The $20 tarp that outlasted my $140 tent footprint

I used to think tent footprints were a scam, so I bought this cheap blue tarp from a hardware store in Flagstaff and cut it to size. After 40 nights across rocky sites in Arizona and Utah, the tarp has zero tears while my friend's name-brand footprint shredded on the second camping trip. The tarp also doubles as a rain cover for my gear when I'm cooking. So who's actually right here: the gear companies pushing fancy footprints, or the DIY tarp crowd?

1 comments

1 Comment

wadeyoung17d ago

Take that $140 footprint logic one step further and you realize you're not just paying for a piece of fabric, you're paying for the name and the promise that it'll fit perfectly. But my cheap tarp taught me that a perfect fit is overrated. I just fold the edges under when I pitch and it works the same. Plus, I can patch a tarp with duct tape or gear tape in ten seconds. Try doing that with those fancy coated footprints that delaminate. Honestly, the only thing footprints do better is pack down smaller, but I just strap my tarp to the outside of my pack and call it a day. They're basically selling you a problem you didn't have.