I used to think a cheap tarp was fine, then I spent a wet night in the Smokies

Brought a $5 blue tarp from the hardware store on a trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park last fall. It shredded in a gust at 2 AM and my bag got soaked. Now I spend at least $25 on a woven poly tarp with reinforced grommets. Anyone else learn this the hard way?

1 comments

1 Comment

kevin_sullivan7d ago

Oh man, that story gave me flashbacks to my first real backpacking trip. (I still get mad just thinking about it.) One thing nobody talks about is how cheap tarps actually wick moisture from the ground up through the fabric (you know, capillary action). That $5 blue tarp isn't just fragile in wind, it's basically a sponge after a few hours on damp soil. I learned the hard way that even if it doesn't rip, the constant ground contact pulls water right through microscopic gaps in the weave. Now I always bring a lightweight groundsheet made of silnylon or even thick polycro, it's a whole different game.