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Advice for floorless shelter with bug protection


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  • #3455651
    Bansheekitty
    BPL Member

    @bansheekitty

    Hi, I’m new to these forums, and I’m looking for advice on a floorless shelter that would provide some bug protection. I’ve hammock-camped in the past, and I’ve car-camped with a tent-cot (definitely not portable!). I’ve tried traditional tents from 2-man to 4-man, and they’re just not for me. I’m looking for a solution that is more portable than my heavy tent-cot, yet more flexible than my hammock (which requires trees). I did a lot of camping out west, and now that I’m living back east I’d like something I can take on a plane with me for trips out west, that still has the flexibility to set up wherever (so not a hammock). I’d also like something big enough to hang out in during bad weather, though that’s not as big of a deal.

    What I’m looking for:

    1. Lightweight, since I will be hauling along a lightweight cot as well (from Helinox, once I can scrape together the dough). I’m not a backpacker, so not going for ultra-light (the cot would negate that anyway), though I would like be able to haul it in so I’m not limited to car-camping.
    2. Floorless. I think part of what I really don’t like about tents is the floor – a hassle to keep clean on the inside while camping, you can’t wear boots inside, and a hassle to clean when you pack it up after camping in muddy conditions. I would also *love* to be able to cook inside in bad weather, or even just windy weather so it doesn’t take 3X as long just to boil some water. The idea of a hot tent is also appealing, as currently I’ve only camped down to about freezing. I’d like more flexibility for camping in the winter months. I am a very cold sleeper, sadly.
    3. Tall enough to stand in (I’m 5’5″). I hate crawling in and out of small tents. It doesn’t need to be tall enough for me to stand fully erect, but I’d like to be able to get in and out easily without having to squat or get on hands and knees. Also tall enough that I can comfortably lie on a 15″ tall cot without running into the walls. I tend to camp solo, but I’d like the cot to fit comfortably with room for a stove, and the potential for another person if I can ever convince someone to go with me (my friends tend to be indoor-people).
    4. Some bug protection. Specifically, I think perimeter netting and a net door would work well. I don’t want an inner net tent because I don’t want the floor. If I ended up going for an inner net option, I would likely cut the floor out, but it seems like less hassle to have the netting around the edges. I’ll be on a cot, so I won’t be lying right on the ground, and I’m really only concerned about mosquitoes, which is a big issue where I live now. I figure ticks would have a hard time crawling up the cot, and I’m not concerned about spiders or ants so long as I’m not stupid enough to camp on top of a fire ant mound.
    5. Ideally, I would like a stove jack. I can’t afford a stove right now, but I can see it in my future, so I’d prefer a stove jack.

    After doing some research, it seems like there are few options where you can get perimeter netting and a net door, and even fewer that come with a built-in stove jack. I have zero sewing skills, so I’m not comfortable doing any custom mods myself. I love Kifaru gear, but budget-wise, they are really out of my range for a shelter. I looked at Mountain Laurel Designs, but they didn’t appear to have a net door or a stove jack option. Titanium Goat- maybe? I’m not sure what a “tent liner” is- so not sure whether they offer perimeter netting, though they do offer a net door and a stove jack. I like the looks of the Vertex 6.5. The other option I saw was Bear Paw, specifically the Luna 4, with the works. I’m a little concerned about Bear Paw though, since after doing some research it seems like they have some mixed reviews- some reports of poor stitching and others of poor customer service. MLD/TiGoat/Bear Paw is more the price range I’m looking at.

    Hope I haven’t left anything out. As you can see, comfort is a much bigger issue than weight. Cost is a somewhat limiting factor. Thanks in advance for any help!

    #3455667
    Katherine .
    BPL Member

    @katherine

    Locale: pdx

    Off the top of my head, have you checked out Seek Outside yet? I believe they have stove-friendly type shelters. dunno about perimeter netting.

    #3455740
    Bansheekitty
    BPL Member

    @bansheekitty

    Thanks for the tip! Those are some nice shelters. No perimeter netting, but they have sod skirts, which I imagine would perform the same function (just with less ventilation), and an option for a net door. Higher price than I was planning on, but I might be able to make it work- it’ll just take longer to buy it.

    #3455844
    Mark
    BPL Member

    @gixer

    Bear in mind that if it’s a wet environment, then many bugs you are trying to avoid will be in the soil you are pitched on.

    I don’t see the point in a floorless tent with bug netting around the perimeter, in my experience (in Europe) it’s pointless.

    Extra weight if there are no bugs

    Useless if there are bugs

    Better to get a tent with a mesh inner that you can use in bug season IMO

    #3455846
    George F
    BPL Member

    @gfraizer13

    Locale: Wasatch

    In our western mountains mosquitoes are the enemy and perimeter netting can be very effective against them. It is all a matter of having reasonable expectations for where you are going.

    #3455847
    Jerry Adams
    BPL Member

    @retiredjerry

    Locale: Oregon and Washington

    I use a pyramid tent.  I find that mosquitoes don’t come under the edge and get me.  For one thing, for some reason, bugs congregate at the peak of the tent and for some reason don’t come down to me.

