went away this weekend, we had torrental rain, tent has been pitched for whole may, so on returning to the site i started setting up the bedrooms, upon walking in i felt underfoot what could only be discibed as a water bed effect, and water was coming up though the footprint and sig, anyway on close inspection of the tent i noticed that water had been trapped between the footprint and sig, so in torrential rain i had to take down the back end of the tent, and remove what was a river, then the footprint had to be cut (only way to get to the soil) i got a pitch fork and dug the soil and the water ran away.
re put the rest of the tent up and hey presto we were ok, and guess what that night, no condensation problems at all, (i had been suffering with bad condensation in the bedroom pods between the picnic mats on the floor, so i guess it was poor drainage).
i have decided not to use a footpriint anymore, its going to be a pain cleaning the sig, but itcan be done with old towels, kitchen roll.
does anyone else have this problem, the pitch isn't flat so i guess that is why the rain had run down and pooled by the bedroom end.
We had that problem once. We arrived at the campsite in brilliant sunshine, but by the time we had the bootlid open to start hauling the tent out, the heavens had opened biblical style. Our groundsheet and SIG did exactly the same as yours. We sort of fixed it by tucking the footprint in under the tent all the way round, and by scraping a mini-moat round the tent. (Wonder if I could have claimed that on expenses?)
The fact that the campsite was littered with duckboards should have given us the clue that it was prone to flooding from time to time. The next morning the whole site looked like the paddy fields of Vietnam. Minus the waterbuffalo, of course.
Still. It was good experience, I'm told.
Suggestion for a footprint for future similar trips would be to substitute some of that matting you buy in B&Q to cover the soil in the garden to stop the weeds growing. More expensive and comes in strips, but can be rolled up and re-used as often as a tarpaulin. Just a thought.
we used a footprint about 5 years ago when we first started camping. we had puddles and condesation. that was the first and last time we used one. i'd rather have to clean the sig off every camping time than have wet feet. and it doesnt take that long to clean anyway.
Was about to say that too - make sure your footprint is slightly smaller than the tents footprint and that none of it is sticking out from under the tent.
If any of it 'sticks out' then it lets the rain in between the footprint and your sig (wicking effect)
i did that and it still rain between the footprint, so guess its the pitch being slighty hillly, will try next week without footprint at all and report back, going armed with my old towels and kitchen roll, will get the kids involved they love it.
we use a small brush to sweep the muck of the bottom of tent. we then have a way of folding it so the tent doesnt come into contact with the sig so doesnt get dirty or wet. it gets a good scrub at end of season
i had the same problem a few weeks ago, so instead of making the footprint/tarp smaller i'm going to make it a bit bigger so it sits up between the bedroom pod sig and the tent wall, in effect a making a bathtub ground sheet. it works in my mind but will see what happens in real life. lol............
Quote: Originally posted by sillylilly on 19/5/2009
i'm going to make it a bit bigger so it sits up between the bedroom pod sig and the tent wall, in effect a making a bathtub ground sheet. .....
You'll have to make sure that the upturned edge of the groundsheet is not resting on the outer fly; any condensation that previously ran down the inside of the fly and dripped onto the ground will now run off onto the groundsheet and under the sig.
Also mind how you go with the corners.
When doing away with a footprint on SIG tents, it has to be remembered it is also offering damage protection to the SIG besides stopping it getting a bit mucky. You would have to make sure theres no bits of gravel from tracks, or twigs (if youre near trees), before setting the tent up, or these may push straight thru an unprotected SIG..
Suggestion for a footprint for future similar trips would be to substitute some of that matting you buy in B&Q to cover the soil in the garden to stop the weeds growing. More expensive and comes in strips, but can be rolled up and re-used as often as a tarpaulin. Just a thought.
Zorro that sounds like an excellent idea - we had exactly the same problem with our footprint and zig last year, never used one before. The matting from the garden centres would provide the extra bit of protection for the SIG/ZIG and stop it getting muddy, whilst allowing rain to drain through it thus preventing the 'waterbed' and condensation effect. A heck of a lot cheaper than a made-for-the-tent footprint groundsheet too!
Had the same problem with our Vango 900. The footprint laid out, we never really got the main tent to fit spot on, and in the area's it was exposed, the water just ran inbetween. Daughters bedroom was like a waterbed, but the main problem is that the water comes through the seams.
We have binned the Footprint. Much rather clean the SIG than have water in the tent.
What we have done is stab small holes in our under ground sheet, this then lets the water drain out and doesnt seem to affect the bottom of the tent. It also seems to help the grass underneath as it gets a small watering!
Familyof4
------------- Life is to short to do the ironing....
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Topic: water trapped betwween footprint and sig
