Harbor Freight vs Tarps Now

When it comes time to buy a tarp, where do you go? Many people might head to their local big box hardware store such as Harbor Freight in order to get a cheap tarp quickly. While the few tarp choices stored at their locations may be less expensive upfront, they will often not last as long as you might like and can end up costing more in the long run quickly wearing out exposing the items they are supposed to protect. On the other hand, when you are serious about covering your possessions, a dedicated tarp supplier such as Tarps Now offers high-quality tarps at an affordable price. The Tarps Now selection of hundreds of tarp products includes canvas, vinyl, clear vinyl, polyethylene, mesh, and nylon along with custom made tarp options and tarp accessories.

At Tarps Now there are a wide variety of options to choose from including waterproof, fire retardant, customization, industrial curtains, and tarp accessories. So, you are sure to find the perfect tarp solution for your needs promptly delivered to your home, business, or other locations. Tarps readily available at Tarps Now are crafted from high-quality materials that are built to last, offered in a wide variety of sizes, thicknesses, colors, and material weights, allowing you to find the perfect cover for your needs.

If you are looking for a higher quality tarp at an affordable price, look no further than Tarps Now. As quality and selection does matter, you are not stuck with just a couple of choices. There is a wide collection of tarps that will meet your needs and last for many years to come. With these high-quality products, affordable prices, and excellent customer service support, Tarps Now is your one-stop shop for all your tarp needs.

A Description of the Types of Tarp Merchandise offered by Tarps Now and Harbor Freight

Tarps Now

Tarps Now is an online tarp retailer that manufactures and distributes tarps, industrial curtains, and tarp accessories throughout the United States and North America. Headquartered in Southwest Michigan, Tarps now is strategically positioned centrally to quickly service both business to business and business to consumer clientele to provide the right tarp solution for each specific need.

As a specialist in tarps, covers, industrial curtains, and the related accessories, Tarps Now offers hundreds of different products in a number of specific target categories and industries. These tarps are crafted from effective and popular fabrics that include canvas, vinyl, clear vinyl, polyethylene, mesh, and nylon. Many of these tarp items are stocked in dozens of sizes, a spectrum of colors, and a variety of thicknesses, material weights, and special features. Custom options are also available. To follow are descriptions of the categories and popular tarp products that Tarps Now supplies:

Polyethylene Tarps
As a naturally lightweight, waterproof, and cost effective fabric, polyethylene or poly tarps account for around 56 percent of all tarp sales in this $7 billion industry. Tarps Now carries well over two dozen different poly tarp products from 5 Mil thick up to 24 Mil thick tarps in numerous sizes per style. Many of these come in a number of colors, including the 12 Mil that is offered in seven shades. There are four different camouflage poly selections in green and brown digital patterns in 5 Mil and 8 Mil thicknesses. Clear poly tarps are provided in 10 Mil and 14 Mil thicknesses, these translucent covers allow the benefits of sunlight to transmit through the material. Fire retardant poly tarps are offered to provide for fire protection applications in 8 Mil, 12 Mil, and 24 Mil thicknesses. Other specialty poly tarp products include hay tarps, greenhouse tarps, drain tarps, hoarding tarps, and a variety of clear poly sheeting by the roll.

Mesh Tarps
Used for a wide assortment of applications such as shade covering, privacy, and security as well as for covering truck freight, supplies, and other items. Tarps Now offers mesh tarps, shade tarps, windscreens, and privacy screens that range from 40 percent to 95 percent shade factors. These covers are extremely lightweight and easy to handle in addition to being UV ray, tear, abrasion, oil, grease, acid, rot, and mildew resistant. Nearly three dozen products are available in many convenient and effective sizes. Specialty feature mesh tarps include fire retardant mesh tarps, mesh truck tarps, hurricane barrier mesh tarps, and debris netting.

Canvas Tarps
Tarps Now provides numerous canvas tarp products that are made from cotton material that is tightly woven together. This process ensures that these covers are strong and hold up use after use to the wear and tear of the many applications. Another beneficial aspect of canvas tarps is their breathability that helps prevents moisture and condensation from forming underneath the cover. There are also waterproof (15 oz.) and water resistant canvas tarps (16, 18, and 21 oz) that will protect your possessions from water and precipitation. Canvas tarps are also available with a fire retardant option in 16 oz., 18 oz., and 22 oz. material weights. Other popular canvas tarp items available by Tarps Now are drop cloths/painters tarps; #12, #10, #8, and #4 cotton duck canvas tarps; awning canvas tarps, salvage covers and tarps, and canvas tool and utility bags.

