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Has anyone here ever needed bathtub flooring in your bugtent?


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Home Forums General Forums Philosophy & Technique Has anyone here ever needed bathtub flooring in your bugtent?

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  • #1237309
    David Stokes, Jr.
    Member

    @loco

    This thread maybe should have went in the gear thread but oh well.

    Im making the switch to a bug tent/tarp combo. A few of the bug tents have the bathtub flooring and I was just wondering if anyone has ever been in a situation where one was needed or if they are generally unnecessary.

    In my MSR Hubba I have never experienced a situation where water could have gotten in if it didnt have that style of flooring. So…..

    Is it necessary?

    #1510050
    Lynn Tramper
    Member

    @retropump

    Locale: The Antipodes of La Coruna

    I have needed a bathtub floor on many occassions, but it may depend a lot on where, when and how often you use your shelter.

    #1510051
    Sarah Kirkconnell
    BPL Member

    @sarbar

    Locale: Homesteading On An Island In The PNW

    And just how bad the rain gets ;-) For me, in any time of the year outside of July/August…I hate rain being kicked under by the wind!

    #1510058
    David Stokes, Jr.
    Member

    @loco

    I think that I should get one, but I hear about all of these long distance hikers that just use the tarp, which I know is very common, but I wonder, do they ever get wet FROM the water coming under the tarp. I.E. My mind tells me I should get one but I too often read about people who dont even use a bug shelter to begin with, much less one with bathtub flooring. So i dont know

    #1510063
    Brad Groves
    BPL Member

    @4quietwoods

    Locale: Michigan

    Um, short answer, yes. I've needed it. It's not so much about the pools of water forming around a tent as it is about splash. Kind of like the splash surrounds on your kitchen and bathroom counters at home, I guess. If it's raining hard enough, it'll bounce and splash in. That said, it depends where you're hiking. I suspect that AT hikers would be more likely to carry something w/bug net and floor than someone doing the PCT. What's the climate you typically hike in?

    #1510069
    David Stokes, Jr.
    Member

    @loco

    Im from Louisiana but hike in Texas Arkansas Louisiana mainly, but have backpacked in Switzerland, Ireland, BIg Bend, going to Sequoia Kings Canyon NP in September and some other trips already booked, point is that I hike in varied terrain and want something that can handle the elements

    #1510322
    Dave Weston
    Member

    @wsuweston

    Locale: NW

    I would not use one that did not have a tub floor. Really just depends on the type of weather you encounter where you hike.

    #1510330
    Roger Caffin
    BPL Member

    @rcaffin

    Locale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe

    I have found my bathtub floor actually flioating once, on about 1" of water. A sudden and very severe downpour!

    Cheers

    #1510333
    Huzefa @ Blue Bolt Gear
    Spectator

    @huzefa

    Locale: Himalayas

    Is bathtub really needed with thick sleeping pad such as neoair??

    #1510334
    Roger Caffin
    BPL Member

    @rcaffin

    Locale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe

    Only if you want to sit on the floor and have your gear around you … and stay dry.

    Cheers

    #1510368
    Jack H.
    Member

    @found

    Locale: Sacramento, CA

    No it's not necessary. But it might be a luxury item that you desire.

    Are you interested in a floor to keep you dry or to keep crawling bugs like ants out?

    If your tarp is big enough (which it should be) you won't get wet from splash effect. If it's water running over the ground, i've always been able to dig a trench to divert the flow. This is something you'll do even with a bathtub floor. Water flowing on the ground depends highly on the type of ground you're camped on, i find it to be pretty rare. Bathtub floors wear out their ability to hold back a flow of water quickly. So I don't rely on them for waterproofing. Have a tarp that is big enough.

    In most of the western us i think a bathtub floor is not mandatory if you're willing to put up with a little more hardship.

    #1510371
    Diplomatic Mike
    Member

    @mikefaedundee

    Locale: Under a bush in Scotland

    It depends on where you hike, i suppose.
    Here in Scotland, the ground is often saturated, and a rainstorm can raise the water level enough to flood a groundsheet in a very short time, even with trying to find the best site you can.
    I've often wakened in the morning to find myself in the middle of a lake!

    Digging trenches is a bit of a no-no here.

    #1510420
    Lynn Tramper
    Member

    @retropump

    Locale: The Antipodes of La Coruna

    Yes, my experiences are much like Mike's. Once, the only place flat enough to pitch a tent was a shallow tarn! We stayed dry with a good bathtub floor. If the terrain and weather where you hike is not prone to sudden or prolonged downpours or boggy expanses, OR if you are willing to put up with the occassional wet night, then you don't need a bathtub floor. I suppose you could call it a luxury in the sense that being wet all night is not luxurious :0

    Of course, you could just pitch the bugtent really high so that the edges of the groundsheet are raised (kinda like a hammock around the edges).

    #1510445
    David Stokes, Jr.
    Member

    @loco

    haha well I am not willing to put up with "wet" nights. I mean obviously if they happen, they happen but if I can control it , i.e. with a bathtub floor, ill gladly take around an extra few ounces!

    #1510450
    Adam Kilpatrick
    BPL Member

    @oysters

    Locale: South Australia

    Mostly no, but on some trips, they have been a must. Sometimes, its hard to find a place to put the tent, let alone one with well draining soil that isn't in the line of a minature drainage line, or in a hole.

    For the extra couple of ounces, I reckon its worth it. Those few extra inches of solid material also cut breezes, which I reckon would add substantially to your warmth cf if you didn't have the tubbing-probably definitely worth the weight in that regard.

    Adam

    #1511258
    Jack Scheckton
    Member

    @meestajack

    Locale: Brooklyn

    Most frequent need for a bathtub floor for me is to block splash and splatter from water dripping of the edge of my tarp… keeps the footbox on my sleeping bag dry.

    once I had setup my tent in a less than ideal site on the only level area I could find on a slope… woke up with water flowing underneath my tent. If I hadn't had a bathtub floor I'd have soaked my bag completely.

    #1511279
    Acronym Esq
    BPL Member

    @acronym-esq

    Locale: TX

    2 weeks ago I was camping at the foot of a mountain in West Texas. The ground was 80:20 igneous to sandy soil stuff. Pounding stakes with a sledge was about 75% successful, and digging a trench around the 25 tarps was hours of additional backbreaking labor we opted out of. After 8 months with less than 2 inches, we got an inch of rain in an hour. The mud ran under our tarps and pooled on the ground cloths. Bathtub floors would have been nice. Interestingly, it was easier to pile drive the stakes into the muddy rocks, which was merciful 'cause we had to mud-wrestle about a quarter of them when the tarps started blowing down. More than 10 people suffered muddy sleeping gear.

    Wanna see my UL sledge? Eh eh.

    YMMV.

    acronym 6/30/2009 1:46 AM

    #1511290
    Fred eric
    BPL Member

    @fre49

    Locale: France, vallée de la Loire

    My ( limited ) experience of Scotland is i was very happy of the 5cm height bathtub i did on my MYOG bug tent, we slept dry in pools of water :)

    I didnt need one last year in Iceland, and never needed one in France, in fact i wouldnt have considered setting my camp in grass as saturated before that trip on the south part of CWT.
    I spent 2h in vain trying to find some ground with less water the first day, i didnt even try the following days.

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