Floorless shelter pitfalls?

[D_Eightch]

What are some downsides those of you thay have them run into?

Considering a cimmaron or other floorless shelter.

In sustained rainfalls do you have water make its way into the shelter? My buddy and i had to trench around our tarp last spring on a trip in the boundary waters.

Snakes on early hunts?

What are the BENEFITS that you have found in a floorless shelter?

Ive been camping out of a hammock for the last few years, i just feel like going to the ground may be beneficial while hunting with a little less fiddle factor and find the perfect tree setup.

 

[ianpadron]

Probably close to 4,375 threads on this exact topic brotha.

The search button is your friend grasshopper.

Go floorless and don't look back.

Also, check out the Gritty Bowmen podcast on shelter options on YouTube. Good stuff.

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[Bmcox86]

A mouse jumping on your head x2

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[camping1601]

Last year (my first) there was a spot inside that got beat down really bad by foot traffic and became a really dusty mess-hassle. Ended up putting water there a few time to keep the dust down.
We were in a warm, dry, and windy weather pattern.

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

I got water in the first year I used a floorless due to some poor positioning. I haven't had a problem since and it would take some pretty extreme circumstances for me to want to use a floored again. The space to weight ratio is far superior with a floorless and I can have a stove if I want one

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[justinspicher]

Just came out to the woods in Oregon from a winter camping trip. We went floorless in both shelters. Shelter one was a Kifaru tut with medium box stove. It's not nearly as big as I thought it would be but it's not a bad shelter. We used it for a cooking/daily use shelter. Due the snow being tracked in and out it was fairly messy but nothing bad. Having the stove run kept things manageable. Our other shelter was a GoLite SL5. It's much bigger. We used it to sleep in and ran another medium box stove in it. We were able to run two cots in an L and still have a large amount of room to dress, layout gear and not worry about running into the stove. We did put a tarp down for a floor and I am glad we did. It made it a much cleaner shelter, especially after being out in the snow/rain all day. I liked floorless shelters, specifically because you can run a stove. You don't have to worry about getting a floor dirty either should you spill something or track in mud. On the downside, if your site selection sucks, and it's raining or snowing, you will constantly be fighting with water getting in the tent. We did have one mouse frequent our cook stove, but he usually just chilled in the wood pile behind the stove. I highly suggest setting up your shelter in the backyard before you go out. This will help you understand how to set it up and how to arrange your gear for maximum use.

 

[colonel00]

Probably a topic for a different thread but your comments about the Tut being smaller than the SL5 is surprising. I liked my SL5 but found it a bit cramped so I went with the Cimarron. The SL5 is still a solid shelter but I couldn't imagine going smaller than that, even for just two people and no stove.

 

[Jimss]

I often use the fly off my 4 season tent....so I consider that a bomber-proof floorless tent! A lot depends upon how close to the ground the material is. I was in a pretty bad blizzard with just my fly on a recent Wyo elk hunt. The fly pretty much touched the ground but snow still blew inside. I put some painter's plastic along the gap and that somewhat kept the wind and snow from blowing inside.

A 2nd minor inconvenience and is critters. It's possible snakes, mice, mosquitos, spiders, flies, etc can join you. 3rdly is the dirt, mud, and dust factor. The 4th and major consideration for why not to go floorless is condensation. A regular tent plus fly that has adequate ventilation likely has little to 0 condensation. A fly or floorless model without an inner tent may have condensation dripping on you because there is no inner tent that generally protects against dripping condensation.

The only reason I go floorless is the loss of weight and bulk in my pack. If you live in a dry area without wind, with few critters, and can set up where dust isn't a problem floorless is likely a great way to go. It may not be a big deal if you are just spending a night or 2 in the hills but if you are doing an extended trip in potentially wet, windy, or hypothermic conditions you may want to consider a regular tent with fly. Sleep is pretty precious to me and I sleep a lot better and more comfortable in a tent with fly. Safety should definitely be considered...especially if you don't have much backcountry experience!

 

[Jimss]

I often use the fly off my 4 season tent....so I consider that a bomber-proof floorless tent! A lot depends upon how close to the ground the material is. I was in a pretty bad blizzard with just my fly on a recent Wyo elk hunt. The fly pretty much touched the ground but snow still blew inside. I put some painter's plastic along the gap and that somewhat kept the wind and snow from blowing inside.