Vinyl Tarps
Vinyl Tarps are extremely durable and popular in just about any industry including residential, trucking, construction, agriculture, and industrial. These waterproof tarps are available by Tarps Now in a wide selection of sizes, thicknesses, material weights (10 oz. up to 40 oz), and colors to find the best tarp solution for your needs. These tarps are crafted with heat sealed seams, rust resistant grommets along with UV ray, tear, abrasion, acid, oil, chemicals, grease, rot, and mildew resistance. Other special features available in the vinyl tarp category include camouflage colors, fire retardant, awning/canopy tarps, anti-static, and outdoor movie screens.

Clear Vinyl Tarps
Just like the sold vinyl material, clear vinyl provides the added benefits of crystal clear views through the fabric. Tarps Now offers 20 Mil, 20 Mil fire retardant, and 30 Mil thick tarps and industrial curtains that are popular and waterproof to install on your porches, patios, breezeways, enclosures, and decks. They help protect these living areas from the wind, rain, snow, and cold especially during the late fall and winter. Clear vinyl tarps are also ideal for use on materials, equipment, and other items where it is necessary for safety or security reasons to maintain a view of what is underneath the cover.

Construction Tarps
The line of construction tarps that Tarps Now offers helps provide a safe and productive environment at jobsites, facilities, yard, warehouses, and on trucks. These items include concrete curing blankets, insulated tarps, welding blankets, welding screens, safety debris netting, scaffold sheeting, building enclosure tarps, containment tarps, airbag tarps, lifting tarps, and snow tarps. These heavy duty covers shield tools, equipment, supplies, materials, vehicles, structures, employees, and the general public. The construction tarps are manufactured with durable materials that includes vinyl, clear vinyl, mesh, canvas, nylon, and polyethylene.

Welding Blankets / Welding Tarps
Welding blankets and welding tarps are excellent tools in protecting workers, equipment, supplies, facilities, and the surrounding area from heat, sparks, splatter, grinding, and flames created during welding and other related industrial activities. The products include acrylic coated fiberglass, silicone fiberglass, gold slag fiberglass, aluminized fiberglass, heat treated fiberglass, black slag fiberglass, vermiculite, and silica fabric that range in heat protection from 300° up to 1800° Fahrenheit.

Welding Screens
Tarps Now provides a wide selection of free-standing welding screens that help shield workers, equipment, supplies, structures, and areas from the UV flashes, flame, sparks, and splatter hazards that are generated through welding, flame cutting, grinding, sawing, and other industrial operations. The portable welding screens are created from effective materials such as transparent UV shielding vinyl, fire resistant sold vinyl, and fire resistant canvas. Configurations are provided in single-panel, 2-panel, 3-panel, 4-panel, and multi-panel options crafted on strong yet lightweight metal framing for ease of set up and handling. These provide unlimited layout opportunities in delivering excellent protection for your welding and industrial operations. Freestanding portable welding screen casters are a great option to further increase your flexibility and adaptability in design and maneuverability.

Truck Tarps
A wide selection of truck tarps are available by Tarps Now. These are constructed from strong and weather fighting materials such as vinyl, nylon, and mesh. Specialized tuck tarps include flatbed truck tarps, lumber truck tarps, steel truck tarps, coil truck tarps, smoke truck tarps, heavy duty machine tarps, refuse transfer trailer tarps, and asphalt RFL truck tarps.

Sports Tarps
To aid in the protection of gymnasiums, ball fields, stadiums, arenas, and other related facilities, sports tarps and sports covers are presented by Taps Now. These covers help ensure playing surfaces, facilities, and surrounding structures are clean, dry, and safeguarded. These include gym floor covers, wall padding, baseball and softball field tarps, boxing ring covers, MMA mats, stadium seat covers, and sideline covers. Sports tarps and covers are made with durable fabrics including vinyl, nylon, and canvas.

Industrial Curtains
For utilization in outdoor living areas such as porches, decks, entryways, and patios as well as in warehouses, manufacturing facilities, car dealerships, exhibition halls, studios, and other areas industrial curtains are popular for Tarps Now customers. These curtains and dividers improve security, privacy, efficiency, productivity, and can help control temperature while protecting from water, moisture, flying debris, pests, and UV rays. The industrial curtains are manufactured from fabrics such as vinyl, clear vinyl, and polyethylene. Tarps Now offers an easy to use custom curtain and track builder. In addition, curtain tracking, mounting hardware, and other accessories are available to help you securely layout, hang, and operate your industrial curtains effortlessly.

