I'm looking into purchasing Ray Jardine's Tarp Book that just came out this year. Is this book mostly applicable to the Ray Way tarp or is it a good book on tarps in general? I was also thinking of ordering Trail Life. Would there be a lot of overlap in these two books? I don't want to order both if most of the info would be redundant.

Trail life is a good book. You might not agree 100% with everything he says (I sure didn't) but it's filled with a lot of ideas and opinions, so you'll find at least some that work for you.

The Tarp book is more a detailed account on Ray's philosophy of tarp vs tents and his tarp design. So there is definitely some overlap. If I were to get 1 book, I'd get Trail Life rather than the Tarp book.
Mark F.

I own both books;if your main interest is tarps the tarp book is extremely detailed from set up to weather to knot tying,site selection, ect.(the book is 312 pages long)and lots of photos.The trail life book is his techniques for everything on the trail and does discuss tarps since that is what he uses.Both books show his techniques using his beaked tarps that he makes.There is way more detailed info on tarps in the tarp book,but both books are worth having.I agree you may not agree with everything he says but you will you will learn a lot from both,they are good books.The tarp book is not new this year it is an updated version(I have the updated version).

Edited by annapurna on 12/08/2011 13:45:40 MST.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YuFaD9i6Sc

Ray I liked the books better if he leave out his egotistical cryptic words he makes up for simple tasks.
His way is the only way that why it called the Ray Way . To save you some brain power a Dundo shower or bath is a simple sponge bath named after a park.

If it plans you want here's a link to free pattern and instructions for Henry Shries original trap tent and inner bug tent plans on Thru hiker and you can get the the Shield™ Sil Nylon from thru hiker that Mountain Laurel Designs uses.
http://www.thru-hiker.com/projects/tarptent.php

Ron Moak of Six Moon designs also has plans fro his Night wing tarp tent.
http://www.sixmoondesigns.com/support/make-your-own-gear/59-night-wing.html

Personally I did the math and figured out it was cheaper to buy a tarp from Dave Olsen of Oware his
craftsmanship is second to none. Plus he is running weekly specials in deals section of the forum.
http://www.owareusa.com/

Terry

Edited by socal-nomad on 12/09/2011 09:27:18 MST.

I have both books. IMO they are most valuable for the person who has less experience with & exposure to the lightweight philosophy and methods. If a lot of this type of stuff is new to you, the details and explanations are very useful. Internet postings and YouTube videos often overlook things that the author takes for granted.

One thing about the tarp book, it is 99% on the use of a beaked A-frame (Ray-Way) tarp. You will get loads of details & illustrations on using this type of tarp, but you will get almost nothing on other tarp configurations like the lean-to, flying V, or square tarp. Still, I found it useful when I first got into tarping.

I think it's safe to say that Ray's books are certainly not just expensive fluff, there is a lot of valuable info in there. Another reason I checked them out is that I read his PCT handbook looooong ago, and it was interesting to see his less strident tone in the current books. He is still a stubborn dude who thinks he's always right, but he seems to not remind people of this quite so often these days.

Au contraire mes amis!

My take is that Jardine bends over backwards to make it clear that what he describes works for him and that you should always try things out for yourself and make your own decisions.

Now he can't say this every other paragraph of course, but he does repeat it many times. If you read Trail Life and the Tarp Book from beginning to end, as I have done twice for each, you actually get a little tired of him repeating this. But clearly the repetition is needed, and based on posts about him and his books he probably should say it more often.