Unpopular opinion: my Eureka tent from 1988 is better than anything made today

Last summer at a rainy campsite in the White Mountains, a young guy with a brand new ultralight tent asked to borrow my footprint, and after he spent 20 minutes complaining about his soggy sleeping bag I realized my old heavy canvas setup has never once let me down.

3 comments

3 Comments

kevin_williams16d ago

Man it's the same thing with pretty much everything now isn't it! I got a toaster from the 90s that still works perfectly and my buddy's fancy new one broke after a year. Stuff used to be built to last and now it feels like they plan for it to fall apart so you have to buy another one. Your tent just proves that sometimes the old ways really were better even if the new stuff looks cooler.

sagejackson16d ago

Heard a podcast the other day talking about how companies figured out that making stuff that lasts actually hurts their bottom line, that's why @the_faith's flip phone from 2008 still works but my last smartphone crapped out after two years. It's like the whole system is rigged against us keeping things, from tents to toasters to phones. The old gear might look clunky but at least you don't have to replace it every season.

the_faith16d ago

Ha, guilty as charged - I'm still rocking a flip phone from 2008!