Floor less and rain

[camping1601]

Really interested in the floor less thing but just hung up on the rain part. The last two seasons I got rained on pretty bad and even with a conventional tent I got some bad splashing under the fly. Figure those kind of long rains where water eventually puddles and can't soak in the ground fast enough. Do the nest help with this? Thoughts please.

 

[Shrek]

As long as you don't set up in a low spot or place where water would run through you won't have an issue. It may get damp within a couple of inches of the edge but not usually a problem. On the up side if you come into your tent soaking wet the earth will soak up the water and things are dryer than if you are in a traditional tent with a tub floor. The weight savings will allow for either a lighter pack or a larger tent. I run a Sawtooth and it could rain me in for days and with the room and my stove burning I'm ok.

 

[muleman]

Site selection is important. If you pitch on hard pack or in a depression you could have issues.

Check out this video from a few years ago. It was one of the hardest rain storms I have ever camped in and I was floorless. It had been raining for days and I had spent a little time looking for a good spot to pitch. I never had problems with water soaking in more that a couple inches.
Turn up the volume to get some sense of volume and intensity of the rain.
http://youtu.be/AwcU_Qax2T8

Also check out this thread and the links in it.
http://www.rokslide.com/forums/showthread.php?21289-Floorless-tarp-tent-in-rain-reassurance

 

[ben h]

I live and hunt in Utah, which is a very arid region compared to pretty much anywhere else in the states, so I do not have experience in torrential downpours lasting all day, but I have been in a few all day drizzles and some snow storms. for the most part only the outer few inches will get water coming under, but everywhere else stays dry especially if you're running a stove (you should; they're great for getting stormed in). You do need to pick a good location for setting up and they're not nearly as "idiot proof" to set up as say a dome tent, so practice a few times before you head out. I don't have a nest, but I'd imagine as long as the bottom is sealed up and relatively water proof it would be very similar to a tent.

A few things I really like about the floorless, is the ability to stand up while getting dressed, not really worrying about tracking stuff in, lighting a fire while in my sleeping bag at 4:30 am and snooze for another 30 before getting out of bed, you can have a small stool in them, if you REALLY need to pee and you don't want to go outside, you have other options (never done that, but options are good). The condensation thing sort of sucks, but it really only affects the outer edges, so just plan accordingly and it's not that big of a deal.

Some situations I have not run into, but think would really suck with a floorless is in a really buggy environment, areas with lots of mice and things of that nature. the nest would resolve most of those though.

 

[Shrek]

The part about lighting your stove from your sleeping bag is soooo nice ! Game changer ! So is coming back to your tent all cold and damp and lighting the stove. I can easily get my Sawtooth warm enough to sit in my bithday suit and be sweating with it way below freezing outside. Makes it easier to stay out when the weather sucks. Set a pot of water on top of my stove when I light it from my bag and boil some water for coffee and breakfast. It's not a wall tent and stove but it beats the heck out of a damp and cramped traditional tent.

 

[Kevin Dill]

Last August I went through a 4-6" rainfall event over a five day period. I was camped rather high on a hillside at basically Dall sheep elevation. The ground was tundra: mossy, rocky, hard, soft, wet, dry, etc. I chose the best location I could find for my Sawtooth. The ground inside was pretty dry to begin with. After 3 days of intense storms and rainfall the ground inside my tipi was saturated, spongy and headed toward a little mucky. It wasn't from run-in: the tundra literally soaked up all the water it could. I was camped on the equivalent of a huge paper towel that eventually got wet from absorption. I had to work with it, but I managed. Sleeping elevated on a LuxuryLite cot made a huge difference.

I still absolutely prefer a floorless shelter for hunting, but I know (now) that there is always a possibility of having to deal with issues r/t floorless. Another example is the trip where mice of some type invaded our 8-Man tipi and chewed the crap out of a bread loaf, some socks, boot liners....little muddle-putter could have destroyed an air mattress or down bag.

 

[teflonhunter]

I use a piece of tyvek with limbs under high end and have stayed dry. Like everyone else said site selection is critical.

