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Thread: Tent flooding

  1. #1

    Default Tent flooding

    My tent and my backpack are the heaviest aspects of my gear system. I plan on replacing the tent and then the bag gradually while on trail but the tent is certainly something I'd like to replace asap.
    I'm strongly considering buying a zpacks tent but I 'm not sure whether to buy a tub bottom section. What are the odds my tent will get flooded on the AT without tub flooring?

  2. #2
    Registered User Venchka's Avatar
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    Good to excellent. Read some of Tipi Walter's trip reports and his accounts of rain events lasting upwards of 150 hours.
    Or not. Every year is different. You might luck out and sit out one of those storms in a comfy shelter.
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    Registered User ggreaves's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Timinator View Post
    My tent and my backpack are the heaviest aspects of my gear system. I plan on replacing the tent and then the bag gradually while on trail but the tent is certainly something I'd like to replace asap.
    I'm strongly considering buying a zpacks tent but I 'm not sure whether to buy a tub bottom section. What are the odds my tent will get flooded on the AT without tub flooring?
    Time for a hammock. High and dry every night no matter what the weather.

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    In the shadows AfterParty's Avatar
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    I'd probably at least dig a gutter if you don't go bathtub and get a bivy
    Hiking the AT is “pointless.” What life is not “pointless”? Is it not pointless to work paycheck to paycheck just to conform?.....I want to make my life less ordinary. AWOL

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by AfterParty View Post
    I'd probably at least dig a gutter if you don't go bathtub and get a bivy
    Choose an appropriate site for your tent, and there is no need for a bathtub floor or to do something as horrible as digging a gutter. Leave no trace.

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    Murphy's law:
    If you buy the tub, you may or need it.
    If you don't it the tub, 100% chance you'll need it.

    I've spent enough time in shelter halves and digging trenches around them to divert water that I'm more than happy to carry a few extra ounces on a tub floor. Sleep time is recovery time.

    You're already saving a ton of weight by going with a Zpack, adding the floor still puts you ahead of the game.


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  7. #7

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    A Duplex with stakes is 24oz or so. With a full bathtub floor and bug netting, it's hard to beat. Great tent, love mine.

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    Maybe try a hammock. Get the cheapest one from amazon and an 8x8 blue tarp hung diagonally.

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by AfterParty View Post
    I'd probably at least dig a gutter if you don't go bathtub and get a bivy
    That's against LNT ethics and nearly impossible to do without tools anyway. Doesn't protect you from splash either, which is a significant factor.

    Yes, you need a tub bottom unless you don't mind rolling into the mud and having it splash under the edges of the tent. You also want the bug protection.
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  10. #10

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    Either a tub bottom or a lightweight bivy (Tigoat, etc) would give you the additional protection you need.

  11. #11
    Registered User Venchka's Avatar
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    How exactly does one replace a backpack gradually? On the trail? Grinning.
    The Duplex is what, $600?
    The ULA Ohm 2.0 costs $210 or the Circuit costs $235.
    There are 5 TarpTent models under $300 each. Henry doesn't sell incomplete tents.
    Start lighter on Day 1. Save a few bucks. Stay dry & bug free.
    Think about it.
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  12. #12

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    I have only once gotten flooded on the AT while tarp camping. I had picked a shallow, compacted depression to set up in. I do use a ground cloth just to be clear and curled it/lifted it on a side for peace of mind maybe a time or two. I do use one in my tipi tent now but that's 'cause of kids sliding off the ground cloth under the tent into the rain. I subconsciously don't do that but not everyone can. Also can you keep yourself from pushing your gear under the wall as well?
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    You have to have protection of some sort from runoff and/or pooling water on the ground when hiking in the eastern mountains. What seems like a great high and dry tent spot when you pick it can later in the night mysteriously seem to defy the laws of physics and turn into a water path or puddle. Part of it has to do with site selection. Even slightly higher mounded areas, which would be dryer, tend to be either rocky or rooty and not eroded as much as the surrounding area. They tend to be uneven and therefore unsuitable. You need a relatively level spot to pitch a tent. And those level spots tend to pool water from the higher, less eroded areas around them. A waterproof floor is pretty much a necessity.
    "That's the thing about possum innards - they's just as good the second day." - Jed Clampett

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    Quote Originally Posted by Slo-go'en View Post
    That's against LNT ethics and nearly impossible to do without tools anyway. Doesn't protect you from splash either, which is a significant factor.

