Overheard a guy at REI say his tent flooded because he skipped the footprint

I was in line at the Seattle REI last weekend and this dude was telling his friend he saved $40 skipping the footprint for his tent. Then he woke up in a puddle after a light rain. Has anyone else used a tarp as a cheap alternative and had it work out?

2 comments

2 Comments

zara_allen5d ago

Big oof @wrenh79, that tarp trick is a lifesaver once you figure out the folding part.

wrenh795d ago

Wait, he spent real money on a tent but tried to save 40 bucks on the footprint? That's just asking for trouble honestly. I've done the tarp thing more times than I can count and it works fine as long as you cut it to size and keep it tucked under the tent floor. The key is making sure the tarp doesn't stick out past the tent edges or you'll just funnel water right underneath you... learned that one the hard way on a trip to Olympics National Park where I woke up with my sleeping bag half soaked. A 10 dollar tarp from the hardware store beats a 40 dollar piece of overpriced nylon every time in my book.