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I know everyone says to pack a full rain fly, but a cheap blue tarp from the hardware store saved my trip in the Smokies.
Got caught in a downpour for two days straight, and my tent's factory fly soaked through. Rigged the tarp over the whole site with some paracord, stayed bone dry. Anyone else ever go against the grain with basic hardware store stuff?
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danielwhite24d ago
Funny how that same pattern plays out everywhere you look, people chasing the fancy new thing when the old cheap trick still works just as good. The hardware store tarp has been keeping stuff dry for decades, same way a cast iron skillet or a basic claw hammer will outlast anything with a trendy brand name on it. Sometimes we forget that gear is just gear, and the real test is whether it handles the job when the weather turns nasty.
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nina_hall2mo ago
Look at the shredded blue plastic all over the Cataloochee backcountry sites. That tarp garbage lasts about one season before it turns into microplastic confetti. My buddy's cheap tarp setup failed in a windstorm and wrecked a perfectly good tent underneath. That fancy gear is tested for a reason, it holds up. Saving twenty bucks isn't worth a ruined trip or leaving trash in the woods.
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nathan_webb2mo ago
Honestly, the fancy gear is overrated for a lot of situations. I've used that same blue tarp as a ground cloth, a windbreak, and even a makeshift sled once. The hardware store aisle has more practical survival gear than most camping shops, and it costs about a tenth of the price. Sometimes the simplest solution is just a piece of plastic and some rope.
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