Types of shelter

I don't buy stuff on E Bay. I know most of the western world does, but I don't like their set up, marketing ploys, or trust a lot of their sellers. Plenty of friends have been screwed by ebay purchases.

there are other options , like campsaver and various other online stores like backcountry.com sometimes you need a mail forwarding company to ship some brands outside of the states www.gearbuyer.com

Cheers Wayno. You're a font of knowledge, my friend! I guess I just like buying locally if possible. Not only is it easier, but it also supports the NZ economy. I don't mind paying a bit extra if Kiwiland benefits. :)

Since when has the humble groundsheet become a 'footprint'? Sure, a tent has a 'footprint' which is the area it covers, so a groundsheet can be used to cover that area but it also can be used anywhere with, or without, the tent. Just musing here about the vagaries of the English language! lol

I think a footprint is a groundsheet specifically shaped for a particular tent (usually with eyes or anchor points to enable said tent to be pitched fly only if required). It mirrors the footprint of the tent....hence the name :-)

The footprint is also to protect the floor of the tent (from rocks etc), as it is normally cheaper to replace the footprint than the floor of the tent. Also helps increase water rating of the tent floor.

a lot of tents now are made with very lightweight floors, if you're going to be pitching on rough ground, you're better getting the footprint, it can be a bit of a gimmick to because the tent weight looks lighter with the default lightweight floor in it...

In my experience built-in floors are a mixed blessing. If you are determined to keep the bugs and snow out, then a floor is essential. But in almost every other respect I don't like them. While superficially they seem like a good idea - what actually seems to happen in the real world is that instead of keeping water out; they actually just keep it in. Way back in the late 70's two of us spent weeks doing field work (tramping style) in Dusky Sound. That tests out any camping strategies you may have. We just took a single walled - no floor - two pole A-frame styled tent. That's it - the absolute bottom end of tents we could have taken. But it worked. Sure the bugs got in. But the inevitable rain driven mist and condensation got out. To keep our bags dry from the Fiordland bogs we'd spend a bit of time building up a bit of a platform with whatever material was about, and then laid over standard sleeping bag ground sheets and closed-cell foam pads. Condensation would just run down off the inside edge of the tent and out. And when it rained really hard (which drives a fine mist through the tent fabric) our rain jackets over the top of the bags would let the wetness gradually find its way down and onto the ground without building up as puddles or pools. Not saying this is an ideal or any kind of 'best practise'. But to my mind if you are going for a floor, then it's only a valid option in a setup with a good solid outer fly that will keep the inner dry regardless of conditions.

In 2005 I camped for 8months while working on a farm with a Coleman Adrenaline 2 Tent. I didn't have to make any waterproofing repairs/outer tent repairs and during a violent storm force 11 it did not, i repeat DID NOT move, tear or suffer any pole damage. The farm had a quantity of campers on at that point and overnight as the storm raged I thought I may get flattened. Alas only mine and one other were still standing the next morning. I loved that tent..semi-geodesic, 8000mm hydrostatic head/water res/rep. alu poles, titanium pegs, seams never leaked the whole time i had it. What makes this piece of nostalgia more relevant, is the tent wasn't considered in the camping/trekking world as a "great" tent. At only £105/$210, it was cheap. They either priced it up wrong or had a fantastic deal at manufacturing source! It certainly paid me back handsomely. I used it for 2 more years (2 x 7 month stints) after and it received many more batterings. Only succumbing to prolonged UV damage (over the 3 years I was in the tent for a total of 22 months). It was a real gem.

Personally, I think there are a lot more benefits to a separate fly and groundsheet. However, the one benefit that you get from having an all-in-one is..... It keeps the bloody bugs out! :D And that is the sole reason I tend to steer towards an all-in-one. I can handle bugs all day whilst tramping, or doing other activities. No worries. But when I crawl into bed at night, I want to be BUG FREE. So that extra couple of hundred grams, the inevitable condensation, the hassle of actually getting into an all-in-one (in most designs) are worth it as far as I'm concerned. Bugs, be gone! :D