Took a cheap tarp over a fancy footprint for my tent last month

I was at REI in Denver staring at a $45 footprint for my tent and decided to grab a $6 blue tarp from the hardware store instead. Cut it to size with some scissors and threw it under the tent at Rocky Mountain National Park. Woke up to a puddle forming under the corner where I sliced the tarp wrong. Has anyone else had a DIY gear hack blow up in their face like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

johnson.river16d ago

Oh man, I tried that same move with a "heavy duty" black trash bag once. Figured I was being smart, woke up to what looked like a small swimming pool for ants right under my sleeping bag. Budget hacks are great until they remind you why the expensive stuff exists, right?

kai_chen216d ago

Wait, is a little puddle really that big of a deal though...? I mean, you're camping, not sleeping in a hotel bed.

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jake74716d ago

You ever wake up with your sleeping bag floating? That's a new level of camping fun nobody asked for. I did the same thing with a tarp once, figured I was saving ten bucks. Woke up at 3am to what felt like a wading pool under my air mattress. Learned my lesson real quick that cheap waterproofing isn't really waterproofing.