For those of you that use a floorless tent

[Evoac05]

How are you keeping the critters out? Do you get a lot of bugs or mice in your tent not having a floor? I am looking to get a nice backpacking tent and can't decide if I want it to have a floor or not. I am going to throw some coin down on a nice pack and would like to keep it inside the tent so it won't get chewed up in the middle of the night by mice, but wouldn't a floor less tent defeat the purpose of bringing the pack inside instead of leaving it outside of the tent? 

[SilkOnTheDrySide]

I use a bivy, but never have had an issue.


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[7mag.]

No issues for me. If camping near water in the summer, I use a nest for mosquitos.

[JKEEN33]

If you have anything that the mice want, a floor in the tent is not going to keep them out. I would keep anything that mice will want outside the tent or you will be doing some patchwork on your nice new tent.

[Ridge Hunter]

I have a ultra lite tipi with no floor, we have had mice in there multiple occasions. One trip a mouse chewed through my wife's bag under her pillow in the night and had baby's. The same trip a mouse also chewed through one of our packs. I have spent hundreds of nights in regular tents and never had a mouse in the tent. 

[Skyvalhunter]

It all depends on the year as far as the mice go. They run in cycles. Of coarse your floorless are not going to be as stable in heavy wind and have a tendency to let wind blow thru. They can save you weight especially ones that use hiking poles for tent poles like the Kelty model. Usually best used in summer and fall months

[ghosthunter]

Leave your pack outside . Hang it from a tree limb.
If worried about big critters. Put you dirty socks or sweaty shirt on it.  Take a leak nearby. Most bigger critters will keep their distance once they smell you.

Flying bugs take Thermal Cell.

Mice not much you can do. Traps maybe .

[fillthefreezer]

Of coarse your floorless are not going to be as stable in heavy wind and have a tendency to let wind blow thru. They can save you weight especially ones that use hiking poles for tent poles like the Kelty model. Usually best used in summer and fall months

these statements are so far off base i cant believe it! i would put my floorless shelter sidexside in nasty weather anything except a 4season double wall mountaineering tent.

[180-GRAIN]

The main thing I worry about with a floorless tent would be water from a downpour rainstorm possibly pooling up or running through the tent. That fear is the only reason I pack a tent with floor in it.

[SilkOnTheDrySide]

We rode out three days of rain past year without the ground even getting damp. I don't think I'll ever run a shelter with a floor again unless it's deep winter camping


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[boneaddict]

Popular tenting campgrounds  and snake country I enjoy having a floor.   As stated, if  a mouse really wants to get in they will get in, and I have a hole or two to prove it.  On the mountain, I have no problem sleeping under a tree or under a bivy.   As for bugs, your open door is more bothersome than a floorless tent.   Carpenter ants can be a nuisance.  They bug me more than skeeters when I am coyoting out. 

[Evoac05]

Thanks everyone for your input. Sounds like floorless isn't as bad as I was thinking it was going to be. Now I just have to decide which tent I want.

[ICEMAN]

I have a ultra lite tipi with no floor, we have had mice in there multiple occasions. One trip a mouse chewed through my wife's bag under her pillow in the night and had baby's. The same trip a mouse also chewed through one of our packs. I have spent hundreds of nights in regular tents and never had a mouse in the tent. 

Exactly our experience, never had a mouse chew in at night, (or daytime while I was away.)

Floorless is not worth the savings in weight IMHO.  Cut the bugs, cut the dust, cut the mice, get a floor.

[ICEMAN]

Of coarse your floorless are not going to be as stable in heavy wind and have a tendency to let wind blow thru. They can save you weight especially ones that use hiking poles for tent poles like the Kelty model. Usually best used in summer and fall months

these statements are so far off base i cant believe it! i would put my floorless shelter sidexside in nasty weather anything except a 4season double wall mountaineering tent.

Really? I have had 2" of dust pile up against my tent during a heavy windstorm,  leeward side, and even completely zipped up, I ended up with a dusting on everything in my tent too. I imagine a floorless would have been a total disaster in that wind.

