Best camping tarp

• 2.9 metre square: 290 x 290 cm of cover, enough for an A-frame over a hammock or a lean-to with kit stowed dry beside you.
• 900 g packed: under a kilo in its own carry sack, so it rides in the lid of a daysack instead of filling it.
• 1500 mm waterproof rating: polyester fabric rated at 1500 mm, which holds off a night of steady hill rain.
• Pitches out of the bag: pegs, guylines and the stuff sack come with it, so the first pitch needs nothing but a tree line or a pair of poles.
• Silver-coated finish: the coated face turns back sun on an open pitch and adds a second barrier over the polyester.

The Best Camping Tarp: 900 g of Cover That Goes Up in Minutes

Wild camping in England and Wales rewards a shelter you can pitch fast and strike faster. At 290 x 290 cm the Best Camping Tarp covers a hammock in full A-frame, or drops to a lean-to over a bivvy bag with room at the back for a bergen. The 1500 mm rating on polyester is the number that matters when rain sets in for the night rather than passing through in ten minutes, and the fabric sheds water instead of drinking it the way cotton canvas does. Pegs, guylines and a stuff sack come in the box, so you are pitching on the first night rather than ordering cord separately. Pitch the windward edge low and peg it short and the same square doubles as a cook shelter through an afternoon of drizzle.