Shrink Wrap vs Tarp vs Boat Cover

Heather

The Best Options to Protect Your Boat for the Long-Term

If you own a boat, you know that it’s a major investment—one that can provide you, your family and friends with many years of fun and a lifetime of great memories.

If you’ve already made that investment, then you’re probably taking precautions to protect your boat when it’s not in the water to preserve its appearance and value while also reducing the likelihood of future repairs. After all the average boat owner only owns their boat for about 6 years before they buy their next boat, so taking care of your boat during that 6 year window can translate into big bucks when it’s time to sell or trade-in.

When to Protect Your Boat

When your boat is NOT in the water, there are three distinct times when you need to worry about protecting her from damage:

Transporting to and from the water,
Temporary storage between boating,
Long-term storage during the off-season.

Boat Protection Options

Assuming you don’t just leave your boat sitting outside exposed to the elements, you have three basic options to choose from to protect your boat when she’s not in the water:

tarp,
shrink wrap,
high quality canvas cover.

3 pictures of boats covered with a tarp, shrink wrap, and a cover

What's Best: Shrink Wrap vs Tarp vs Boat Cover

Do we here at Boat Covers Direct have an opinion on which of these options is the best? Heck yeah! However, the purpose of this blog post isn’t to sell you something you don’t need or want, it’s to provide you with a general overview of the options and let you make the decision on which option is going to be the best for you. There are pros and cons to each of these options as follows:

chart showing the comparison between tarp, shrink wrap and boat covers

Our Opinion? Protect What You Love...

Both tarps and shrink wrap are commonly used by boaters because some people believe they provide a “cheap” option to protect their boats compared to a high quality cover. However, in our opinion (which we believe is based on the facts), buying a boat that costs many thousands of dollars and then trying to save a few dollars on something that doesn’t provide adequate protection or easy installation for your boat under all circumstances doesn’t make a lot of sense (or cents).

What do you think? What do you use to protect your boat when she’s out of the water? Let us know in the comments below!

For all of your boat cover needs visit us at Boat Covers Direct, and mention this article for an additional 10% discount!

Happy Boating!

Tags: boat cover, boat cover or shrink wrap, boat cover vs shrink wrap, boat protection, boat shrink wrap, boat tarp, shrink wrap

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