[SilkOnTheDrySide]

Of coarse your floorless are not going to be as stable in heavy wind and have a tendency to let wind blow thru. They can save you weight especially ones that use hiking poles for tent poles like the Kelty model. Usually best used in summer and fall months

these statements are so far off base i cant believe it! i would put my floorless shelter sidexside in nasty weather anything except a 4season double wall mountaineering tent.

Really? I have had 2" of dust pile up against my tent during a heavy windstorm,  leeward side, and even completely zipped up, I ended up with a dusting on everything in my tent too. I imagine a floorless would have been a total disaster in that wind.

What kind of environment were you camped in?


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[SilkOnTheDrySide]

Of coarse your floorless are not going to be as stable in heavy wind and have a tendency to let wind blow thru. They can save you weight especially ones that use hiking poles for tent poles like the Kelty model. Usually best used in summer and fall months

these statements are so far off base i cant believe it! i would put my floorless shelter sidexside in nasty weather anything except a 4season double wall mountaineering tent.

Really? I have had 2" of dust pile up against my tent during a heavy windstorm,  leeward side, and even completely zipped up, I ended up with a dusting on everything in my tent too. I imagine a floorless would have been a total disaster in that wind.

What kind of environment were you camped in?


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[wilsongideon]

Went floorless one trip ....my brother in law had a big ole mouse scurrying around on him ran right across his face! Went to a tent and i sure like it but floorless have their place

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[ICEMAN]

Of coarse your floorless are not going to be as stable in heavy wind and have a tendency to let wind blow thru. They can save you weight especially ones that use hiking poles for tent poles like the Kelty model. Usually best used in summer and fall months

these statements are so far off base i cant believe it! i would put my floorless shelter sidexside in nasty weather anything except a 4season double wall mountaineering tent.

Really? I have had 2" of dust pile up against my tent during a heavy windstorm,  leeward side, and even completely zipped up, I ended up with a dusting on everything in my tent too. I imagine a floorless would have been a total disaster in that wind.

What kind of environment were you camped in?


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In a stupid spot on the only flat place for a tent, on a rounded knoll at 4500', Entiat mountains, summer, overnight shed trip. Dry and warm, lots of wind. I had sand and dust in my bag, in every pocket of my pack.

[ridgefire]

I have the fly creek ul2 and the kifaru paratarp with a bivy  and prefer the tarp setup over the tent.

[Andrew]

I have both a 2-man tent and 4-man shelter (Mountain Hardware Hoopla).  First high hunt the tent was great except that it's vestibule was tiny and it was cramped for two people.  The second high hunt (last year) I used the shelter for the first time.  It has a ground cloth, but is still open to the elements unless you place rocks all around the tent, but this defeats the venting.  We experienced one hell of a storm wind gusts in the 60 mph range, 1/4-1/2" hail, and lighting that went on for 6 hours.  Had our staking job sucked our tent would have been in Canada.  Something you don't have to worry about too much with a tent that has integral floor and you're in it. However, the additional room was well worth it.  As for critters, only critter was a "huge" grasshoper that jumped onto my face and damn near scared the *censored* out of me!

[tonymoe]

I've spent many a nights in floorless tent, I love em. Never lost any sleep due to critters. I'll tell you what, if you want to try one before you buy, I've got an MSR twin sister that I love! Your more then welcome to give it a go!
I've got a new tent for this year and won't be needing the MSR anytime soon.
Floor less aren't for everyone, but they are for me!
Holler if you wanna borrow it

[DIYARCHERYJUNKIE]

I have a 12x12 wall tent and just duck tape a tarp to the walls for a floor.  Keeps mice out fine.

[DIYARCHERYJUNKIE]

I have a 12x12 wall tent and just duck tape a tarp to the bottom of the walls for a floor. I also put my gear around the walls on the inside to hold it down. Keeps mice out fine.