Amen to the lightweight backpacking. I keep my pack under 10# most of the time (including dog food) and have pitched tarps and made ground covers with everything from heavy duty actual tarp material (the thick cheap stuff) to mylar blankets (the thin cheap stuff <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />). I could go on but then I would be hijacking the thread worse than I already have. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> I will say however, that IMHO for someone new to backpacking a small lightweight tent is probably a better place to start than tarp pitching. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />