The $5 tarp trick that kept my tent dry during that freak storm at Lake Tahoe

Last weekend I was camping near Emerald Bay and the forecast said clear skies, total lie. Around 2 AM the wind picked up and rain came dumping down. I had this cheap blue tarp I always bring as a footprint, but I never used it for anything else. So I grabbed some paracord and strung it up over my tent like a lean-to, maybe 6 inches above the rainfly. The water just ran off the sides and my tent stayed bone dry inside, no leaks at all. My buddy in the next site had his tent soaked through, wish I thought of this sooner. Has anyone else tried rigging a secondary tarp over their tent for extra protection?

2 comments

2 Comments

alex_taylor109d ago

Yeah I gotta be honest I don't really see the point of adding a whole extra tarp over your tent like that. Most decent tents are made to handle rain, the rainfly is already doing the job. If your tent is leaking through the rainfly itself then maybe the problem is the tent not the tarp. I've been camping in some nasty stuff up in the Sierras and never needed more than a good footprint underneath and a proper rainfly setup. Plus that tarp flapping around in the wind at 2 AM would drive me nuts, I'd rather just get a tent that works.

kai_brown239d ago

@alex_taylor10 it's just a tent not a life support system. People act like a little drizzle is a survival situation.