My $15 tarp pole mod saved me from a flooded tent last weekend

I was at a site near the Shenandoah river and it rained for 6 hours straight. My cheap blue tarp kept sagging and pooling water right over my tent door. I grabbed two lightweight aluminum poles from a hardware store for $15 and rigged a ridgeline under the tarp. The water just ran off instead of collecting and I stayed bone dry inside. A buddy had a similar tarp setup with no poles and his gear got soaked. Has anyone else tried this or found a better way to keep a tarp from sagging in heavy rain?

3 comments

3 Comments

pat_fisher241mo ago

The Shenandoah rain is no joke, I got caught in a similar mess last spring near the same area. I tried using a cheap plastic tarp once and it ended up holding about five gallons of water right over my head before I realized what was happening. I just grabbed a couple of those aluminum poles from the hardware store too, and they saved my gear more than once. I swear the only thing worse than a leaky tent is having to empty your own personal swimming pool at 2 AM.

stellanelson1mo ago

Yeah, that sagging tarp issue is a nightmare. I had the exact same thing happen with a cheap blue tarp. I ended up using some old trekking poles I had lying around and it worked perfectly for a ridgeline support, just like your aluminum poles. That water pooling is no joke, one wrong move and you're waking up in a puddle. Have you tried running a tight line between two trees first to give the poles something extra to push against?

river_allen1mo ago

Man I feel that so hard, I once tried to get fancy with a tarp and a single hiking pole and ended up looking like a drowned raccoon at 3am. The ridgeline trick is solid though, I started using a paracord line between two trees and it keeps everything from sagging into a puddle. I still manage to trip over my own guy lines every single time though, that's on me.