The Mountain Laurel Designs cuben fiber SuperTarp is one of my favorite pieces of gear that I own, and I own a silly amount of gear! I carried this shelter for 800 miles of the Hayduke Trail and across Alaska in a wide range of locations, terrain, temperatures and weather. The tarp is designed as a flat rectangle measuring 8.5' x 10'. This large tarp was a perfect for me, my 6'4" boyfriend, our two dogs and all of our gear. Weighing only 10oz, including the line locks, and packing down to the size of a water bottle I would consider tossing this tarp into my pack on any trip, even day trips.
The many different configurations for pitching the tarp were fun to figure out and allowed us an ideal shelter no matter what weather we encountered. When the nights were uncomfortably hot the air flow that passed through when the tarp was pitched high was refreshing. When the winds howled and thunderstorms pounded on top of us a low pitch kept us dry and withstood insane wind gusts. The additional side guy line options made the tarp even more secure in high winds and helped support a light snowfall. The ability to raise and lower individual corners allowed us to tuck the tarp under low tree branches and into odd shaped cave overhangs. The tarp came with an ample amount of lightweight rope and each corner as well as the two ridge lines have webbing with grommets which allow for easy set up using trekking poles. I was surprised at the many different options that we had for putting up this shelter.
After awhile we did notice a small amount of water seeping in through the center stitching patches during heavy rains. I will be checking into options for seam sealing these areas and will update after sealing and using again in the rain.
Mountain Laurel Designs also makes an enclosed bug net called the Serenity Bug Shelter. I plan on adding this option for trips in Alaska and other buggy environments.
Mountain Laurel Designs is a small company who specializes in super ultra light backpacking gear. They custom makes every order in their own shop in the United States. As I have been replacing my gear piece by piece with lighter weight options I have been thrilled with how comfortable I can still be while backpacking with such light gear. I am excited to continue my quest to lighten my pack and will be happy to find more super light gear options from Mountain Laurel Designs. My SuperTarp will definitely be my shelter of choice for many of my adventures!
