My cheap tarp setup actually outlasted a $200 tent in a storm

I always thought those blue tarps were junk for anything more than covering firewood, but last June up at Lake Placid mine held up through 40 mph gusts while my buddy's fancy tent pole snapped. What gear have you totally misjudged that surprised you?

2 comments

2 Comments

spencerl3220d ago

Wait, did you stake it down with those little flimsy metal stakes or did you use something heavier? I had almost the same thing happen with a cheap tarp I grabbed from Home Depot to cover my camp kitchen... ended up using it as a makeshift shelter when my tent zipper blew out in a thunderstorm down in the Smokies. That thing held up for three nights straight while my buddy's North Face tent had a seam split after the first gust... crazy. I think people just don't realize how much abuse those tarps can take if you set them up right with good tension and proper stakes. Now I always bring one as a backup, even if I'm planning on using my main tent...

skyler_kim16d ago

My old man actually used one of those heavy canvas tarps from an army surplus store back in '92 when we were camping up around Mount Rainier... our main tent got shredded by a fallen branch in the middle of the night and we just threw that thing over a couple of ropes between two trees. Worked better than any tent I've ever owned honestly... we had it up for four days with just some paracord and those cheap metal stakes you're talking about... never budged once. My buddy who spent four hundred bucks on some ultralight tent was sleeping under the picnic table by the second night.