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I keep saying this, but...tents of this design, with a seperate flysheet pitched first, are not meant to touch the ground. This is because the rain is supposed to roll straight down the flysheet and drip off into the earth. If the flysheet touched the ground it would end up in a boggy puddle.

To close this gap tents usually either have storm flaps round the living area which tuck under the groundsheet, or a riser groundsheet. There are not normally storm flaps in the sleeping areas because of the need for ventilation here.

However..is your tent an Ebay cheapie? I don't recognise the make. (Rage Bergen??) If so many of these tents don't have stormflaps at all. There's nothing you can do about the gap other than sew on some stormflaps or make a new groundsheet that turns up the inside of the flysheet by about 6".

Hi Alicat,

We have the same problem ! and hedgehogs seem to find the gap particularly enticing.

Valk_Scot - you suggested making stormflaps or customising a groundsheet - both sound like good options. I am very new to camping and have no idea how to do either - which is the easiest and/or best option and how should I go about it ?

Thanks in advance,

TooLilac

Have a look here.

http://www.pennineoutdoor.co.uk/catalogue.asp?cID=1

They have all kinds of fabric that would match your tent.When we had the colarado 5 it had a mudwall round the living area but not the sleeping area.I ordered some fabric,cut it into strips to match,stitched it around the bottom and also put on some loops to peg it down with at the corners.Then sealed the joint with seam sealer.It made draught proof and warmer.

If you look at this photo you will see where I had sewn the mudwall.Its where the side door finishes,around the back and on the other side.As you can see it keeps the draughts out.

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg87/UncleUB/PhilSuesPhotos001.jpg

Yes, it's just strips of something appropriate (I'd use 8-10" deep strips meself) stitched onto the edge of the flysheet, breaking off where the poles are. It's a cumbersome job but an ordinary domestic sewing machine will cope as long as you use a heavyweight needle, such as one for denim. Seam sealent optional but if you do use it you'll have to either pitch the tent or have somewhere to leave the tent out to dry for 24 hours per section, as it can stick to the flysheet if folded up still tacky. I infinately prefer stormflaps to tuck under the groundsheet so you have to leave a slit at each pole. You can combine this with a home-made riser groundsheet made by cutting a groundsheet 8-10" bigger all round than your current one, then cutting the corners etc so that the edges fold up the inside of the tent. Wedge with holdalls, boxes, anything really, or to any availible toggle points. Works very well with storm flaps.

You can do both of these throughout the tent but be very careful that you don't reduce the ventilation to a point where the whole inside ends up dripping with condensation. My personal preference is stormflaps throughout but only a living area groundsheet. You can always kick the stormflaps outside the tent if you want a bit more through draft.

great thanks so much for all the advice, photos and idiot guide (much needed).

Feeling motivated to make the best of our cheapie tent (plus have found out how to repair frayed elastic in the tent pole - this forum is ace!)

Two questions though - what are mud flaps and are they the same as storm flaps and mudwalls ?

translation needed please.

TooLilac

Mudflaps/stormflaps are the same, thing, stips  of groundsheet like fabric sewn along the bottom of the  flysheet and which either tuck under your groundsheet or are pegged down sloping away from the tent. Depends on the design as to which way. Mudwalls are when the bottom foot or so of the flysheet is plasticised, usually in cotton canvas tents which could get sodden from mud splashes. My trailer tent (see pix on profile) has very visible mudwalls, for example, but also has stormflaps which you can't see because they're tucked inside.

This is a good place to ask questions, yup. There's always someone around who knows (and a second person who knows quite different, but that's half the fun, lol.)

Best improvement you can make to any cheapie tent, btw, is to throw away the pegs it came with and buy some decent ones. If you search on "pegs" then you'll find lots of good advice there.

Crashing in a bit here - sorry. But having also brought and regreted a cheap large tunnel tent and in the process of trying to get some money back  - is it true that a very large gap of this nature won't just make the tent rather drafty but can make it more unstable?

The wind really got under mine and made it act rather like a parachute pulling against its tether...Is that less likely to happen with SIG or mudflaps?

Thx

thanks for that. Have already bookmarked the 'delta peg' debate...

k

Quote: Originally posted by Bonnie38 on 29/5/2008

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Having brought and regreted a cheap large tunnel tent and in the process of trying to get some money back  - is it true that a very large gap of this nature won't just make the tent rather drafty but can make it more unstable?

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Quote: Originally posted by Bonnie38 on 29/5/2008

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Crashing in a bit here - sorry. But having also brought and regreted a cheap large tunnel tent and in the process of trying to get some money back  - is it true that a very large gap of this nature won't just make the tent rather drafty but can make it more unstable?

The wind really got under mine and made it act rather like a parachute pulling against its tether...Is that less likely to happen with SIG or mudflaps?

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A normal SIG tent still has a flysheet without stormflaps that goes over it. I think you mean  one of the new designs like the Vango Killington where the SIG is integral to the flysheet?  Yes, the wind is less likely to get under the canvas and pick it up. Same with the storm flaps, if the flaps are tightly pegged down to the groundsheet. The riser groundsheet will not help hold a tent down, btw, as for this particular purpose it's just like a tent with no groundsheet at all.

However if you buy a tent made to the classic flysheet +/- stormflaps it could be argued that this is such a well known and classic design (been around as long as tents, really!!) then it's not a design fault, it's a design characteristic. Unless the sales person advised you otherwise then it's just a choice you made without quite knowing what you were choosing,which is hardly their fault. Incidentally I use flysheet first tents exclusively because I hate SIG and very seldom peg down the stormflaps but I use good quality tents and peg them down to the best of my (very experienced!!!) ability. So they're not a bad choice, they're just a choice.

However, if it's a rubbish tent in general I'm all for returning it!  If however it's a good brand name tent and it's just the design you've gone off...well, it's a bit like changing your mind after you've bought a t-shirt and decide the colour doesn't suit you...the retailer has no obligation to exchange.

Quote: Originally posted by Bonnie38 on 31/5/2008

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Thanks Val - Rather a newbie so I didn't know that I just didn't expect the gap at the bottom to be so BIG...and it to be so very drafty/windy inside.

It is definitely not a decent brand tent but to be fair to them the only truly faulty bits I have found is the stitching in the flysheet which is frankly coming apart in 5 separate places. They have, from the photos sent to them, admitted this is faulty and want to send me a new flysheet. Now a little wiser and with a better idea of what I want I would prefer at least a partial refund or vouchers and to get a better tent elsewhere. I do accept what you say though.

Bonnie

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If the flysheet is starting to split at the seams go for the full refund on that basis, irrespective of the rest.

(Was your tent from an Ebay seller called Tentastic, by any chance?)