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The $3 tarp trick that saved my tent floor in the Smokies
Woke up at 2am in a puddle last October at Elkmont Campground, my tent floor soaked through. I tried the usual footprint and even doubled up my groundsheet but water still crept in around the edges. Next trip I grabbed a cheap plastic painter's tarp from the hardware store, cut it about 6 inches smaller than my tent base, and folded the edges up like a little bathtub. Rain rolled right off the lip instead of sneaking under. Anyone else use painter's tarps for a quick rain barrier, or am I late to the party?
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umamoore1mo ago
I always figured a footprint was enough and that anything under the tent was basically the same job, so I never bothered with the bathtub fold. Then I got caught in a two hour downpour at Cades Cove and watched water wick right under my edges while the middle stayed dry, which finally made me get it. The lip thing is the whole trick, not the plastic itself, because water pools at the edge and pressure from your body pulls it sideways. Still not sold on painter's plastic for the long haul since mine tore after two trips, but for a quick fix on a known wet spot it works. You're not late, you just got there before the rest of us admitted the footprint wasn't cutting it.
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