Questions about floorless shelters

[MOwhitetail]

I've been doing lots of reading lately and it seems like many people are fans of floorless shelters. I am trying to lighten my pack and figure going floorless would be a great way to shave some ounces. That being said, there are some questions I have about them that are keeping me from fully committing yet.

1. What do you do about rain? I use down sleeping bags/quilts and some of them hang off my sleeping pad during the night (I'm a pretty big guy so no way around that). I'm afraid in a heavy rainstorm, rain would run under the shelter and on top of whatever groundsheet I use and get my quilt wet.

2. Do you ever run into issues with mice? Or other animal (snakes, spiders, etc.) A couple years ago I spent a week at the Boundary Waters and the mice were thick. If it wasn't for being able to seal my tent they would've been all over us at night.

3. What are your individual times you would and wouldn't use a floorless? Obviously summers in LA would be a no go for floorless. Winter camping in the mountains when you want to use a stove seems to be the ideal use case. What about the in betweens? Archery elk? Spring Bear?

 

[Hectocotylus]

1 million threads on this but
1) pitch it in a good spot where water won’t flow underneath
2) mice gonna mice floor or not IME
3) bugs then I’m into a floored tent.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AM_Hunter]

I cant provide an answer for 3 but the one season I used a floorless tent I didnt have any issues with mice. I never kept or brought any food into the tent though.

As for rain. We didn't get an rain but I brought a ground tarp that I had made into a bathtub tarp. Essentially its a tarp with 4 walls so rain flowing through the shelter wouldnt come into the tarp. That was the idea atleast.

https://www.amazon.com/OneTigris-Multifunctional-Tent-Footprint-Camping/dp/B097DB935J?th=1

Essentially something like this. I made my own to accommodate 2 people and to save weight and some money. I took a large tarp and sewed the corners together and sealed the sewing. Added pieces of a aluminum straw through each corner and put guy lines through the straw. As you connect each corner to a steak and pull tight it lifts the walls.

Similar to this video:

Hope that helps!

 

[ianpadron]

Search function homie, all those questions have been covered in depth.

My partner did wake up with a mouse all the way in his mouth in my Sawtooth one night. Never laughed so hard in my life.

 

[bpeay4]

Ticks vs Floorless Tents

I'm going on a Spring bear hunt in Idaho in May and planning ahead for a heavy dose of ticks. I'll take measures with sprays and such, but I'm wondering about my tent. I was planning on using a ultralight two man floorless tipi, but I've been considering using a more traditional lightweight...

rokslide.com

Rookie floorless shelter question

I've been doing quite a bit of research on floorless shelters and am pretty sold. Eyeing the Seek Outside Guardian, which combined with a stove is still lighter than my current 4 season backpacking tent. Great weight savings, optional to do a hot tent, big enough to run it with 2 guys if you're...

rokslide.com

Why i do not use floorless in warm weather.

Rained all Saturday and this morning. I have a small pile of wood next to the canoe 20' from my tent. Digging for some drier wood and saw movement. I smashed that Lil one with the maul. My 14 month old terrier was there and I sent him to his place(on an aluminum fold out bench) he went...

rokslide.com

Traditional Vs Floorless shelter

I’ve been seeing a lot of people using the floorless shelters recently. I’m from southeast Alaska and have always used traditional 2-3p tents whether hunting alone or sharing with a partner. Just curious on which type of shelter y’all prefer and why.

rokslide.com

 

[MOwhitetail]

I cant provide an answer for 3 but the one season I used a floorless tent I didnt have any issues with mice. I never kept or brought any food into the tent though.

As for rain. We didn't get an rain but I brought a ground tarp that I had made into a bathtub tarp. Essentially its a tarp with 4 walls so rain flowing through the shelter wouldnt come into the tarp. That was the idea atleast.

https://www.amazon.com/OneTigris-Multifunctional-Tent-Footprint-Camping/dp/B097DB935J?th=1

Essentially something like this. I made my own to accommodate 2 people and to save weight and some money. I took a large tarp and sewed the corners together and sealed the sewing. Added pieces of a aluminum straw through each corner and put guy lines through the straw. As you connect each corner to a steak and pull tight it lifts the walls.

Similar to this video:

Hope that helps!

Yes that is helpful. I get the thought of trying to pitch in a place that rain won't flow, but I've seen rain so heavy that everywhere was a puddle.

Search function homie, all those questions have been covered in depth.

My partner did wake up with a mouse all the way in his mouth in my Sawtooth one night. Never laughed so hard in my life.

I did search, but didn't find satisfactory answers to the three questions I asked.

Your story is one of the things that keeps me buying one. I wouldn't love waking up to mice on me. Especially with some of the diseases they carry.

 

[Dmoua]

1. Pitch it in a spot where you’ll least have rain coming in or dig a ditch around it.

2. Never had mice issues. I don’t eat in my tipi nor do I store food in it.

3. I would never use a floor less shelter in the summer or warm Septembers. I use mine with the a stove for late season hunts.

