Paria Sanctuary Siltarp Review

The Paria Sanctuary Siltarps are a series of ultralight budget silicone/PU coated nylon tarps that come in various shapes (square, rectangular, hex and tapered) and sizes. For this review, we tested the lightest and most minimal size, the tapered A-frame tarp.

Specs at a Glance

• Dimensions: 10 feet long by 7 feet wide at the head, tapering down to 5 feet wide at the feet.
• Catenary cut: Yes, on all sides and the ridgeline
• Tarp Weight (no guylines): 10 oz (manufacturer), 8.9 oz (measured)
• Total Weight (tarp, 6 guylines, 6 stakes, 2 stuff sacks):
  • 14 oz (manufacturer); 13.3 ounces (measured).
• Tie-outs: 12 along the perimeter. No ridgeline attachment loops.
• Materials: 30D (denier) ripstop nylon with external silicone coating and internal polyurethane (PU) coating. Double-stitched and taped seams.
• Included: 6 aluminum alloy Y-stakes, 6 x 1.5 mm Dyneema guylines (10 feet long) with reflective tracer and micro line-locks, stake, and tarp stuff sacks.

Construction

The Sanctuary Siltarp is a dual-coated nylon fabric, with silicone on the exterior and polyurethane on the interior. The main reason for doing this is to be able to make a shelter that doesn’t require seam-sealing but can be factory seam-taped on the inside so the shelter is ready-to-go from purchase.

The ridgeline and all of the sides of the tarp are catenary cut, which means they curve slightly to pitch tightly and avoid sagging.

The tapered Sanctuary Siltarp uses reinforcement triangles at all tie-out points, and the webbing is sewn to the hem with one or two lines of bartacking, depending on their placement and essential tie-outs at the ridgeline and corners get two lines. Some of the bartacking seems rushed, i.e. not parallel lines or not across the entire width of the webbing, but I didn’t find any place where this looked to be more than a cosmetic issue.

Extra-long reflective guylines

The Siltarp comes with 6 Dyneema guylines with a reflective tracer to make the shelter easier to find at night by the light of a headlamp. Micro line-locks for adjustability are pre-installed; you just have to tie the opposite end of the cord to the guy out webbing on the tarp. Using this style of line-locks is not necessarily intuitive, especially for new tarp users, and especially because they come installed at the very end of the guyline, leaving users to possibly wonder, “How do I make my stake loop?” It would be great if Paria could include some illustrated instructions on the use of these line-locks. Basically, you want to pull some slack out of the line-lock’s teeth to form a loop, slip that loop over your tent stake, and then adjust the length, and catch the line in the teeth to hold it secure.

The included guylines are very long at 10 feet each, and the line-locks themselves only shorten the lines by half, which is not short enough for a low pitch. To tighten them further, I pulled out all the slack from the knotted end of the cord and made a slipknot to serve as a new stopper knot. You definitely want to coil the guylines before stowing the tarp as the combination of the length and the mini line-locks will make for tremendous spaghetti otherwise.

Lack of internal attachment loops

The Siltarp has no attachment loops on the underside of the ridgeline. I have not used Paria’s bug bivy, so I don’t know how well it attaches to the perimeter tie-outs, but my experiences using a bivy and net tent by other manufacturers in the Siltarp were a little tricky. Ideally, the cord that lifts the mesh of a bivy or net tent should be nearly vertical; when you have to attach it to the tarp at a steep angle (e.g. to perimeter tie-outs) the mesh tends to droop. I plan on modifying the tarp by adding a couple of ridgeline loops. If you are just looking to use a minimalist tarp without a bivy this is not an issue.

Comparable Ultralight Tarps

Recommendation

The tapered Paria Sanctuary Siltarp is a good entry point to build towards an ultralight tarp and bivy system without breaking the bank. This is especially beneficial for people who are not sure if such a setup is for them. My tarp came in more than an ounce underweight which is always a pleasant surprise. My main quibble is the lack of attachment loops on the underside of the ridgeline for bivvies and net tents. This is a quick fix with some grosgrain ribbon, a sewing machine, and a little seam sealant over the stitches, but I hope Paria considers adding them in future iterations. For people who want a roomier or more versatile shelter, Paria also makes flat square and rectangle-shaped tarps, as well as hex-shaped tarps for hammocks.

Disclosure: The author owns this tarp.

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