Bought a $220 tent for the PCT and it failed on day 12 near Idyllwild

I grabbed an ultralight model from a brand I'd seen on Instagram, figured the specs looked good enough. The zipper split right above Tahquitz Falls during a windy night, and I had to use safety pins for the next 60 miles. Anyone else had luck with a budget tent that held up longer than the sticker price suggests?

1 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

1 Comment

leog6811d ago

The sticker price usually tells you why a tent is that cheap, and ultralight gear from Instagram brands often cuts corners on the stuff that actually matters, like zipper quality and fabric weave. My buddy ran a $90 naturehike tent for the whole CDT and it held, but those aren't really marketed as thru-hike gear, they're just heavy. The real issue is you swapped proven design for grams, and the mountains don't care how many followers the brand has. Sometimes the boring, slightly heavier tent from a company that's been around forever is the cheaper move in the long run.

7