My $90 tent vs my buddy's $30 tarp setup, guess who stayed dry

Last weekend we hit the Smokies and it poured Friday night. I brought my fancy 4-season tent, he showed up with a cheap tarp and some paracord. I spent 40 minutes wrestling poles in the dark, he had his tarp up in 5. Then the wind shifted and my tent started leaking through the seams. He was fine. I ended up sleeping in my car. Is there a point where cheap and simple actually beats expensive and complicated, or did I just buy the wrong brand?

2 comments

2 Comments

christopher94318d ago

Wait, did you seam seal that tent before you took it out? That's the mistake I made with my first expensive tent, and I got soaked too. After that I started using a cheap polycro ground sheet and a simple tarp over the top as a fly, and honestly that combo has outlasted every fancy tent I've owned. The trick is learning to read the weather and picking a good spot, not buying the priciest gear. Last season I did a week in the rain with a $20 tarp and a bivy sack, slept like a baby every night. Sometimes the simple stuff just works better because there's less to break.

wells.olivia18d ago

The "less to break" thing is mostly true, but a tarp and bivy still need decent seam sealing on the bivy and the tarp ridgeline, @christopher943. I've seen a cheap tarp fail way faster than a mid range tent when the wind picks up, so it's not always about simplicity.