DD Hammocks 3×3 Tarp Review

The DD Hammocks 3×3 tarp is a great way to get into tarp camping. It offers great value, is lightweight, and packs down well.

The Bottom Line

(5 / 5)

• Amazing value
• Lightweight and packs down well
• Huge
• You may need walking poles
• Lots of guy-out points
• Easily fits 2 people

Purchasing

You can normally buy the DD hammocks 3×3 tarp for £30 – 40 on Amazon, though you can buy direct from DD hammocks’ website. You may be able to also find used options on various auction sites, but at the price there’s not much point.

Included

When you buy the tarp, you get the tarp itself, four pegs, and four guy-lines, all in a stuff sack.
I would highly suggest getting new pegs; they are flimsy, and there aren’t enough of them. As for the guy-lines, they are good, if a little anaemic. I would recommend against bringing the stuff sack; the tarp will dry quicker in your bag, and it makes it easier to fit the tarp around other things.
The tarp is made from 3000mm hydrostatic head polyester, and weighs in at only 790g.

Pitching

Pitching this tarp is fairly easy, as far as tarps go. This is because, unlike a lot of tarps at this price point, the DD tarp comes with a huge number of guy out points:

This both makes tensioning the shelter much easier, and gives you many more options for shelters.

If you’re stuck, just try searching ‘3×3 tarp setups‘ into YouTube. I’ve also made a list of my favourite tarp pitches, with instructions. Also, make sure to try out these shelters before going on an expedition. This really helps to speed up the pitching time, and is great for inspiring confidence in your shelter.

Finally, if you aren’t camping near trees, you will need to bring walking poles to hold up the shelter.

As with my other tarp review, you should pay attention to where you pitch, to make sure you don’t end up sleeping in a swamp.

For more advice, check out our tarp camping tips.

General Comments

This tarp offers huge value, and punches well above its weight (in more ways than one). This is both because of the light weight, and how compactly it packs away. It takes up less space than my summer sleeping bag! If you want to try going ultralight, this tarp is a great option.

I’ve been able to sleep 2 people in this tarp with some room to spare for bags and the like. Having said this, the tarp is great as a 1 person shelter, since you can fold a bit of the tarp under to act as a groundsheet. This tarp would also make a great emergency shelter as, with a bit of squeezing, you could easily fit 4 or more people under the tarp.

Finally, one of the biggest strengths of this tarp is its flexibility. If its a summer’s evening, and there’s no chance of rain, you can open it up, and enjoy the fresh air. Then if its a wet and windy storm, you can batten down the hatches and stay dry.

Quality

This tarp seems to be great quality so far. Because of its reduced weight, it isn’t quite as bombproof as the British Army Basha I reviewed. This isn’t an issue, as its like comparing a land-rover to a tank – they’re both really tough, but one is literally bombproof.