One bad review about my tarp setup changed how I pitch it every time now

Last summer in the Smokies, a guy walked past my site and said 'your ridgeline is gonna sag by midnight with those stakes.' I thought he was just being picky, but sure enough, 2 AM and the whole thing was drooping. I switched to a 45 degree stake angle and a taught line hitch on both ends. Night and day difference. Now I'm wondering, do you folks trust random campers' advice or only what you read in official reviews? I used to ignore everyone, but that one comment stuck with me.

1 comments

1 Comment

wendy_wilson22d ago

Wow, I gotta push back on this one! Random campers are the absolute last people I'd trust with gear advice, they're usually just repeating something their uncle told them once. That guy in the Smokies could've been dead wrong and you just got lucky that his tip happened to work for you. I've had strangers tell me to do all sorts of stuff that made zero sense, like hanging food bags off a low branch or using rocks to hold down stakes, and half the time they're just talking to hear themselves talk. Official reviews and tested methods from people who do this professionally have way more credibility in my book. Sure, your 45 degree thing works, but that's one data point, not a rule.