>:( I bet there is a foot of water in my tent right now...lucky for me I took everything out this week..still means a very WET Friday for me while I try and bail it out. I need a new tent!!! The first weekend there had to have been a foot deep standing water in the corners, I could have turned goldfish loose in there and they would have been happy.
Nothing like starting your weekend with standing water inside the tent!
You could throw a cheap blue tarp over it on Sunday when you leave. Stake the tarp down of course so that it doesn't blow away. It will add an extra layer of water protection for you.
I've been considering exactly the same idea, just as an emergency technique, in case the waterproofing on the tent fails. Throw a blue tarp over (one big enough to almost touch the ground on all sides) then bungee it to the tent pegs.
I do that on any rain weekend. No matter how good the tent is there is potential for leakage. The big tarp also helps to extend the life by protecting it from any (small) stray limbs that may be blown about by the wind and rain.
It also helps keep in the warmth on those colder nights and as cold as TRF is running this season that is getting to be pretty darn important.
*although the rum does a lot to keep me warm also*
ummmm...i do have a big blue tarp over it...it still leaks the rain pours in the windows, and comes up through the floor seams even with a ground cloth :(
maybe I just need to bite the bullet and buy myself a new tent..perhaps a dome tent?
As a veteran faire-camper, I've learned a few tricks. The best way to protect your tent is to build a platform of pallets with plywood covering it. That gets you a good 6"+ off the ground, and prevents ground seepage and flooding. Covering it with a tarp which is stretched out with lines to bring the edges past the edges of the platform will help reduce rain flooding as well.
I have a tent from walmart it is blue... big and made by coleman. It was 99 dollars but MAN is that a good tent. It has kept most of the rain at bay... I had flooding once but couldn't figure out if it was because of rain or a water jug that leaked...
pallets I can get, plywood no, and can't afford to get it either. Wish I could use a wet vac to clean up the water but the electric is to far. Guess it will be buckets and a towel. :-[
If the tent is empty you could always pull up the stakes, tie the door back and tip it over. Although, then you would have a big puddle under the tent. Perhaps bailing will be better.