A few years back, some buddies and I went on a week long hunting/camping/fishing/fooling-around-by-the-fire trip. I got made fun of, because my tent was composed of two camo tarps, mosquito net, paracord, several tent stakes and a hole in the ground I hollowed out with a shovel. I set the tent up in a low A configuration, for sturdiness, and found a nice section of ground between two large oak trees and behind bushes to help shield it from the elements. Then I put the second tarp in to act as a floor. I could take a clip, and fold the edge of the second tarp up, and clip it to the paracord to act as flaps. If you approached at certain ankles, it was well concealed and almost invisible. To hold down the sides, I packed the lose dirt that I shoveled out over the stakes.
I didn't have a sleeping bag (I lost my previous sleeping bag and tent in an incident, which I will tell later - it's a real milk spewer), so I made a "swag", which is basically an outdoor blanket rolled up and secured with paracord.
One of my buddies had an expensive snap together tent, which he didn't read the directions on and never learned how to put together. He left a few pieces off when he assembled it ("They are optional" he said). He made a point to make fun of my tarp tent every time he opened his mouth. He mocked it, made crude jokes about it, and laughed about it constantly. He and several of my camping buddies pitched their tents in an a clearing, as I picked a wooded spot fifteen yards away.
One night there was 30-40 mile an hour winds and a lot of rain. His tent was obliterated and scattered everywhere. The other tents didn't make it either. Our entire group had to take shelter in the SUV, which meant hustling a mile in the rain.
When we returned, my tarp tent weathered the storm. In the morning, not only was my tent still standing, but all of my gear was dry. I very bluntly and arrogantly declared victory.
The guy that made fun of my tent ended up bunking with me for the rest of the trip. He never found all the pieces to his tent. I offered to show him how to build one from a tarp, but he didn't take me up on the offer. We lost a lot of gear that night...
