[Ansteorra] GW camping in cold/hot weather tips

[Bree Flowers]

> Tents, floors: If you make yourself an indoor floor like a bathtub to keep
> the water out, what you get is a bathtub. It only takes on little leak to
> make this a bad idea (been there).

Hahahaha. Thanks, I needed a laugh this morning.

> Floors: I have a tent with no floor. We use those woven plastic mats from
> the chinese grocery or the dog show area. The water goes through them and on
> into the ground. The ground absorbs water quickly there (except on the
> roads) and the mats keep you above the damp. They do not prevent flooding as
> can happen with downpours and lots of runoff, but they do not hold water so
> they dry out quickly. Then you do not have a wet rug for a floor or a nasty
> wet rug to take home.

I've been using a tarp with a cheapo canvas drop cloth over it and
just stopping it a foot from the edge of my tent on the inside, but I
think I might try this idea. The idea that the ground will absorb it
is not always true though. If you're on clay you may find it just sits
there. The ground at Estrella was wet for a week after it rained for
one day and I'm not just talking about the ground under stuff, I'm
talking about the fields with the sunlight baking them all day. The
ground in the "bog" and "swamp" areas at Pennsic is similar. What's
the ground like at GW?

Oh, and this might sound obvious, but take your shoes off at the door
and have a designated spot right next to the door where you can put
them. If you tromp around your tent with your shoes on it will get
really gross really fast. If you're just running in to grab something
and running out and don't want to waste time on shoes, crawl. Just
trust me on this one.

~Eve