A 2nd minor inconvenience and is critters. It's possible snakes, mice, mosquitos, spiders, flies, etc can join you. 3rdly is the dirt, mud, and dust factor. The 4th and major consideration for why not to go floorless is condensation. A regular tent plus fly that has adequate ventilation likely has little to 0 condensation. A fly or floorless model without an inner tent may have condensation dripping on you because there is no inner tent that generally protects against dripping condensation.

The only reason I go floorless is the loss of weight and bulk in my pack. If you live in a dry area without wind, with few critters, and can set up where dust isn't a problem floorless is likely a great way to go. It may not be a big deal if you are just spending a night or 2 in the hills but if you are doing an extended trip in potentially wet, windy, or hypothermic conditions you may want to consider a regular tent with fly. Sleep is pretty precious to me and I sleep a lot better and more comfortable in a tent with fly. Safety should definitely be considered...especially if you don't have much backcountry experience!

 

[dotman]

I often use the fly off my 4 season tent....so I consider that a bomber-proof floorless tent! A lot depends upon how close to the ground the material is. I was in a pretty bad blizzard with just my fly on a recent Wyo elk hunt. The fly pretty much touched the ground but snow still blew inside. I put some painter's plastic along the gap and that somewhat kept the wind and snow from blowing inside.

A 2nd minor inconvenience and is critters. It's possible snakes, mice, mosquitos, spiders, flies, etc can join you. 3rdly is the dirt, mud, and dust factor. The 4th and major consideration for why not to go floorless is condensation. A regular tent plus fly that has adequate ventilation likely has little to 0 condensation. A fly or floorless model without an inner tent may have condensation dripping on you because there is no inner tent that generally protects against dripping condensation.

The only reason I go floorless is the loss of weight and bulk in my pack. If you live in a dry area without wind, with few critters, and can set up where dust isn't a problem floorless is likely a great way to go. It may not be a big deal if you are just spending a night or 2 in the hills but if you are doing an extended trip in potentially wet, windy, or hypothermic conditions you may want to consider a regular tent with fly. Sleep is pretty precious to me and I sleep a lot better and more comfortable in a tent with fly. Safety should definitely be considered...especially if you don't have much backcountry experience!

I think the diff between a fly and true floorless setup is adjustment of height, you can have a great air gap or close it off if needed with a simple adjustment. I've ran only floorless for about 4 or 5 years now and will not go back. I started out with a supertarp and it was great but cramped, then went to an SL5 and it was a palace but felt cramped with two. The I went to the cimmaron and it awesome to have a chair and cot with plenty of moving around room.

Floorless is not diff then a floored shelter as far as water goes, have to put either in a good spot that will not direct water into the shelter. There is nothing like having a fire in a shelter when it's cold or crappy out, I've relaxed in a t-shirt when it was 10* and snowing, it's nice.

I've had a few mice and chipmunks come visit but they usually leave as quick as they come, much better to have one come and go then chew a hole through your gear to get in. I've always used a bug bivy to contain my sleep system no matter the time of year, in the fall I don't close it up more then 75% but when I'm hunting I close it up. This keeps everything clean and in place. This year I went to a nest with a cot and had my best sleep I've had in the woods.

Condensation has never been an issue for me, have had a few drops but never had it be a serious issue, it's all in the ventilation.

I did wake up once with the wall from my sl5 an inch from my face but that was purely user error after a 13hr drive and hiking in 4 miles and pretty much setting it up exhausted and not caring, there was some condensation that time.

 

[Mike7]

Floorless shelters can do everything that a floored shelter can do in my opinion and more in an ala carte type fashion (by adding items inside as needed) except pitch self supported. I have used a floorless shelter extensively in wet weather and much prefer it to a floored shelter for staying dry.

 

[AndyB]

More space, more headroom, don't have to take off your boots or leave your feet sticking out if you cant be bothered with laces. If bugs and other little nasties are a concern use a nest to sleep in. I have an sl3 with a BPW design's nest that comes out at 1.3 kilo's if I run my trekking pole and extender for it support.

I haven't used my one man tent since I got this set up, even though it is a tad lighter (100g) the benefits far outweigh the tiny weight difference.