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!