The gear store guy said to skip the expensive tent footprint, just use a tarp

I was at REI in Denver last month and the clerk there told me their $60 footprint was a waste and to grab a $7 tarp from Walmart instead. Took it on a 4 night trip to Rocky Mountain National Park and the tarp shredded on day two, letting water pool under my tent floor. Has anyone else had luck using tarps as footprints or did I just grab the wrong kind?

2 comments

2 Comments

joseph_coleman1mo ago

So I actually disagree with the cheap tarp advice. I used a plain blue tarp from Home Depot on a trip to Big Bend last spring and the grommets tore out before I even got the tent pitched. Spend the $20 on a polycro footprint from Gossamer Gear or just cut down a thicker tarp from Harbor Freight, the thin ones never hold up on rocky ground.

henry_moore5528d ago

Grabbed a cheap Harbor Freight tarp after my last grommet disaster and trimmed it down, been using it two seasons now on some pretty sharp desert ground and it's held up fine.