Shape and tie-out count decide how many pitches you actually get
A tarp is the lightest roof there is, and what you are really buying is a shape and a set of anchor points. A rectangle is the most versatile and the noisiest in wind. A hexagonal or catenary cut tarp has curved edges sewn to pitch taut with fewer wrinkles, which is quieter and sheds better, at the cost of the flat-pitch options a rectangle keeps. Count the tie-outs and look at how they are reinforced, because each one is a pitch you can improvise and each one is also a stress point. Fabric divides three ways. Silicone-coated nylon is light and strong and stretches when wet, so a taut pitch needs retensioning after rain. Silicone-coated polyester barely stretches and is heavier for the same denier. Dyneema composite does not stretch or absorb water, weighs least, and costs most. Hydrostatic head in millimetres is published for most coated fabrics and is the comparable waterproofing figure. Finally, read what is in the bag: many tarps are sold without guylines, pegs or poles, and several are designed to be pitched on trekking poles rather than with poles of their own. We compare shape and cut, dimensions, fabric and coating, hydrostatic head, denier, tie-out count and reinforcement, weight and what the pack includes.
Flat cover sheet · 2 × 3 m · 240 g/m² PE weave, coated both sides · aluminium eyelet every 100 cm · rubber-reinforced corners · nothing else supplied
A general-purpose cover sheet, sold at 240 g/m² with an eyelet every metre — the maker names a groundsheet use, and publishes no waterproof rating or weight.
Best for: A groundsheet or a gear cover at a camp reached by car, where a heavy woven sheet is wanted.
≈ £15 / 14 €
Camping tarp · 300 × 300 cm · 150T ripstop polyester, 3000 PU coating · seam-sealed · webbing-reinforced load points · 1 kg stated · four ropes and four pegs supplied
A 3 × 3 m tarp with a coating figure, sealed seams, webbing at every load point and a stated 1 kg — and no count for the load points it reinforces.
Best for: A square tarp bought complete, where sealed seams and reinforced load points matter more than pack weight.
≈ £44 / 38 €
Flat cover sheet · 3 × 3 m stated as 9 m² · 140 g/m² PP/PE weave · aluminium eyelets at 50 cm · rubber-reinforced corners · ±5% stated tolerance
A woven cover sheet with the tightest eyelet spacing here at 50 cm — and a stated ±5% tolerance on every dimension it publishes.
Best for: A groundsheet under a tent, or a cover where a close eyelet spacing gives more places to tie down.
≈ £21 / 16 €
Camping tarp · 3 × 3 m · ripstop polyester, no coating named · 1.94 kg stated · 65 × 7 × 7 cm packed · guylines and two poles supplied
A 3 × 3 m tarp that arrives with its own two poles and a stated 1.94 kg — and names no coating, no denier and no tie-out count at all.
Best for: A pitch on open ground — a beach, a pitch beside a vehicle — where poles matter more than pack weight.
≈ 35 €
Camping tarp · 300 × 300 cm · 210T ripstop polyester, no coating named · reinforced corners and eyelets · no weight, no rating, nothing supplied
A 3 × 3 m ripstop tarp with reinforced corners and eyelets, published without a weight, without a rating and without a count of the attachment points it advertises.
Best for: A square tarp bought on cut size alone, by someone who already owns lines, pegs and poles.
≈ £34 / 40 €
Rectangular tarp · 210 × 140 cm stated · 210D Oxford ripstop polyester · eyelets · packs to 12 × 7 × 2 cm · 310 g stated
A small rectangular sheet with a published denier, a published packed size and a published weight — three figures at once, which is rare here — and no water column behind the word waterproof.
Best for: Going under a two-person tent, where the sheet has to be smaller than the floor and its weight has to be known.
≈ £16 / 16 €
Camping tarp · 210D Oxford, silver-coated inside · PU 3000 mm · tie-out count published per size · six guylines and six alloy pegs supplied · 30 × 17 × 10 cm packed
The only tarp here to publish a denier, a hydrostatic head and a tie-out count for every size it sells — and it never says which size the listing is showing.
Best for: A first tarp bought complete, where lines and pegs in the box matter as much as the canopy.
≈ $25 / 30 €
Hammock tarp · 3.40 × 2.80 m · title says ripstop nylon, description says 210T polyester · 0.8 kg in the title, 650 g in the text · 25 × 10 cm packed · bag only
A hammock tarp that contradicts itself twice on the same page — nylon or polyester, 0.8 kg or 650 g — while publishing the smallest packed size in this hub.
Best for: A hammock that needs a roof, where the packed size is the constraint and the contradictions are read first.
≈ 56 €
This family belongs to the sleeping out kit — see everything that has to work with it.
Prices in these summaries were read on the dates each review gives. The live figure sits beside every product.
