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We bought a Robens Double Dreamer from Cotswold last year.  We went camping (2 adult 2 children) a few times last year and earlier this, all in relatively dry weather.  Tent proved to be the right size for us, easy to assemble, no complaints.  Then we went camping last weekend (yes, THAT weekend!)  The tent stood up to the wind well.  None of the fabric or seams leaked at all.  The bedrooms were perfectly dry.  But, the flysheet round the living/vestibule area stops a good inch if not two inches above the ground, and rain blew in quite a bit through this gap.

I notice that many tents have flysheets that come right down to the ground or even splay outwards over the ground (is that what's meant by the "mud valance" or "mudflap" I've seen referred to in these forums or is that something else?).  Robens are clearly a serious manufacturer so I assume there is a reason for having this gap.  As a relatively new camper, can anyone explain it to me?  And is there are a easy solution?  We tried bending the groundsheet (a separate sheet but shaped to the plan of the tent) up inside the tent but it's difficult to make it stay that way.  I even fantasised about digging holes under the poles so that they would sit deeper in the ground and the flysheet edge would be closer to the ground.  Will the flysheet stretch over time so that it comes further down the poles?

(Incidentally, are Outwell and Robens connected - their web sites seem very similar?)

Thanks for any help offered to an ignorant-but-willing-to-learn camper

John

I think you will find the gaps around the bottom are there to provide adequate ventilation.

If you were to block them you may find a considerable build up of condensation on the inside of your tent.

Not what you wanted to hear i know.

I had the same thing with my Royal Chicago 6 tunnel tent a few years ago now, my wife hated camping in it because of the gaps all round the bottom....

I think the gaps around the bottom are there simply because that is the way the tent is made. However, it does help with the condensation problem at the expense of rain coming in at times.

Most tents of that nature have adjusting straps at the pegging points and sometimes these will lower the flysheet a little. Another way is to push the tent poles inwards slightly when erecting (without putting too much pressure on them). This gives a little more material to play with, but alternatively, if you pull the poles and the flysheet outwards slightly when erecting, you are in effect 'enlarging' the ground area, which means that your groundsheet will fit inside without reaching the bottom of the fly and water will drip onto the grass rather than onto the groundsheet.

It sounds a load of hassle I know, but it's just a case of trying to fiddle with the tension straps and the flysheet tension until you get the best result. I found with mine it seemed to shrink rather than stretch and the more I used it the bigger the gap became - lol. It seemed to touch the ground all round when it was new then after a few uses I could almost crawl underneath

Unfortunately an uneven or sloping pitch will cause the flysheet to be higher in places and it is difficult to get it touching the ground all the way round.

I have a caravan now but if I were to buy another tent I would consider one with mudflaps...less draughty as well! Mudflaps can be brought inside on top of or under the groundsheet or left outside, and I think with some tents they can be removed or raised depending on the weather.

Hi John & Jane & welcome to the forum

I too think that the gaps are to aid ventilation, but providing you've got other ventilation points which you can keep open, then why should you have to stand the cold & rain coming under the flysheet?

I've noticed that quite a few manufacturers seem to ignore the need for draught flaps nowadays. I bought a small tunnel tent a few months ago which had flaps around the living area, but big gaps around the bedroom area, so I cut strips of polyethlene (PE groundsheet material) and sewed them onto the bottom edge of the flysheet.

As your tent is a quality Robens model, I would suggest that if you want to add draught flaps, you use PU coated nylon fabric as it will look better & match the tent more. 

i think it was uneven ground that gave us a gap in one corner of the tent..

http://picasaweb.google.com/btp.co.uk/TentStuff/photo#5038155230811674994

http://picasaweb.google.com/btp.co.uk/TentStuff/photo#5030619276750812114

if the links don't work, you can see the pictures on my homepage.