Floorless socal and az?

[Lamb]

Gday,
Considering between a tarp(para/supertarp) and bug bivy setup or a light weight floored tent. Was convinced on the tarp and bivy idea until a friend told me i was stupid due to all the snakes/spiders/scorpians etc. I read all the forum posts and listened to a bunch of podcasts but im not a socal or az native and dont have bivy experience.
Should i go bivy and tarp and get over it or go for a ul tent with a nest? Used prices would be a little cheaper for the tent setup but i want qhatever i get to last.
Cheers.

 

[Centralcoastca]

I prefer a floored tent of some sort just because some years the rattlers are all over the place were I am. I’m not sure if they’d be attracted to the warmth if they happened to be cruising by or not but I wouldn’t be super excited to have one interested in sharing my sleeping bag with me. I’d assume when it cools down in the evening they’re probably already in their den, but on hot nights I don’t know. Depending on the weather and area a hammock has worked well for a compact light and easy option too.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

What’s your intended use?

Backpack in for miles and setup camp? Camp next to vehicle? Camp in the desert? Camp in the pine?

 

[Lamb]

Thanks for the replies. Intent is to backpack in as far as i can and camp. Initially it will be a bunch of one or 2 nighters and i would expect to move camp often. Mostly pretty close to SD, low hills no trees, although potential for me to get out to the desert or into higher forest areas as well.
Saw a cheap hmg echo 2 for sale a little cheaper than it qould cost me to get a paratarp, annex, and bug bivy, all at similar weight. Paratarp or super for that matter seems to have more long term uses if the floor isnt important.

 

[Lamb]

Add to that where im from there are no snakes, no scorpians, and no pisonous spiders, so i really have no basis on which to ground my fears.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Between the reptiles, rodents and bad bugs i would never pitch anything there unless it had a nice tub. My first choice is my KC truck tent, then either a hammock or SS2 Tarptent. Too many risks to go floorless in most of AZ.

 

[Lamb]

Thanks Bruce. Same thoughts for socal?

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Do be aware that we don’t have an abundance of water readily available in most places. If you’re backpacking in, you may need to spend time before the hunt staging water and another day after the hunt packing out empty water bottles.

 

[Lamb]

Well aware. Same deal in socal. Cant have a flame in a tonne of places around here too. Appreciate the heads up. Only just at the very beginning of learning about az.

 

[canyonhunter47]

I would suggest something you can at least zip yourself closed in for general AZ use. I know some UL (granola) backpacker types that love their bivies but just like their IPA’s they’re not for everyone

 

[Lamb]

That made me laugh. Apprecite it.

 

[Indeepship]

Im kinda in the same situation that you are in. Ive tried to do a few overnights and the biggest deal is water. It's hard to do multiday trips without bringing your own water in or waiting for a large rainfall. Be very cautious about committing to a long hike without having a plan b for water.

As for the tent, Id recommends against floorless. Im an SD local too and Ive seen too many bugs and creepy crawlies around the same D16 area to make me want to do floorless. If you are looking to do something else other than the traditional tent you can look at bivis or maybe a hammock if your location has some trees.

DM me if you're looking for some D16 ideas. We could probably both benefit from bouncing some ideas off each other.

 

[Lamb]

Thanks mate. Ill shoot you a pm.

 

[b2one]

I am an AZ native and have slept hundreds of nights in a floorless shelter there, both in Southern AZ deserts and in the Northern pines. Maybe I grew up ignorant, but I have never thought twice about it, and have never been bothered by critters, other than a skunk one time. Having said that, I spent some time in East Texas, and there is no way in Hell I would ever sleep floorless there. IMO that is way more sketchy than AZ just from the pure number of things crawling around!