Is buying a footprint silly?

Try Gossamer Gear. They have a few light weight options for groundcloths, and they are cheaper too!

http://www.gossamergear.com/cgi-bin/gossamergear/xdpy/s/Shelter/index.html

It is silly for all tents not made by Hilleberg. Use Tyvek to prevent punctures and abrasions. It's cheaper, too.

(Hilleberg makes their footprints so that they attach to the tent, and go under the vestibules. Freakin' amazing.)

yes buying a footprint is silly.

Footprints are expensive and heavy. I agree with above posts and have had great success with the Polycryo Ground Cloth and Tyvek. Much lighter and they will provide enough protection for the shelter,bivy,bag, and everything else!

My reasoning for believing a footprint isn't necessary is that I often backpack (thousands of miles) with no footprint, no Tyvek and no floor of any kind, just a closed cell foam pad.

So why would I need a floor AND a footprint? Obviously I don't.

The most common reason I see cited for using a footprint is to prevent abrasion or holes. My thinking on that is I don't care if the floor, if any, DOES get some abrasion or even pinholes. As a matter of fact as far as I know all of my old floored tents have them and it's done no harm whatsoever. In my opinion a person should never camp in a low spot where you need to depend on the floor to keep pooled water out.

So by my way of thinking why carry anything that I simply don't want or need?

Henry Shires says somewhere on his website I think that his customers never report durability problems with his floors. I don't think groundsheets are necessary unless you are planning on putting the tent on sharp gravel (and then you'd better get a pretty strong groundsheet). If you do end up getting a little hole somewhere sometime, the floor is far from "wrecked". A small patch will do the trick and your tent floor will, I'm sure, last as long as you want to use the tent (which is likely only 5-10 years). I doubt Henry ever does any floor replacements on his shelters.

The floor of all my tents is just silnylon.
Over the years my best summer tent has acquired maybe a dozen small patches from little spikes and twigs. I don't think the patches (which work just fine) weigh nearly as much as a footprint – which would need to be 12 oz canvas to really protect the floor anyhow.

Cheers

Yes, it's silly. Replacing a tent floor is easy. Just cut out a rectangle with a couple of inches of old floor left, sew the new one in and seam seal. I've never had to do this though, other parts wore out first, mostly my knees from carrying a too heavy tent.

Thanks guys for the insight….I'll skip the footprint.

I guess a reason to have the footprint is to use it in fast-fly mode.

True….I don't think I'd use the 'fast fly mode' that often because I normally want bug and heavy rain protection but it is good to keep in mind. Maybe if the weather forecast is excellent and it's not bug season then I'd do this.

Footprints and bathtub floors are great for car camping at heavily developed and heavily used campsites. Often the surface is crushed aggregate which becomes compacted and dished with use.

I have a footprint for each tent I own, except my Squall 2. Never carry one when backpacking, always use one when car camping.