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Debate: Should you trust a $20 tarp or buy the $80 heavy duty one? My river trip taught me both sides.
So I was camping along the Rogue River in Oregon last summer. Storm hit, my cheap $20 tarp ripped right at the grommet and soaked my gear. I patched it with duct tape and it held for another night, but barely. Meanwhile my buddy's $80 Kodiak canvas tarp kept his stuff bone dry the whole time. Part of me thinks cheap tarps are fine if you carry repair tape, but the other part says pay once, cry once. What do you all do when a tarp fails mid-trip and you have to fix it fast?
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the_sam13d ago
Man I feel this one hard. I brought a $15 blue poly tarp to Moab last year and the wind shredded it before I even got my tent set up. Had to rig a shelter with a rain jacket and some paracord, which was a total joke. My buddy with the same Kodiak tarp you mentioned just sat there dry and laughing while I was fighting with flapping plastic. I ended up buying a cheap one at the gas station the next day and it lasted maybe two hours before ripping again. Duct tape is gospel out there but even that can only do so much with those thin tarps.
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logan_young2913d ago
Dude, that Moab wind is no joke. I read somewhere that those cheap poly tarps are basically just glorified trash bags with grommets, and your story proves it. They're fine for covering a wood pile in your backyard for one season, but they have no business being out in real weather. I saw a review from some guy who said he's been using the same canvas tarp for like 15 years, through multiple desert trips and even some light snow. That kind of durability just makes the $15 ones look even dumber in comparison. I think buying cheap gear when you know you're going somewhere harsh is just paying to learn a lesson twice.
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