    Yes, you need a tub bottom unless you don't mind rolling into the mud and having it splash under the edges of the tent. You also want the bug protection.
    Hey I learned something today still say get a bivy
    Hiking the AT is “pointless.” What life is not “pointless”? Is it not pointless to work paycheck to paycheck just to conform?.....I want to make my life less ordinary. AWOL

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    Quote Originally Posted by AfterParty View Post
    I'd probably at least dig a gutter if you don't go bathtub and get a bivy
    NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.

    Do NOT dig a frigging gutter/French drain around your frigging tent/tarp. DO NOT.

    WTH about LNT is not being understood here?

  16. #16
    Registered User Noseeum's Avatar
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    Another two thumbs up from another happy owner of the ZPacks Duplex. Get the bathtub floor which will protect you from bugs, run-off, splash, and assorted bad luck. Even the Duplex weighs in at well under 2-pounds, even less for the Solplex or Altaplex.

    Also, I'll pile on and agree that no current-day hiker should be digging gutters,etc for their tent. Especially on a high-traffic trail like the AT. The only digging anyone should do on the AT is a cat hole for when you can't make it to a privy.
    "Healthy, Free, The World Before Me, The Long Brown Path Before Me Leading Wherever I Choose." - Walt Whitman, Song of the Open Road

  17. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by ScareBear View Post
    NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.

    Do NOT dig a frigging gutter/French drain around your frigging tent/tarp. DO NOT.

    WTH about LNT is not being understood here?
    +1. Or a thousand. Also, unless you set up over a body of water a hammock will NOT be flooded. Apparently (I got my ass eaten at HF.NET about old info ) you can hang in GSMNP now at shelter site with tent sites. My hammock rig is just over 2 lbs and the most comfy (and dry) sleep I've ever gotten in the back country. Something to think about. And an 11ft hammock and 11ft silpoly tarp is cheaper than a 2lb tent. Even if you have to buy and not make it yourself.

    Cheers,
    the Goat

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Timinator View Post
    My tent and my backpack are the heaviest aspects of my gear system. I plan on replacing the tent and then the bag gradually while on trail but the tent is certainly something I'd like to replace asap.
    I'm strongly considering buying a zpacks tent but I 'm not sure whether to buy a tub bottom section. What are the odds my tent will get flooded on the AT without tub flooring?
    I too have experienced Virginia ground floods. We were not in a depression. back then the air mattress was 4 inches and I slept all night and was floating in the top of the tent 12 inches above the floor. (Andre Jamlet) I think I was 10 years old at the time. When I woke up I put my arms down to the floor to work my way out of the new pond inside the tent and I was shocked.

    Ya never know...
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    Woo

  19. #19
    Registered User ggreaves's Avatar
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    For the price of a new Duplex tent - 21 oz ($600) you could get...

    Dutchware half-wit hammock with suspension and bugnet... 14oz
    HammockGear 11' cuben fiber tarp with doors.......................... 7oz

    Total outlay is Hammock $137 + Tarp $295 = $432 which leaves you $168 more to spend on a lightweight backpack or quilt or whatever to help lighten your load. And... you won't get wet, from either ground water or condensation... ever. And you'll sleep in the same position every night no matter what the ground looks like. No more sleeping on funny angles or on top of roots. Restorative sleep every night. You'll leave no trace and won't have to dig moats where you set up.

    Everything else you'd be carrying besides the hammock and tarp would be the same as a tent setup. You will want a mattress to keep your butt warm in the hammock or give you a place to sleep in a shelter if you're so inclined or above treeline.

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    If you get flooded, it will be because YOU picked a bad spot.
    On the AT, you always know the forecast . Reception is good enough that someone always knows.

    Pitch on a slight slope, on leaves and soft duff. Hard clear areas mean runoff and packed as soil so water doesnt soak in. Put sticks/rocks under uphill side of groundsheet to elevate it in case.

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