TIL at a Yosemite campground that a simple tarp setup matters more than a $400 tent

Last summer I was up at the Yosemite Creek campground, about 7 miles north of the valley. A storm rolled in around 2 AM, nothing crazy just steady rain. I had a nice REI tent, but my neighbor had a basic blue tarp strung between two trees and a cheap ground tarp under his bag. He stayed bone dry. My tent leaked at the seams. After that night I started paying more attention to how I set up tarps and site drainage. Has anyone else found that a well placed tarp beats a high end tent in bad weather?

2 comments

2 Comments

samw4718d ago

Camp 4 regular here. REI tents usually hold up fine if you seam seal them before the first trip, that's probably what happened. A tarp is more forgiving because you're not relying on factory waterproofing, just good angles and trenching. Tarps work great but a decent tent with proper prep is still better for bug pressure and wind.

the_logan18d ago

dude i gotta hard disagree with @samw47 on this one. camp 4 is great but i watched a guy's REI tent basically turn into a swimming pool during a monsoon at Yosemite back in 2018 seam sealed and all. a tarp with a bug bivy is way more versatile because you can set it up in like 2 minutes and adjust the pitch depending on the weather. bugs are annoying but a headnet costs $5 and works better than any tent mesh. honestly the wind argument is weak too because a well pitched tarp with a low A frame setup handles gusts way better than most freestanding tents that just flap around. tents are just heavy and fragile compared to a simple silnylon tarp that you can patch with tape if something rips.