double rainbow questions

Stake the fly. And the floor is tougher than you think, but I use a tyvek footprint, because everything here is spiny or rocky.

"The floor is very thin and I am worried I might puncture it. Do you guys usually hunt for very smooth spots…"

There are no "smooth spots" out there. Every spot has a rock, a pine cone, or a sharp stick lurking just under the duff.

You Might puncture it, but it is tough. And if you take 3" of silnylon specific patch it is easy to repair in the field.

At home a 3:1 silcone to mineral spirits mixture can be painted on the questionable area, and you're good to go.

Hike more, worry less.

Hmm…something sounds weird there. The loops on the tent canopy at the 4 corners should have short pieces of triptease on them…at least that's how mine came. Those are the guy lines, and once you stake out the 4 corners you can slip the elastic cords that go to the floor around the stakes, which will make it into a bathtub floor (i.e. you have the option of going with or without the bathtub floor where going without gives you more floor surface area). As for the sil-nylon floor, it can take a good bit of abuse. Use a ground cloth (like a piece of plastic) if you are concerned.

1. You should stake out the fly, not the bathtub floor. Then it (the floor) can be clipped up inside the tent to make it a bathtub for rainy weather. In freestanding mode with trekking poles, you would only need 2 stakes in mild conditions (no wind) – 1 for each beak. You don't need to stake out the corners when you use trekking poles. If it's windy, you'll want to stake the corner to prevent it from lifting off. With my Rainbow, I have yet to use it with trekking poles. I just stake out the corners. Ti stakes are .25oz each so it's only an extra ounce. Yes, the extra loops are for adding guyline in really windy conditions.

2. You won't puncture the floor unless you really try, and then it is very easily patched.

Just got my Rainbow 2 last week from Henry S.

you stake out the fly, using guyline loops, then tighten for desired tautness.

my question though… it seemed at least on all the pictures on the tarptents' webiste.. that DR has way more guylines attached, especially in the middle of the beaks, and those for the "porch entrance" with poles.. i didn't see any that arrived in the package, plus the actually guy lines were so short! i think i'm going to contact Henry about this.

also, don't forget to seam seal the tent! i didn't have enough time to do this, and took it out on a 3 day trip thinking the weather would be nice. Man, was I wrong! it rained every day, and those seams next to the netting leak if not sealed.

I asked Henry about the lines in the middle of the beak, and I believe he told me with one of the re-designs, that's not necessary. You have to supply your own lines to do the porch thing, they're not included.