Review on Waterproof Camping Tarp Shelter With Hammock Rain Fly For Fishing, Beach, And Picnic - Lightweight, Durable, Portable, And Compact By Anyoo by Evan Burnside

We were looking for a tarp to take with us car camping, to offer shade or a dry place under which to cook or hang out. We didn't want to have to invest a lot of money, and are so glad to have found this Anyoo kit, which is well made and comes at a great price! The kit arrived promptly and in excellent condition, with all parts necessary for assembly included, which is more than can be said for many tarps, where stakes, poles and/or guylines may only come separately. That said, there are no assembly instructions beyond the photos online, so I have written out my method below in hopes it helps others. I should note that I was easily able to set the tarp up solo, though of course it would be even faster with two people.Beyond the standard set-up we also played around with other configurations, and I’ve attached photos of the three styles we’ve tried so far. By adjusting the lengths of the poles and/or adding in trekking poles, you can make quite a few different configurations, and these pictures reflect only a little of what is possible. If backpacking, we might leave the poles at home, and just rely on our trekking poles and the guylines.So far the tarp has stood up well on sunny breezy days, and I look forward to trying it in the rain. It will definitely make our car camping cooking station a lot more pleasant! With the standard set-up we could easily accommodate 4-6 people in camping chairs underneath the "roof,” or even cover a small picnic table. With the classic lowered A-line shape, 2 people could easily sleep and keep their gear safe. We don’t have a hammock, but I imagine this would offer a great hammock cover too.I look forward to this kit hopefully someday coming with button locking poles, which should offer even more height options. Some additional guy out points along the edges (as found on the 13’ X 13’ tarp) or along the top side of the tarp (e.g. one in the very middle or all along the "spine” of the A-line) would offer even more configuration possibilities, e.g. forming a "beak” or more pyramid-type shapes. That said, I have no complaints at all about the tarp as it is now - it’s really a bargain and I look forward to using it on many trips to come. Thanks for a great product Anyoo, and looking forward to trying more of your gear! :-)UPDATE: 4/30/2018 - just returned from a weekend of camping, and used the tarp kit and poles in the standard A-line configuration to create a covered area for cooking and eating. It handled a 27” X 27” table, camp kitchen, and several chairs with enough room for us to move around. We had rain, heavy condensation in the night (we were near a lake in humid conditions before the temperature dropped overnight), and some significant gusts of wind the next day. The tarp kept our gear dry and us shaded from the sun the next day, and held fast in the wind. It was easy to put up and take down, and we got a number of compliments from other campers! Re potential improvements, in addition to the button locking poles mentioned above, reflective guylines would be really helpful. We used tie-on reflectors I'd made from reflective mailbox stickers, but having the lines themselves be reflective would mean we could leave those at home and not risk tripping anyone in the dark. Looking forward to making this kit a staple of our grab-and-go camping gear!My method for the standard set-up: lay tarp flat on the ground silver side down; attach the 4 shorter guylines to the 4 corner grommits; move the guyline tensioners up the line to the end closest to the grommit, then stake the lines coming out away from the corners; then move the guyline tensioners 1/3 to 1/2 of the way back down their respective lines; insert the pointed end of one pole into a middle grommit, leaving the pole laying on the ground, and loop the middle portion of a long guyline around the pointy pole end emerging through the grommit; stake out the two ends of the long guyline with the tensioners about 2/3 of the way up their respective halves of the long line towards the grommit/pole - you want to stake them coming out at a 45 degree angle or so relative to the grommit/pole; now lift the pole straight upright, bringing the tarp up with it, and adjust the tensioners to allow the pole to be as vertical as it can be at this stage; repeat with the other pole on the other side; adjust all tensioners so that the set-up is taught and adjust the poles to get them more vertical if need be; you may need to readjust the tensioners periodically e.g. if it rains. Ensuring the set-up remains taught is key to its structural integrity, especially if you have the poles on their longest setting and the tarp high up off the ground. Also be aware of the orientation of the open sides of the tarp relative to any wind, and try to avoid catching the wind like a sail; even the most well pitched tarp can be wrecked by strong wind or poor placement near tree branches or other hazards.