High Sierra Topix

While I have two lightweight one-man tents, both have floors of heavier waterproof material that keeps out water, even underneath me under pressure. But I am not content with that protection, I also add a layer of Tyvek cut to the tents footprint. It is very light and flexible and adds only a few ounces to the tent weight.

Footprints are fine for average moisture, but in a high intensity storm water still runs between the footprint and tent floor. The purpose of the footprint is to protect the tent floor from getting punctures. I am not fond of silicon impregnated nylon tent floors - I prefer a more robust waterproof material. My old single person tent, the MSR Microzoid, had a truely waterproof bathtub floor and when I once stupidely set it up in a duff-filled rock hollow which became a swimming pool, the tent was literally floating in water and it did not leak.

Mid-summery in the Sierra, even after an intense storm, the sun is shining in the morning so you can spend the day drying out. This is NOT the case in the Rockies. There, you can have a gully washer storm, followed by days of rain and freezing and it may be a week before you see sunshine again. Shelter failure is really not an option in that case. These conditions can also occur in the "shoulder-seasons" in the Sierra.

Between the UL trend, marketing by manufacturers and new tent models coming out every year without adequate testing, the backpacker has to be very skeptical nowadays of the weather-worthiness of tents being sold.

We are also all human- even after experiencing many extreme storms in the past, I still choose stupid tent sites at times. It is easy to get lulled into complacency after days of perfect weather! Like, "man I'm tired, its been a long day, put up the tent, its not a great site, but what the H".

Wandering Daisy wrote:The purpose of the footprint is to protect the tent floor from getting punctures.

True. While it helps keep the water out, mainly it is to protect from punctures. It may be great to have a sturdy waterproof bathtub, but if you are getting a bunch of pin-hole punctures from pine needles..

Thanks to all. A lot of good advice and I appreciate everyone's honesty, especially the OP's. Good Stuff!

Indeed. I've pitched where I knew water would flow and have fortunately been lucky. That being said, was in Oregon one year on an Umpqua raft trip with a crappy Coleman tent, left the door portion of the screen unzipped and came back from fly fishing sopping wet to find my bag floating in the tent. Haven't made that mistake (Coleman tent, open fly/window) again!

So I'm guessing by your post that the trail was in good shape and has been cleared of most downfall from the late Nov 2011 event? How were the bugs? Heading up 24-28 so any updates would be appreciated!

Thanks,

D