My $30 tarp kept me dry while my $400 tent leaked

Last October I did 4 nights in the Smokies and it rained hard every single day. My fancy tent from two seasons ago soaked through the seams by night 2, but the cheap blue tarp I strung over my cooking area stayed bone dry the whole trip. I spent $30 on that tarp at a Walmart in Gatlinburg, and it did more work than the tent that cost over 13 times as much. That tent is now retired to car camping duty only, and I just use a basic footprint and tarp setup for solo trips. Am I the only one who thinks the gear industry oversells waterproof ratings? What's the cheapest piece of gear that beat out your expensive one?

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holly_flores7918d agoMost Upvoted

Did you actually seam seal that tent before the trip, or did you just trust the factory job? I got burned the same way once, so now I reseal every new tent before it sees rain, but I still carry a $10 tarp as a backup. The real question is why we accept that a tent needs extra work or a tarp over it to do the basic job of keeping water out. Waterproof ratings are marketing numbers, they don't tell you how the thing holds up after a season of use. Cheap tarps win because they're simple, no zippers, no coated fabric that wears off, just plastic and grommets.