How do you stay dry in a shelter half tent with no floor? Doesn't

>>951411
In the army we dig a drainage trench around it if we're expecting rain.

>>951415
How close & how deep?

>>951415
>>951418
Did that as a scout too when I was younger. About a (small) showel-head deep and wide. Depending on the amount of rain we could also dig a channel for the water to get away from the tent from the lowest point in the "trench".
If rain is not bad then we would sometimes only dig a trench on the most exposed side of the tent - usually being the side where we expected water to flow towards our tent or the side facing the wind.

>>951415

>Drainage trench

OMG you shitlords never stop tearing up the planet

>>951442
Yeah man it says it "leave no trace, except for a trench because you're too retarded to buy a proper tent or rainproof gear".

>>951442
>>951449
Trenching works. What's the big deal?

>>951463
your disturbing the soil and its delicate micro fauna and flora. that is NOT your right!

>>951465
I'm giggling.

>>951442
>>>951415
>>Drainage trench
>OMG you shitlords never stop tearing up the planet
>Complains about people tearing up the planet
>Is ok with negros tearing up his anus

>>951442
Last time I used shelter halves was in the Army. The Army doesn't give a fuck about your dirt.

>>951411
You don't. Get a real tent.

>>951411
Pitch your shit on high ground so the rain flows away. Digging a trench is viable if you're forced onto flat ground/a constant slope. I think the Army teaches trench doctrine cuz they've got a platoon sleeping in the same place. Choosing harder ground is an easier way to deal with moisture as well.

Or you could get a bathtub bottom shelter- be it a decent tent or a shit bivy that you leave open.

>>951465
>AZOTOBACTER LIVES MATTER
>REEEE FILTHY HUMANS

>>951465
>Breaking up dense soil crusts so vascular plants can seed, sprout, and dig their roots in to produce humus later down the line

I don't see the problem desu, tilling the soil every once in a while is a good thing.

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>>951411
>How do you stay dry in a shelter half tent with no floor? Doesn't the water just flow right under it and onto you?

The answer is that you need to know what to look for in not just your campsite, but in the exact spot where you pitch your tarp. A lot of people think they know what they're doing, but the reality is that they may tarp-camp for many years before they experience a big enough rain storm to really flood their tarp site to the extent needed to prove that it's a good spot.

The ideal tarp site will be slightly elevated over the rest of the ground, maybe be located on a slope, have somewhat rocky/sandy, even spongy soil (rather than muddy or dense-packed dirt), and ideally be sheltered by large trees above and around you to block blowing rain.

Pic related is a bit hard to see, but in a very, very large storm two summers ago - I'm talking storm of the decade if not biggest storm in 25 or 40 years - I experienced puddling underneath my tarp at this site. The site really isn't *that bad* compared to where some other people in my group pitched their tents, but notice how the site is basically at the same level as the rest of the forest floor. That made it prone to puddling.

1/3

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>>951747

2/3

This is where I moved to. There was no puddling at or around this site during even the strongest part of the storm. Notice how the ground is slightly elevated compared to the forest floor around it. It was also a little rockier than where I moved from.

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>>951750

3/3

Here's an example of someone else in my party who pitched his tent at an obvious tent site, which was exactly his mistake. By "obvious," I mean that the soil was hard-packed in the size and shape of a tent about two paces from an obvious fire ring, and it was clear that other people had pitched their tents there for years. It was in a slight depression in the forest floor, a perfect flat spot seemingly ideal for a tent.

Notice that his tent has a bathtub floor, but water still got into his tent and got on his sleeping bag. Notice also that he's fucking around with digging a makeshift trench a little too late and it's not really doing anything. The only trench that would have helped him would be a pretty deep one (a foot deep and a foot wide) that drained downhill. You can NOT let your guard down with site selection and expect things to go well in the woods. That goes for tarps and tents.

Use a hammock. Problem solved.

>>951752
>be bear
>smell human
>come closer
>he's hanging between two trees right at eye level
>notice his dick is hard
>bear starts salivating
>"I'LL SUCK YOUR COCK!" the bear roars
>human pisses himself but is too afraid to move
>uses too much tooth, human starts screaming
>blood spurts everywhere
>human dies
Your mother will die in her sleep tonight unless you respond "shoo shoo, horny bear" to my post.

>>951757
sleep tight meller

>>951726
>I don't see the problem desu, tilling the soil every once in a while is a good thing.
>What is a biological soil crust
They help vascular plants and result in higher biomass

Could I bring a third shelter half and make a bathtub floor with it? How do you set one up that way?

>>951774
Regardless of what kind of shelter you use, you really don't want to wake up in the middle of a storm and find yourself in the middle of a puddle or an ephemeral creek feeder.

>>951751
Oh man you're making me so nervous, I just got a tarp and have never used one before

>>951847
Three reasons not to freak out *that* much:

1. Most heavy rain occurs in the heat of the day (especially in the mountains), when you're not likely to be sleeping under your tarp. The rain storm that happened to me was in the evening while everyone was still awake.
2. Most times that it rains, it doesn't really rain that hard, so even if you choose a bad tarp site, you probably won't pay for it.
3. In the mountains, it doesn't rain that much anyway. I've gone entire hiking seasons experiencing only a few night time rains.

>>951752
won't water just run down the strings?

>>951411
yeah trenching pretty much. My dad even did that when we camped when I was a kid and there were really bad clouds out. These days everyone gets all sensitive about it. It's fucking dirt. If it can't take a turning over once in a while it wasn't meant to live. Leave no trace has very little to do with ecology and everything to do about aesthetics. As long as you're not leaving garbage like plastic that doesn't break down anyway.

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>>952002
>won't water just run down the strings?

>>952002
>won't water just run down the strings?
You can set up "drip "strings" where the hammock attaches to the suspension. This should be under your tarp. The water will run down to the lowest point of the string instead of into your hammock.

>>952004
Might as well just bring a tent at that point.

>>952011
>sleeping on the ground, like an animal

>>952011
Not my pic but I think I'm looking at a rectangle tarp with the corners just folded into the middle. Could be wrong.

Does anybody know how to set up some mosquito netting or something for one of these things?

>>951411
>trench
will it stop bugs, gnats and so on ?

>>953895
Not likely. I'm trying to think up some ways. Maybe setting up a tarp (or third shelter half) as a floor and then duct-taping the various seams. It could work, but I'm not sure.

>>951757
Sleep tight Meller

>>951415
This. Also look for sand soil to set up camp on. Makes everything easier.