 

[durangobrad]

Get yourself a piece of tyvex that is a couple feet wider and longer than your sleeping pad if things are already wet before you set up or if you are anticipating that it will get that way. Its cheap, durable, very light and can be used for multiple other chores (a tarp for glassing in rain, or a butchers table for a nice clean place to lay your quarters.)

 

[Bowhunter50]

This is a great thread. I'm looking at getting the seek outside LBO and had the same question. Thanks guys

 

[snowcamoman]

Site selection is the obvious best route to avoid water. If you cannot avoid a low spot, I've kicked in trenches around my shelter before and it's diverted water away from me. I make sure to kick them deep enough to try and account for infill from sand and it's worked.

 

[Mike7]

Site selection is the obvious best route to avoid water. If you cannot avoid a low spot, I've kicked in trenches around my shelter before and it's diverted water away from me. I make sure to kick them deep enough to try and account for infill from sand and it's worked.

I would agree with this, but I have found that the floorless shelter to be completely idiot proof with setting up unlike what some people mention above. I camp in the Selkirks in November without a stove usually (there is not much dry to burn usually), and get pounded by rain with temps from 32-40 degrees. Having a large floorless shelter is the only way that I can stay somewhat dry. I basically put it anywhere I want...over logs, rocks, etc. and worry not at all about water generally...as long as there is a man sized area of flat ground that is not the lowest part of the hillside. Part of your shelter can be pitched right over a drainage ditch, and you will be just fine as long as you don't sleep in the ditch...because the water doesn't get trapped inside of the shelter like with a regular tent. I do bring a large ground sheet that I can elevate the sides of, but that is in order to keep my gear clean as much as dry.

 

[ben h]

Mike7, I didn't mean to imply setting them up is like rocket surgery, but compared to a dome tent, I found the 1st couple times I set up my tipi, by myself it looked a little bit retarded and took a little practice to get the pole height right and somewhat plumb, edges close to the ground, etc. Conceptually speaking they are just about as idiot proof as you can get; pole in the middle, stakes around the edges, and done. if you haven't set one up before, I'd still recommend doing it a few times before doing it in the dark and in a storm (you probably need to seam seal it anyway), that's all I really meant by the idiot proof comment.

 

[camping1601]

Thanks for all the input.

Now to figure out which one. More questions to come.

 

[Kevin Dill]

If I've learned one thing about getting an excellent tipi pitch, it's to practice at home several times to get familiar. Just as important to me is to follow the directions/dimensions exactly. Playing fast and loose with the setup is a formula for a cockeyed tipi with some lean or sag. I've also learned that center poles often need adjusted (lengthened) after a day or two, or after a rain.

 

[Mike7]

Ben H, I've got ya now. I guess I was thinking of my pyramids being truly idiot proof after a few setups, as the pyramids setup well with 4 quick stakes stretched approx. 1 ft from the corners regardless of the slope of the ground or obstacles on the ground. I sold my Tipi, because I didn't like dealing with the lack of ventilation in the really wet/humid weather we will get here, and I didn't like all of the stakes it required when setting up on frozen or rocky ground. Come to think of it, I also sucked at pitching the tipi on really uneven ground, especially if I tried to deviate at all from the tried and true setup formula (this really wasn't an major issue except when using the stove and needing to get the stove pipe angle right for the stove jack).

 

[Mk7mmSTW]

I did floor less for several years and it was not worth it. Dealing with water was one thing, dealing with dirt in my sleeping bag and on everything was another. The icing on the cake was hunting in the rain, coming back to my tent, which luckily stayed dry, then having all my wet gear stick to all the dirt making a giant mess. I switched to a big Agnes seedhouse (3lbs). Tons of room, nice vestibule, full rain fly. I just bought the fly creek 2 on here to shave another lb. every set up I look at that's tipi or floor less still weighs in around the same and I can't see any advantage at all.

I even tried the trekking pole tents and that got old having to collapse my tent every time I'd go out for a hike. In my mind a 2-3lb big Agnes takes up no room and no space and is worth it's weight in gold coming back to a dry, sealed shelter and not worrying about rain.