Grabbed a cheap 40 dollar tent off Amazon instead of spending 200 on a big brand

I needed a new 2-person tent quick for a trip to the Smokies last month. Was looking at a North Face model for 200 bucks, but my friend said just grab the Amazon basics one for 40. Figured I'd try it and return it if it leaked. Three nights of heavy rain and it held up fine, no wet floor or anything. Has anyone else had luck with the cheap no-name stuff or did I just get lucky?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_kim6d ago

Wait, did you seam seal it at all or just set it up stock? I had a similar experience with a 50 dollar Ozark Trail tent from Walmart - took it out to Big Bend and got hit with a surprise 2 day storm. Not a single drop inside. But I think a lot of it comes down to luck with the batch. My buddy bought the same model a month later and his leaked like a sieve on a light drizzle. For a weekend trip every now and then I'd say cheap tents are fine if you pack a spare tarp and some seam grip in the car just in case. The real difference with the expensive ones is the materials hold up after 50+ trips, not that they keep you dry on the first or second one.

grant1306d ago

Amazon basics has probably made more tents than North Face has by this point. The sun is going to get to all of them eventually anyway. People act like a tent is some precision instrument when it is just a nylon bag with some poles. You could probably sleep under a tarp for 40 dollars and be fine ninety percent of the time. The whole outdoor gear industry runs on convincing people they will die if they don't spend three hundred dollars on a jacket.