Industrial Covers
In an effort to help customers protect their valuable possessions including equipment, machinery, flooring, and structures, Tarps Now provides industrial covers. Both stock sizes and custom options are offered for these items that include equipment covers, round covers, and cylinder covers. These protectors are made with tough fabrics such as vinyl, canvas, and mesh available in a variety of thicknesses, material weights, colors, and additional features such as fire retardant and waterproof.

Custom Tarps
The exact dimensions are not always possible for some of your needs through the stock sizes offered. When this occurs, Tarps Now has the ability to create custom tarps and custom industrial curtains for many of the materials and products that we provide. You are able to receive the exact dimensions, fabrics, colors, and additional features that are necessary for your project or application. There is no substitute for accuracy in many cases.

Fabric by the Yard and Roll
In addition to the many many tarp, cover, and curtain items offered, Tarps Now also distributes many of the durable and effective fabrics by the yard and roll. These tarp materials are commonly utilized for do-it-yourself projects, repairs, and general inventory needs. Fabrics commonly available for your material requirements include canvas, poly, vinyl, clear vinyl, nylon, mesh, Hypalon, and neoprene. The availability through the yard or roll allows you to order as little or as much as you require on a one time or reocuring basis.

Harbor Freight

Harbor Freight Tools, more commonly known as Harbor Freight (HarborFreight.com), is an equipment and tool retailer that operates as a chain of more than 1300 locations in 48 states. They carry over 4000 products, specializing in hand tools, automotive tools, wrenches, drills, saws, air compressors, generators, engines, electrical supplies, plumbing supplies, painting items, building and construction supplies, and tool storage amongst many other items.

Included in this vast assortment of tools, materials, supplies, and storage merchandise, large tarps at Harbor Freight total approximately seven tarp products with a range of between one and seventeen sizes, depending on the tarp product chosen. These tarps available at Harbor Freight stores according to their website include:

Polyethylene Tarps
Harbor Freight offers four different thicknesses of polyethylene (poly) tarps. These poly covers are lightweight, quite durable, waterproof, and quite affordable. The products include the 4 Mil thick (or 0.004” - a Mil equals one thousandth of an inch) tarp in blue with close to 17 sizes, the 5 mil in camouflage with around 6 sizes, the green 7 mil in approximately 6 sizes, and the silver 12 Mil in roughly 3 sizes.

Nylon Tarp
There is one nylon tarp option that Harbor Freight provides. This water resistant cover helps reflect the sun aiding in keeping the items underneath cooler. It is offered in a 9 Mil (0.009”) with around 15 different sizes in either silver or black depending on the specific size.

Mesh Tarp
At Harbor Freight, an all-purpose, weather resistant black mesh tarp is provided blocking between 60 to 70 percent of the sun’s UV rays. This cover is available in approximately four sizes.

Canvas Tarp
A single weather resistant green canvas tarp in a 6-foot x 8-foot size is available at Harbor Freight stores. This 10-ounce breathable cover helps prevent condensation and mildew while also protecting against the rot, fading, and sun damage.

The range of seven tarp products is adequate in a pinch as is the amount of protection and quality you will get from these basic covers over a short period of time. It is a selection that compliments the vast selection of all kinds of tools and supplies that are offered at the individual Harbor Freight stores. The tarps mentioned are handy to throw one or two in the cart as you are picking up your construction or automotive tools and goods.

The Choice is as Clear as a Clear Vinyl Tarp

When you have something of value to protect from the sun, wind, rain, snow, debris, pests, people, industrial operations, and other hazards, tarps are valuable tools to provide these safeguards. And when you require serious protection and a specific cover for your application the choice is as clear as the views through clear vinyl tarps, Tarps Now has everything that you need. It is an apples to oranges comparison between Tarps Now and Harbor Freight tarps as far as selection, protection options, and value is concerned. But protection is not a fair comparison. When you are serious about protecting your possessions, Tarps Now is the place to find everything that you need.

In addition to the superior selection and quality of products that Tarps Now offers, the customer service that is provided in support of the products, ordering, and shipping is premiere. Members of the tarp team are all located at the Michigan headquarters to provide needed product information and order assistance.

Contact Tarps Now Today for Your Tarps Needs!

The time has come to purchase some tarps for your applications. What do you do next? If you are serious about protecting your valuable things, Tarps Now will provide you with everything that you need. You can very easily order through our website (TarpsNow.com) from each specific product page. If you have questions about the specific tarps and what they do or require help with the ordering process, please do not hesitate to contact us right now by telephone at (888) 800-1383 or by email at sales@tarpsnow.com. One of our experienced, helpful, and pleasant tarp team members is waiting to speak with you.

Thank you for your time in reading this article and for your consideration in choosing Tarps Now for your tarps and covers needs!