# Backpacking Dopers: Tent help, please?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpacking-dopers-tent-help-please/348549>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [March 16, 2006, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpacking-dopers-tent-help-please/348549 "2006-03-16T01:20:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpacking-dopers-tent-help-please/348549/21 "2006-03-16T16:15:58Z")

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> [@NurseCarmen](#):
>
> Another thing that gets me about tents these days is the selling of footprints. When I was a kid…

My first tent was an OD canvas Boy Scout tent I got when I was nine. Wooden tent poles, about five feet high. Guylines to hold the bottom part of the sides so that they made short vertical walls. No floor. Dad put down a tarp.

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**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpacking-dopers-tent-help-please/348549/22 "2006-03-16T17:36:09Z")

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I have trouble seeing custom footprints as anything but a good thing. I used the plastic sheeting for years, but I hated to just throw it away, and it degraded and got brittle after a while. Tarps always seemed to catch water or slide around. I like the new footprints because they attach directly to the frame of the tent, they’re exactly the right size, they stay taut, and they give you the option of floor-and-fly packing in one easily set up, integrated system.

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpacking-dopers-tent-help-please/348549/23 "2006-03-16T17:59:04Z")

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I never bothered with footprints myself. A high-tech solution to a low-tech “problem.” 3 mil plastic, cut to fit, just like **NurseCarmen**. Use it, abuse it, throw it away when you get home.

These days, of course, we use [these](http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jhtml?id=0006263514708a&type=product&cmCat=cchart_dome_tent). The annual Thanksgiving trip involves 2 6-person and one 8 person-tents. That’s for 4 people, mind you! We do like our comfort. 😃

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**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpacking-dopers-tent-help-please/348549/24 "2006-03-16T18:08:55Z")

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Yeah, but I’m of a strong ecological bent. I hate throwing away big sheets of plastic. The footprint’ll last for years.

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backpacking-dopers-tent-help-please/348549/25 "2006-03-16T18:15:13Z")

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What you really need is a heavy-duty sewing machine, or a friend with one. That way you can manufacture your own custom footprints, bags, etc. I have such a friend. We always get his prototypes to play with.

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