REI Half Dome 2 Footprint

[Keeper]

I bought the footprint for my REI halfdome 2 tent. It seems too large to me. It looks to be sticking out of the ends enough to catch water. Has anyone noticed this and is it an issue. General input of footprints may be good too. I figured I'd use it for camping but question if it's worth bringing on a backpack.

 

[albee]

The footprint is definitely a good idea to bring backpacking, since the ground/snow will be damp for quite awhile and it keeps the underside of your tent floor cleaner, drier, and less apt to get punctured.

I own a Half Dome and the footprint fits just right. Maybe it is slightly loose, but it doesn't stick out noticeably. Check the model of tent vs the model of footprint since REI makes a number of tents named Halfdome, Halfdome 2, Quarterdome, etc... you may have been given the wrong one or maybe it was in the wrong package. I love mine.

 

[Tramper Al]

Nope

I'll offer a contrary opinion, because I gave up footprints for tents while backpacking years ago. It's just not worth the weight, in my opinion. I don't care if the underside of my tent floor gets wet or dirty - I think it is supposed to. I still have yet to puncture a tent floor, and if and when I ever do, a small waterproof patch will fix it just fine.

 

[DougPaul]

One can easily make a footprint from plastic dropcloth (available at your nearest hardware store). Cheaper, and you can make the weight vs durability trade-off yourself. My local hardware store carries plastic sheeting in thickness from ~.5mil to 4mil.

Doug

 

[Keeper]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll check to make sure the right footprint made it into the bag. I may pass on the footprint for backpacking in favor of something smaller and lighter or nothing at all, but will keep this one for camping. As long as it doesn't trap water between the footprint and the tent then it should be fine.

 

[Sean]

I find that my footprint sticks out slightly from the edges of the tent, but only a couple of inches. This is easily covered by the rain fly, so I haven't had any problems with water pooling. I do need to reseam the fly, as it has developed this wonderful drip right over my forehear.