TarpTent woes

“We have been very happy with our TarpTent until Saturday night. We were car camped, visiting our son in college, and it rained buckets. I woke up around 2AM with an inch of water under me. It had flowed into the tent along the ground.

I know you're supposed to pay attention to where you pitch the tent, but sometimes there aren't a lot of choices. Also, tent sites are usuallly a bit depressed. So are lakes, which are nice to camp near. If something like this happened while backpacking, it wouldn't be good.”

“There are limits to the ultra light business. I still like my own bubble in the tent.”

“Which is why you should call Henry and have him retrofit the bathtub floor onto it,”

“I've seen tent floors leak to. I don't think being a tarp has anything to do with it. It's all in where and how you set it up. I've even seen seasoned backpackers not tuck the footprint completely under their shelter. and letting water get channeled straight under the tent floor.
I prefer a tarp mostly because it is much lighter and more compact than a tent.”

“DeoreDX, thanks for a great idea. I did not know about the bathtub floor. Is it something new? We got our TarpTent this summer, and I didn't see that option. I'll call Henry tomorrow. I really love the thing for a lot of reasons, and a retro bathtub floor would be perfect.

Walkindude, the floor didn't leak. The water flowed over the floor and into the tent. I totally agree that it's all in where and how you set up, but sometimes there just aren't a lot of options. This was a car camping trip, and we had two tents and two flat clearings. And it poured for hours.

Shawn, no way, no limits. For $600 and no windows, I could have the Stephenson's Warmlite, and it's 4-season and under 3 lbs.”

“The bathtub design is a new option that was only announced in the last week or so. Henry has indicated that retrofits will be no problem.”

“Love you TTers. Henry, here I come.”

“Love henry... unequaled customer service.”

“You get what you pay for, my Moss tent has gone through 24 hours of rain from a hurricane on Cumberland Island and water flowed under it W/O a footprint...no water. Now that MSR owns them I can't vouch for what the quality is.

comfort forever...ultralight never. >:D”

“Walkingdude hit the nail on the head. Location location location. A tarp is nothing but a tent without the mesh when you stop and think about it. The only time I've EVER gotten wet in a tarp was when I was hammock camping and had no choise in which direction the set up was in. A storm came through and it blew right into one end and right out the other end. Even then I just opened the umbrella and stuck it in the end.

One thing that can help is to gather the leaf litter on the ground together and put it under your ground cloth. This will help cause the water to flow under rather than over.”

“you could always "trench" around your floor....



{ducking}”

“I'd prefer a "wench" on my floor - the absorbent type.”

“Thanks for the heads-up on the bathtub option. Got my tarptent this past spring and didn't have that option then. I've been thinking about doing a bathtub mod myself and probably will still try that first before I go back to Henry.”

“Either that or make sure hubby somehow gets the low ground. LOL!”

“LOL
Any tent you site in a puddle hole will have problems.

Yep, location, location, location.

A couple of times, I had to site my TarpTent in a low area. I put some sticks and rocks under the floor edges to form a 'bathtub' shape.”

“That's a good idea, Stove, and I'll use it. I've not had any water problems with my Virga yet, but then again, I usually hike solo and can camp wherever I want. No sharing.”

“Snake - If I'm on a less than level site, I'll place my extended trekking pole under the edge on the up hill side if I'm worried about water running in.”

“i second or third or whatever the location thing.
if you don't have good location choices then a hammock is the only way to stay dry IMO.”

“But how in the hell can you beat a tent that has running water?”

“Fart a few times to get some heat.

Heat, running water. What else do you need?”

“Hook an umbrella to the top of your tarptent and you might even get some electricity.”

“If you've got a pee bottle, you even have a restroom in there. How can you beat that?”

“I see the new option listed under What's New, but I don't see a price anywhere. Anyone know the price for a new tent, and for a retro fix?”

“Talk to henry. He's very approachable. He'll tell you.”

“SStomper, that's a good idea about creating the bathtub with whatever's on hand. I still plan to do the retro, but if it's out of my price range, I'll do sticks and stones. Thanks!”