    I wear long sleeves and pants of tight weave nylon like Supplex.  Then all I have to worry about is my hands and head.  Sometimes I have a 3 foot circle of mesh that I put over the top of me protecting head and hands.  I like to sleep with no tent if it’s not raining.

    #3455862
    jscott
    BPL Member

    @book

    Locale: Northern California

    I hate bugs. And mice. And ants, billions of ants. And marmots in my tent. I always read myself to sleep, and the few times I slept without a floor, as soon as I turned on my headlamp every bug for a half mile around made a bee-line towards me. (Oh, I forgot bees!)Really freaky looking bugs too! And then there was the time I had a mouse running over my face in Hanta virus country. So I like floors. the o.p.’s complaint with floors seems to be that they become dirty. I’ve found that sleeping on dirt or sand or even grass (bugs in grass!) creates far worse conditions for keeping my bag and other stuff clean than a tent floor. In fact protecting my bag is another good reason for having a floor. I just take off my shoes before entering the tent. Maybe shake it out in the morning. Voila. As for mud on the floor of a tent–that mud would be on everything inside the tent otherwise.

    However many many people like floorless tents and tarps, so vive la differance. Mostly for weight savings. This doesn’t seem to be the issue however.

    #3455863
    Jerry Adams
    BPL Member

    @retiredjerry

    Locale: Oregon and Washington

    occasionally in the middle of the night some creature has run across me, probably a mouse.  When cowboy camping in particular.

    #3455865
    jscott
    BPL Member

    @book

    Locale: Northern California

    Wait I forgot that Bansheekitty will be sleeping on a cot. this will solve a lot of the problems that I mentioned. Sorry!

    although once in the early season I had a fire at altitude-cold–when suddenly thousands of some kind of flying bug burst out of a tree stump nearby and swarmed me. I ran to my tent. They coated the tent netting. In the morning they were mostly gone. Glad for the netting.

    #3455881
    Bansheekitty
    BPL Member

    @bansheekitty

    Yeah, I would be much less cavalier about bugs if I weren’t going to be sleeping off the ground. Sleeping in the grass is a great way to pick up some ticks, and I’ve already had Lyme disease once. I figure I can put down a piece of Tyvek to keep my pack clean. If mosquitoes continued to really be an issue I guess I could put a lightweight bug bivy on my cot. That plus a tarp had been my plan before I started looking at tipis.

    Thanks for the advice to everyone who has weighed in. Keep it coming!

    #3455882
    Jeffs Eleven
    BPL Member

    @woodenwizard

    Locale: NePo

    I bet you sleep cold due to that cot.

    #3455884
    Bansheekitty
    BPL Member

    @bansheekitty

    Yes, though even when I’ve been on the ground with a pad I’ve been cold. I know that mostly camping with cots and hammocks only exacerbates the problem, but extra insulation cures (or at least greatly alleviates) the cold issue, and I’m way more comfortable off the ground.

    #3457869
    Gerry B.
    BPL Member

    @taedawood

    Locale: Louisiana, USA

    Try Smokehouse hammock shelters.  He’ll make whatever you want.  He doesn’t have a website but there are lot of links and YouTube videos of his shelters.

    #3460984
    Eugene Hollingsworth
    BPL Member

    @geneh_bpl

    Locale: Mid-Minnesota

    I’m trying to do something similar use  just my tent fly and sew a bug net skirt around the edge to keep mosquitoes and Crawley things out of my tent. Will it work to make the skirt long enough to tuck underneath the ground sheet? Will that keep the Crawley things out?

    The tent fly and ground sheet worked plenty well in cooler weather but now we’re heading into mosquito season.

    #3460985
    Eugene Hollingsworth
    BPL Member

    @geneh_bpl

    Locale: Mid-Minnesota

    I just thought of something what about rain? Will the bug netting on the edge of the fly pull the rainwater right into the tent?

    #3461170
    Jake
    BPL Member

    @stay_light

    Locale: youngsville

    I love floorless shelters and i have a Seek outside bt2,.. theyve updated it to a new name now and its a bit too small to stand in but they do have larger models that should accommodate what you are looking for. And of course they will sew on stove jacks etc. Even if you buy the tent first you can always send it back in later for the stove jack. I had them sew bug netting behind the doors of my bt2 and they did it for a really cheap price and top notch work.

    And Eugene with floorless pyramid style tents the bug netting is usually really low to the ground anyways so it really doesnt pull any rain in with it. Its just on the lower outter edges.

    I use my BT2 down here in louisiana and i really dont have a issue with the bugs getting in but with floorless shelters that is bound to happen at some point.

    Other brands to consider would probably be Mytrail… the new golite. They have pyramid style tents that are super light and they used to make a 5 man version. Something that size might be big enough to put a cot in. It would also be worth checking out bearpaw’s work. they have a tent called the luna 6 that might work for you. And you can customize their stuff to your liking. With as much bug netting or as little as you want. More pricey though.

    #3461177
    Bansheekitty
    BPL Member

    @bansheekitty

    Thanks! Those are great tips.

    #3461187
    Eugene Hollingsworth
    BPL Member

    @geneh_bpl

    Locale: Mid-Minnesota

    Thanks Jake!

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