My buddy swore by a $30 tent footprint from Walmart, I thought he was crazy

Honestly, I spent $120 on a fancy branded footprint for my backpacking tent and it tore on the first trip in the Smokies last spring. My buddy Mark laughed and said his cheap Walmart one has lasted 4 years through rain and gravel. Anyone else find that budget gear sometimes holds up better than the expensive stuff?

3 comments

3 Comments

amy_west23d ago

@jadej50 I feel you on the warranty thing, but honestly I've had way better luck with budget stuff lasting longer than the expensive nonsense. My rei tent pad split at the seam after one season, but my buddy's walmart special is still going strong after 3 years of abuse. It's like the cheaper gear is built tougher because it has to be, while the pricey brands rely on you assuming it's better.

grant47823d ago

Take this with a grain of salt, but I think@jadej50 has a point about warranties though wouldn't overthink it. A tent footprint is just a piece of fabric under your tent, not something where spending more guarantees better results. At the end of the day it's protecting your tent from dirt and rocks not stopping bullets so who really cares what it costs.

jadej5023d ago

Yeah I gotta disagree a bit here. I've had cheap gear fail on me enough times that I'd rather pay more for something that actually has a warranty when it rips on day one. That $120 footprint probably had a replacement policy you could've used instead of just writing it off.