I'm slowly taking steps into the world of using a tarp for camping instead of a tent. I like the openess of a tarp shelter and combined with the closeness of the campfire, it's quickly becoming my favourite way to camp. I still feel like I have to stay on fire watch all night but do manage to sleep. Since I started trying tarp-style camping, I feel constricted in a tent. I like the privacy but hate having such a huge chunk of my field of vision blocked. Although as the mosquitoes continue to increase in numbers around these parts, I am quite thankful to be able to crawl inside a relatively bug-free zone. (Although a good campfire does help keep the bugs at bay.)

When we camp as a family, we've got a nice 4-man Eureka with a great rain fly. (We will probably try a tarp set-up this year to see how the other half of the troop likes it.) Our bug-out plan is to use my Jeep and, if we have enough advance warning, grab this chalet of a tent too. If something happens to the Jeep though, and we have to move on foot, none of us is going to carry this 10 pound tent.

Our family BOB has GI ponchos, a sportsman's thermal blanket (like the one linked above) and a tube tent. I do however, keep a couple of sets of cheapie 2-man tents + tarp + paracord in the Jeep. My son and I use these on our mom and son trips and we'd definitely grab them if we had to leave the Jeep behind during a bug-out.

My edc GHB has a GI poncho and a tarp, to cover shelter. This pack lives in the Jeep though, so has the same option of grabbing a solo tent if the Jeep had to be abandoned.

So, I guess, I'm completely on the fence and no help at all.