What’s the deal with bottomless tents?

[vishnevian]

Looking for my first hot tent (w/ stove) for cold weather October/November hunts. Seeing a lot of tents that don’t have a bottom. What’s the advantage? Any tent recommendations appreciated. Budget friendly <$1000 for the whole setup. Thanks.

 

[RockAndSage]

Looking for my first hot tent (w/ stove) for cold weather October/November hunts. Seeing a lot of tents that don’t have a bottom. What’s the advantage? Any tent recommendations appreciated. Budget friendly <$1000 for the whole setup. Thanks.

It's a bit counter-intuitive, but floored tents in some situations end up being a quagmire of mud that you just keep adding to, every time you step into the tent. Floorless, when things are set up right, often end up just being cleaner and even dryer, depending on the materials, whether it's a hot tent, overall weather conditions before and during the hunt, etc.

 

[il_cop]

Advantages are weight and condensation reduction through better ventilation/air movement, as well as, you can't run a stove on top of a floor, stacking wood inside next to the stove also is easier when it's on the ground rather than a floor. Lastly if it's snowy and cold, after you kick the snow off the tent pad before setup, once you run the stove, it'll eventually dry out the area whereas with a floor, the ground underneath will stay wet and often freeze under the floor making the floor slide around on ice.

 

[Matt5266]

2 guys above nailed my points, so ditto on all that

 

[Andrew12gauge]

Any of you floorless guys ever had a rattler decide the inside of your tent seemed the ideal place to warm up overnight? Legit question as this has always been my reason not to go floorless, that or other creepy crawlies


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[il_cop]

I live in the mountains... Fair question but never something I've had to think about. I'm more concerned with condensation and pack weight.

And anywhere it's cold enough to need a stove, I wouldn't be concerned about creepy crawlies.

 

[RockAndSage]

Any of you floorless guys ever had a rattler decide the inside of your tent seemed the ideal place to warm up overnight? Legit question as this has always been my reason not to go floorless, that or other creepy crawlies


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It's not an impossibility. Part of dealing with all that is gear prep and habits - minimizing opportunity for them to hide in your clothes, shaking your boots upside down and inspecting before putting on, etc. More concerned about venomous spiders in boots or undershirts than snakes in the tent, but wouldn't disregard the possibility if the time of year and location might have them. Also, avoid pitching near burrow holes of any kind. Their occupants, their fleas and ticks, and the snakes that like to eat the occupants all like them.

 

[Yukon Cornelius]

Looking for my first hot tent (w/ stove) for cold weather October/November hunts. Seeing a lot of tents that don’t have a bottom. What’s the advantage? Any tent recommendations appreciated. Budget friendly <$1000 for the whole setup. Thanks.

What size? I may be getting rid of a redcliff or 6 man tipi or silvertip 2.0 and have a few titanium stove options

 

[vishnevian]

What size? I may be getting rid of a redcliff or 6 man tipi or silvertip 2.0 and have a few titanium stove options

anything 6p+ will work i think. interested!

 

[ozyclint]

6 people plus?

You're looking for a 16 man tipi

 

[ElPollo]

Any of you floorless guys ever had a rattler decide the inside of your tent seemed the ideal place to warm up overnight? Legit question as this has always been my reason not to go floorless, that or other creepy crawlies


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I have lived out of floorless wall tents and pyramid tents for literally years in the Southwest and have never had that happen. Doesn’t mean it couldn’t, but it’s really unlikely.

 

[Smokinyotes]

The only thing I worry about getting in my tent are mice and bears. Had one tent destroyed by bears and ever since I got the new one, if bears are awake it has 3 strands of electric wire around it.

 

[Mauser1909]

Another advantage of the floor less shelter is they generally do better in windy conditions. Because they lack a sewn-in floor, they can be staked down very tight to the ground. (or allow piling rocks/logs/dirt/snow on the edges) to seal them completely, preventing wind from getting underneath and creating a "balloon" effect.

 

[sodaksooner]

Any of you floorless guys ever had a rattler decide the inside of your tent seemed the ideal place to warm up overnight? Legit question as this has always been my reason not to go floorless, that or other creepy crawlies


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Ive only ever had an issue with mice, but we use ours in the mountains. It wasn't like an invasion, but have had a few here and there, and only in more established backcountry campsites.

 

[ElPollo]

The only thing I worry about getting in my tent are mice and bears. Had one tent destroyed by bears and ever since I got the new one, if bears are awake it has 3 strands of electric wire around it.

For bears and rodents, it wouldn’t matter if you had a floor or not. If they are going to damage it, it will be cause you have food in the tent.

 

[ElPollo]

Another advantage of the floor less shelter is they generally do better in windy conditions. Because they lack a sewn-in floor, they can be staked down very tight to the ground. (or allow piling rocks/logs/dirt/snow on the edges) to seal them completely, preventing wind from getting underneath and creating a "balloon" effect.

I think what you are suggesting is correct if your floorless tent has a sod cloth that you are piling stuff on. If it doesn’t wind can get under either. But the likelihood of that happening is dependent on how and where you pitch the tent. You should always try to select a spot that has some shelter from the wind, whether that is terrain or vegetation.

 

[Pulleye16]

Floor! Because most places I tent out west have no or very little grass. A floor will matt down tall weeds and keep the dirt out, especially when raining...nothing like a stream running under your feet!

Mice will be mice with or without a floor.

 

[ElPollo]

Floor! Because most places I tent out west have no or very little grass. A floor will matt down tall weeds and keep the dirt out, especially when raining...nothing like a stream running under your feet!

Mice will be mice with or without a floor.

I’ve been sleeping in both floored and floorless tents in the west for about 35 years and did it year round for about 8 years.

My experience is that throwing a tent with or without a floor over tall weeds or any vegetation without a little site prep makes for pretty uncomfortable sleeping. Now that I’m older, it also makes me stiff as a board on the morning even with the glampy sleeping pads I tend to use now.

On the subject of dirt, it really depends on the soils you’re dealing with. But if your on sand or if you have high winds, you’ll have dirt all over everything in either tent.

Like others have said water, ice and mud, is where floorless tents with a wood stove really excel. You can dry it out. You can’t do that with a synthetic floor. And I’ve had water running under tents with floors. A stream you can avoid by where you pitch the tent. The times where it happened to me, it was sheet flow from big storms. It sucks in either situation, but I’d rather have it happen in a floorless tent with a stove by far. Way easier to get your shit dry.

Finally, I think most people feel uncomfortable sleeping in tents without a floor because of the potential for critters. I’ve spent hundreds of nights cowboy camping on the ground in the west without a tent, generally on or rolled up in a tarp or ground cloth. I’ve never had any issues with critters… On second thought, I do remember finding a scorpion under my sleeping pad once when I was sleeping on the dunes in White Sands National Park. He didn’t bother me.