – length of wall at ground
- 47 sq ft / 4 sq m – tarp area staked down to ground, not counting entrance overhangs
- 103” / 279 cm – total width of front of tarp (58” per side)
- 84” / 211 cm – total width of rear of tarp (42” per side)
- 44” / 112 cm – height at peak for standard setup 67 in (170 cm) – front entrance width (staked down position)
- 62” / 158 cm – rear entrance width (staked down position)
NOTE: some dimensions will vary depending on setup