The Basha, or “I found the perfect camping tarp you’ve never heard of”, by 1stResponder

In my quest to get lighter and lighter in my gear (the miles get longer and the years get higher) I had long ago given up hauling an enclosed tent unless it was winter. I started using ponchos (every thing has a dual purpose) for shelters except I ran out of real estate to cover me and my gear when it rained. I moved to a tarp setup (that I now use for thermal mitigation)… yet still wasn’t really happy.

Then I read somewhere about a bit of kit called a basha.

So it’s a tarp, so what? My father had ordered one in Desert DPM and I took a long look at it. And what I saw… impressed me.

I later found a UK .mil one in MTP.

First impression is that this pretty large tarp, yet not so large as to be heavy or obnoxious to use. It is quite light comparatively the same or slightly (only by ounces) heavier than a USGI poncho. As in the photos it has grommets and tie-offs on the corners that are robust and unless you use stupid abuse, will not rip. It is made of a waterproof Rip stop Polyester that is folded, glued and sewn to the side webbing. As I said, unless you are stupid abusive to this tarp, it will serve you a long time.

I use the “Royal Marine Rig” setup and I keep a few titanium stakes wrapped in a large rubber band.

There are articles out there on different ways to configure the basha for set-up and there are extending poles for the tarp should you so desire, but here in my AO of South East U.S. I can usually find a stand of trees to string my basha with what is known as the “Royal Marines Rig” (a technique taught in Joe Dolio’s Field craft class) which reduces setup and take down to mere minutes (or seconds)

The webbing on the side, as shown above, is what really sold me. There are hand holds there for folding the tarp in half and using it as a litter for anyone injured and unable to walk out. This plus the robust design and construction sold me.