 

[Mike 338]

I've used them. I get kinda dirty and mice find their way in.

 

[rclouse79]

I like single walled floorless shelters when conditions are favorable. I have found attempts to fortify my light weight single walled shelter (ground sheets, bivy sacks, nests, etc.) increases the weight the point it makes more sense to go with a lightweight tent. I currently have a couple light weight 2 man tents and a Durston x-mid 1. I really like the Durston. The material won’t sag as much as silnylon when wet and you can bring the inner tent if there are bugs. Just the outer would be awesome during archery elk season.

 

[MOwhitetail]

I like single walled floorless shelters when conditions are favorable. I have found attempts to fortify my light weight single walled shelter (ground sheets, bivy sacks, nests, etc.) increases the weight the point it makes more sense to go with a lightweight tent. I currently have a couple light weight 2 man tents and a Durston x-mid 1. I really like the Durston. The material won’t sag as much as silnylon when wet and you can bring the inner tent if there are bugs. Just the outer would be awesome during archery elk season.

What is your idea of favorable conditions?

 

[rclouse79]

What is your idea of favorable conditions?

Mainly no ticks or mosquitoes. I have been on bear hunts with my cimmaron where you had to have a bivy sack to get away from those little blood suckers. I ordered a tent after wishing I had more room to check my naughty bits for hitchhikers.

 

[*zap*]

`waking up with a rattlesnake curled up next to you sucks.....much bigger issue than bugs.

 

[Dos Perros]

A mouse can find it's way into a free-standing tent pretty easily, too. And once they're in they are much tougher to get out.

 

[mountainman406]

Sounds like a floorless shelter with a nest would solve most of your concerns. I’ve used a SO Cimarron with a Luxe nest for years and it’s been a great setup.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MTN BUM]

If you go floorless understand that it wont be perfect off the bat. But it gets better, and when you get the hang of it I believe it is more versatile than a floored shelter and lighter.

In rain you have to get out of the depressions, but you should do that with a tent anyway. If there are a lot of bugs use a nest (eliminates weight savings but is removable so you dont need it most of the time). Mice are an issue either way, never had one climb in bed with me but they will go after gear either way. IMO eliminating the highest wear area of a tent and weight in almost all cases makes it a win. Just practice with it a few times before you decide they suck. Once you know what you are doing its actually hard to go back.

 

[MOwhitetail]

Sounds like a floorless shelter with a nest would solve most of your concerns. I’ve used a SO Cimarron with a Luxe nest for years and it’s been a great setup.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you go floorless understand that it wont be perfect off the bat. But it gets better, and when you get the hang of it I believe it is more versatile than a floored shelter and lighter.

In rain you have to get out of the depressions, but you should do that with a tent anyway. If there are a lot of bugs use a nest (eliminates weight savings but is removable so you dont need it most of the time). Mice are an issue either way, never had one climb in bed with me but they will go after gear either way. IMO eliminating the highest wear area of a tent and weight in almost all cases makes it a win. Just practice with it a few times before you decide they suck. Once you know what you are doing its actually hard to go back.

Yes, it seems that a nest would kind of address these things, but much of the weight savings is lost there. In that case I might as well use the freestanding tent I've got. I'm just trying to decide whether I'd want to use one without a nest enough to justify spending the money on one. Based on the responses and kind of camping I do, I'm thinking it might make sense to spend the money on other things to lighten my pack first.

 

[mountainman406]

Yes, it seems that a nest would kind of address these things, but much of the weight savings is lost there. In that case I might as well use the freestanding tent I've got. I'm just trying to decide whether I'd want to use one without a nest enough to justify spending the money on one. Based on the responses and kind of camping I do, I'm thinking it might make sense to spend the money on other things to lighten my pack first.

An extra 1.5Lbs for quality, uninterrupted sleep is well worth it IMO. That being said, I understand most people are really concerned with weight.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rayporter]

standing up is important to me.
surprisingly, mosquitos are not the problem you think, and i have taken Canada trips.
mice don't bother me.
water could be ---but i guarantee ya that it would be a problem in a floored tent if you pitched under the same conditions. the floor will trap water inside if it is that wet. i decided to switch to floorless on a high country hunt after 3 days of snow. we were mopping up water in the tent every time we entered, using t shirts. i got mad and poked a hole in the floor to let the water out. and the light bulb came on!

from what you say, a floorless is just not for you.
luck
ray

 

[*zap*]

I think the main reason to use floorless is to have a stove....after that is the weight factor and ease of use (no worries about getting the floor dirty).

 

[Koda_]

Pitch a floorless shelter in the rain and your gonna want a ground cloth, which defeats the weight savings.
Even in summer i want a groundcloth under my thermarest for abrasion and protection.
Maybe in late summer after the bugs have died off on a nice sunny weekend a floorless might save 1/2lb shelter weight. Pretty small window of usefulness IMO.