Decathlon Quencha Tarp
 

I read on here ages ago that Decathlon used to do a bargain, yet acceptabley good tarp, but consequently read that they stopped selling them.........

.......well, they're selling them again now and I've just bought one. 3m x 3m in size and olive green in colour. I've just tried it in the garden and it is huge when made into a tent like config. Downside is that it could do with a tie down point half way along 2 of the sides, but otherwise, it's great. Poles are heavy steel items so have been immediately junked.

Not bad for £20:thumbup1:. It doesn't look particularly ripstop, but it will do for my application I think.

Decathlon - hiking tents QUECHUA - TARP, khaki QUECHUA - hikers looking for a shelter or wanting to extend a tent.

B

I've got one of these and would hugely recommend it, great to slot in somewhere in your kit, even if only for emergencies.

I tend to use mine on the diagonal, don't know why, just something I've found seems to protect better from the Breton wind and rain.

Good to read its serviceable as I'm hoping to get one.

As for this downside, you can buy brass peg rivets from some outdoor stores. I have used them in the past to make a footprint.

I've got one too - excellent bit of kit esp when it's pissing down and you're in the middle of nowhere with no shelter. I kept one of the poles, bungee one end of the tarp to the bike (either end of the bike - bars and carrier) and use the pole for a bit of height. Suppose it would work for shade too but as it only ever tips it down when I'm in that situation, I wouldn't know!

Regards

Belle :thumbup1:

You can always look out for a cheap telescopic walking pole to use with these too, I tend to do that for lightweight touring, and they have a thousand other uses too.

Last night I thought I'd try setting up my tarp using some of the many old collapsable aluminium tent poles I've got. I made up a hoop long enough to go across the diagonal and then just poked into the ground at each end.

With a bit of experimenting with pegs, string etc I ended up with quite a decent low shelter certainly big enough for a couple to sit under and cook/eat/repair tyres/read/etc. and it seems to be reasonably stable, it's certainly still up this morning.

Used to have one and loved it, but my daughters' family like camping a lot with their kids, so it's now theirs.

I replaced it with a DD tarp - tad more expensive but lots of tie-outs including some along the 'roof' - and it's lighter.

While we're on Decathlon products and a bit related, I guess. I'd also recommend their cheapest poncho, which packs down into its own tiny stuffsack. As emergency protection when it suddenly comes on to rain it's far easier than a waterproof jacket and far smaller to carry. And it gets used as a groundsheet, bike cover, and even a toilet tent (don't ask).

Well worth the investment I reckon, just don't try riding with one.

Tie down point..
 

Quick way to acheive the tie down point anywhere on the tarp is to place a smooth 'marble' sized pebble or similar on the inside, then tie a guy round it on the outside. Won't rip the fabric either...

My Decathlon tarp has seven guying points, four at the corners, two halfway along opposing sides and one from the centre, the first couple of times I experimented with it the thing blew down (mind you the wind was blowing tents down at the time) I have now resorted to some serious awning pegs and the thing will stay up, my most successful configuration so far has been to set up the tarp ridge tent fashion and then to set up my Blacks octane tunnel tent as far underneath as possible, with the tarp covering the doorway at least, this allows entry and egress from the tent without rain getting in and provides a reasonably sheltered area for cooking,getting into bike gear, my next modification will be to replace the corner guys with shockcord to hopefully make the thing easier to erect.

Stewart

Bump....
 

Are the poles on these tarps tall enough at 1.8m?
Or would you recomend taller ones ........... lets say 2.1m?

i would sew several webbing loops along each edge for versatility, and sewn on webbing doesnt pull at the fabric like eyelets do

Luckily I have a 50m roll of 20mm black webbing :D
So now I have 5 anchor points along each side (inc the orignal eyelets) to stake it down. Also I`ve made up some additional sling straps should I ever need to wrap around a tree

That's what I do. There used to be a product called "Visclamps" (I think), which provided rubber balls to substitute for pebbles, plus metal rings to slide over the fabric bunched around the rubber balls. You then tied rope off to the metal rings; cheap, flexible and effective. The instructions described their use as "similar to the way garters hold up stocking tops," which always puzzled me because I came of age during the time of panty hose!

In any case, pebbles and rope does less damage and is stronger than inserting grommets, which will tend to rip, shred, tear and pull out under stress. And you can use it on any sort of fabric structure, for any reason, anywhere. Worth remembering.

Mark

Here's a modern version of the old Visclamps: Grip Clips Tarp and Fabric Fasteners Product List & Ordering One of the beauties of this type of system is that when (not if) one of your grommets rips out it is easy to create a new attachment. You can basically put on an attachment point anywhere you need one, which helps when pitching. For years I camped with nothing but a clear poly tarp and some visclamps or other attachment devices. Now I prefer better bug protection.

You need some Klingons!

Clingons - Large, Sleeping Out