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Hi can anyone please offer me some advise, I have just returned from a 3 night camping trip in my new icarus 500 and bought the footprint to go with it.  The weather was hoorendous for the first couple of nights, thunder, lightening and winds galore, thank fully the last night was glorious :).

The problem I had was that when I took the tent down I was alarmed at the amount of rain water pooled under the tent ontop of the footprint.  Is it because the wind was so bad and blew the skirt up?  Did I do something wrong when pitching?  And why didnt the puddles drain away, I would have assumed that the footprint would be breathable for this very reaason?  I was sure to pitch the tent directly ontop of the footprint so none of it was exposed but am concerned about using it in future now as trapped water can not be good right?

Thanks for any advise, will post this on another thread too to maximise amout of advice I might get.

Thanks all

This is one of the reasons I don't like the footprint you get for the specific tents. They, for some bizarre reason, are nearly exactly the same size as the tent. My sis bought a footprint for her easycamp tent and I would say it's marginally bigger than her tent!

The water gets between the two layers. For a camp that lasts for a few days it won't be too bad but the trapped water will stagnate if left for too long. If you can, tuck the footprint further under (fold it making sure you're folding it under and not over), yes I know the eyelets are at the edges but you don't actually need to use them, or you can peg it down temporarily and then remove them once most of your tent is pegged down.

I use a bit of pond liner, but some people cut their footprints. I think you need a few inches free of footprint all around your tent. The easiest way, if you don't want to take a pair of scissors to it, is to just tuck it under.

We pitched in the rain a few weeks ago and had rain every day. The water from pitching remained trapped between the footprint and SIG. Dried out very quickly when we took down the tent. If you're on a slope, water can run onto the footprint too. With a good level of waterproofing for the SIG its not a problem. At least the SIG was clean, albeit a damp. Whole tent needed drying anyway...

Helen

Thanks everyone and in particular victoria1 for your practical advice, i dont think i dare cut lol so i will try the temporary peg down, fold over, unpeg technique to start with and yes, we were on a slight slope so that didn't help although to be fair, the majority of the water was on the side exposed to the worst of the wind.

We weren't put off though, going back for more this weekend lol

Thanks again

Quote: Originally posted by dogscenturion on 15/8/2010

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I have asked this same question on the tent advice part, because i wondered if it was me or a flaw in the tent. Sounds like its me then lol !!!!!

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hi dogscenturion

i dont think it is u or me for that matter, i think it is a flaw in the design, if they sell a footprint for a specific tent, it should be the correct size to counteract this kind of problem, we shouldnt have to fold it to allow for the tent to overhang.  We could have just bought random tarp or pond liner etc as suggested aboved and saved ourselves some money.  No i think it is a design flaw as is it not being breathable and therefore allowing the water to soak away....so there lol