Watching my buddy's cheap tarp shred in a Colorado windstorm made me ditch my whole 'budget shelter' mindset.

That flapping mess of nylon and regret showed me a $30 tarp is just a $30 lesson when the weather turns, so what's the one piece of gear you'll never cheap out on again?

3 comments

3 Comments

burns.jenny2mo ago

That blue tarp story is rough, but it's usually the poles that go first. Saw a friend's bargain tent fold in half like a cheap lawn chair when a gust hit. The fabric was fine, but those flimsy aluminum rods just snapped. Now I check the pole material and diameter before anything else. A good shelter needs a real skeleton.

grantw322mo ago

Man, that's so true about poles being the weak link. I read a whole forum thread where people were comparing tent failures, and like eight out of ten stories were about bent or broken poles, not ripped fabric. @lily70, your sleeping bag story reminds me of that, where one cheap part ruins the whole trip. My cousin had a pole snap on a simple car camping trip, just from normal wind. It left a huge gash in the rain fly when it went. Now I always look for thicker aluminum or even fiberglass. What kind of poles did your friend's tent have?

lily702mo ago

Was it that blue tarp kind of situation? I read a story once where a guy's whole camp got wrecked because his cheap rain fly turned into a kite. For me now, it's sleeping bags. Got way too cold one time on a trip that was supposed to be mild.