Bought a cheap tarp at Walmart and it ripped on day two in the Smokies

I was camping up near Cades Cove last spring and a storm rolled in around midnight. I had grabbed one of those blue tarps from Walmart thinking it would save me $12 versus getting something decent. The wind picked up around 3 AM and I watched the tarp just shred right where the grommets were. My gear got soaked, my sleeping bag was a sponge, and I spent the rest of the night huddled in my car. After that trip I dropped $60 on a proper poly tarp with reinforced corners and it's been solid through three trips now. Anybody else learn the hard way that cheap tarps are just not worth the hassle?

3 comments

3 Comments

murray.drew4h ago

I'd never thought about the grommet thing being the weak point until you mentioned it, but that's exactly where mine failed too. Here's something I haven't seen anyone bring up: the cheap blue tarps are actually made from recycled plastic that's been processed differently than the good stuff. The UV stabilizers and the weave density are totally different, so they just fall apart under tension. I talked to a guy who works at a hardware store and he told me the cheap ones are basically designed for covering a woodpile for a season, not for weatherproofing in the backcountry. So yeah, you're basically gambling with your gear every time you cheap out on that blue plastic.

miles_garcia3h ago

So the cheap blue ones are literally recycled trash? That's wild, @murray.drew. Guess I've been trusting my shelter to garbage this whole time.

adamr143h ago

Huh, @murray.drew, never thought about the weave density being that different either.