Floorless Ridgeline Suspended Bugnet

Sea to Summit has two different weights of their bug net. The Nano (140g) and the regular (280g).

4Monster has a similar bug net.

How about the type used by hammock campers? There are a wide variety of bottom entry nets available and they are very simple to make. The Monolite mesh from RSBTR is easy to work with

Do you sew Zack?

Sea to Summit used to have exactly what you’re looking for about 7 or 8 years ago but they discontinued them. The Nano single pulls S2S has now requires a high pitch height and they’re kind of funky, but a lot of backpackers use them with mid shaped tarps like Pocket Tarp, Deschutes, Solomid XL, etc. Got to improvise with them though.

If you can’t find anything commercially, and you want to design or modify a piece but lack the skills to sew it yourself, you can reach out to Jared at Simply Light Designs. I have asked him to build different things for me about the years. His communication and craftsmanship is excellent, as well as his prices. I never took stock, but I probably have over a dozen pieces by SLD.

If you have a sewing machine Zack I can give you instructions on how to make one. If an amateur like me can do it anybody can.

Here’s a floorless net I made with green .50 noseeum panels and black .67 under flaps. Has 2 zipper front entry. Weighs 4.7 oz.

And this is a slightly larger one made with .67 noseeum but doesn’t have a zip entry. Plastic groundsheet underneath to show under flaps. Weighs about 5 oz.

Yes simply light he is great to work with.

thom

I made one using tulle which is very cheap and light. Keeps flies and mosquitoes out but probably not smaller bugs.

thank you all for the great feedback. I do have a sewing machine but my skills are not there yet. This might be a good project to learn on though. Thank you again

I hate bugs in my bed. And of course mosquitos and flies and all biting insects. Floorless bug net? No thanks. I read by headlamp in my tent. The few times I tried tarp camping, that light attracted a hundred bugs, some of them really weird and nasty looking, into my tarp. And mice!! I wont even mention marmots and snakes.

No. As much as I admire Diane’s set up,  and her, I prefer to wimp out and carry a DCF solo tent with netting and a fully enclosed floor. The bathtub floor also helps in situations where water is pouring off granite or thin soil directly towards your tent.

the weight differential between bug net plus tarp and DCF  solo tent is negligeable. (sp.)

and

the bathtub floor will hold any water that flows in

like a bathtub

I’d be willing to bet Zack is aware of the tent vs tarp debate, but the question he poses is about a floorless net for a tarp. He probably knows the plus side of tents, however Zack has chosen a tarp and bug net for this particular use scenario.

Some conditions lend themselves to floorless nets/tents better than others. The GG Whisper, TT Preamble, SMD Deschutes Plus and others are floorless. Perimeter netting with shelters is not uncommon.

Thanks all. I should note. I mostly camp in the Northeast and this would be for times when mosquitos and black flies are a problem. I typically use a flat tarp or a ‘mid with an optional inner net. During blackfly season it is normally very hot and humid so I am going to be experimenting with a large flat tarp pitched relatively flat and high (under tree cover). And then use the floorless netting so that there is livable space with lot of airflow that I can pop in and out of without taking off shoes etc. The areas I’m in would benefit enough from a floorless shelter even though it’s obviously not as secure as a bathtub style with a zippered entry.

I camp in mid when it’s a little buggy.  Gap around the base and door open for ventilation.

For some reason, all the bugs go to the peak of the mid inside and flit around without coming down to bother me. Not a total solution to bugs, but sometimes that works.

I wasn’t trying to convince or even inform Zack. But there are others reading  this  forum who may be unfamiliar with tarp/ bug net camping.  I was unfamiliar when I tried it out because I was attracted  by weight savings. And a number  of things that I hadn’t  considered beforehand  occurred that made me realize this style  wasn’t  for me. And so I mentioned those.

I bought a used tent with a bathtub floor and tested it in the rain. Water pooled in the bathtub. So in the next rain, I sat in it to watch how the rain gets in and it splashes off the ground to the mesh then rolls down the grosgrain ribbons that join the mesh panels at the corners. So now I have to worry about setting up this tent low enough that those ribbons aren’t angled like chutes.

I think a floorless net is better. If this becomes a problem I’m cutting the bottom off the floor.

I’ve had bugs and mice come into my enclosed tents. If you think your tent is a fortress, it’s not. Learn to appreciate more of the insect world. Not all of them want to hurt you.

Are you looking for something similar to a hammock bug net? There are a few that hang on the ridgeline and extend to the ground.

I appreciate your comments jscott.  It’s good when a range of solutions is identified, then people can try different things.

Maybe my joke about a bathtub floor filling up with water like a bathtub is getting old?

I prefer a bug bivy or net tent with a floor in the Eastern US during the warm months because of ticks (lyme disease), chiggers and noseeums as well as more spiders and ants. It’s just easier and I’m assured of near 100% bug protection when all zipped up. But in the drier West I like a floorless net/tent.

A very light .7 mil polycro that’s correctly placed in a floorless net/tent can keep out most insects. Ryan shows how with his Gossamer Gear Whisper Review video at 10:00. Same technique can be applied to anything floorless.

Joke or not, it seems my bathtub filled up again with another rain test, this time to see if pitching it low to the ground would help. It did not help.

The best jokes have a grain of truth to them?

“The best jokes have a grain of truth to them?”

Maybe that’s why my jokes always fall flat.

(that’s a joke.)

However, I’ve NEVER had the experience of a tent with a bathtub floor retaining water rather than keeping it out.  And in fact I’ve been amazed in a number of situations where I’d camped on shallow soil with granite underneath, and a ton of water flowing towards my tent for hours on end–amazed, at how well the ‘tub’ and floor kept water out.  To say nothing of everyday ‘splash’ from thunderstorms. No problemo.

Bathtub floors have been  standard design for decades. If they didn’t work, we would hear more about it.

I like to keep my bag clean and dry in an enclosed tent.

As  for finding an appreciation for spiders and mosquitos and Hanta virus bearing mice scampering over my face all night…well,  we’re all God’s creatures, or the devil’s. I’ve never had mice in my enclosed tent; and I’m able to kill the few skeeters that find their way past my tent door when I enter with a few swats. this is over hundreds of nights.