Old 05-24-19, 01:55 PM
  #34  
3speed
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Madison, WI
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Ooo, a zombie thread! At least this one is still relevant. I own a higher end tent these days, but it took me a lot of nights in a cheap tent before I got there. There's nothing wrong with a cheap tent. You just have to be OK with the trade-offs. My first touring tent was something like $30. I swapped out the fiberglass poles for AL poles from a nicer tent that I had(bigger, not good for touring). I think the heavy, easily broken fiberglass poles are the one major downfall of a cheap tent. My cheap tent kept me dry on a very rainy first tour. I basically woke up in a waterbed one morning. The tent floor was floating in water. I was dry inside. It was a bit heavier and bulkier than my nice tent, but it got the job done. One thing I would say that contradicts others is that I've found cheaper tents to often be more robust than expensive tents. My cheap tent had a heavy tarp floor. I'm sure I could have skipped using a ground cloth with that thing. Expensive tents are made with thin, light-weight materials. I prefer that when traveling light, but I do have to be more careful with my lighter tent.

My cheap tent was this model, but by a different company, and as mentioned, had basically a regular tarp as the floor. Like a tarp you'd use to cover a pile of firewood, not a backpacking tarp. This one has a thin floor. I noticed some reviews of this one say this floor is not waterproof. Mine definitely was. It lost a couple pounds by swapping out the poles, leaving it at ~3.6lbs or something like that. https://www.amazon.com/Wenzel-Lone-T.../dp/B07CBS6P1F
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