Floorless Shelter in The Mud

I am posting this here because I am a beginner as far as floorless shelters are concerned. I have read about the greatness of tarp camping and floorless shelters, but I am having trouble giving it a try for the following reasons.
I live and backpack in the Northwest where summers are unpredictable unless you are predicting rain.
Often I will reach a camp spot that is muddy with puddles.
I currently am using a Tarptent Squall 2 with success and I am thinking of taking it a step further by going with just a tarp. The "bathtub" floor has served me well, however. One time I had water flowing under the floor and was glad that I had my set up. I know that site selection is a big part of it, but sometimes it is nice to be able to set up the shelter regardless of tree placement and not worry too much about the middle of the night drainage problems, especially when it is cold and pouring. Maybe I am missing the point but I just can't see putting my pad in the mud, trying to keep my sleeping bag clean and out of the mud and sleeping soundly.

I've tarped it a fair bit, and I use floorless tents too.. However, you've more or less hit the nail on he head - site selection is important. You can't expect to drop a floorless tent down in the middle of a hog wallow and not get dirty, if that's you're style of camping, stick with something with a floor <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> My personal preference is often without a floor, and definately so if you count a hammock as a "floorless" shelter.

Now, on the other hand usually, if I'm in a floorless shelter I do NOT set up on "mud" - I will usually pick a grassy site. gravel or sand is ok too. You can carry a 4 foot by 7 foot piece of poly painter's tarp. - just a light sheet of plastic can huck down if it is dirty, and you don't have to care if it gets holes in it. Yes, it is different. you do have to think about it a bit more. and yes, it's possible you might get your pad a bit dirtier. On the other hand I find it's sometimes *easier* to keep clean in a floorless shelter. Doncha hate bringing dirty boots into a bathtub floor? no worries if the floor is just grass or plain old ground. Ditto snowy boots when you're on snow. The other key bit is I don't find a bathtub floor will usually keep out a full on deluge running under it, you're still gonna get wet if you're *that* far off on your site selecton

Why are you thinking about a tarp? If your reason is weight, you won't save much over the shelter you are currently using. If you just want to try it out and see what using a tarp is like, try to connect with someone in your area who already uses a tarp and learn from them. If you want the shelter to cook under, definately bring a piece of tyvek or thin plastic as a ground sheet. I'm NOT trying to keep you from using a tarp, but instead to get you think out why and how.

The initial reason for considering a tarp was for weight savings and simplicity. I was also curious about it after reading people rave about the benefits of a tarp and floorless shelters. I guess I was trying to understand how to go about setting up in the rain, if there was something I was missing. I can see how a floorless shelter would work in the rain if there was grass, thick duff or dry ground to begin with upon set up, but it just seems like the potential for a wet filthy mess is too great for me. I guess I was missing nothing all along, and as I suspected, it is in site selection. There is no real magic to it.
I sometimes go solo packing and have the flexibility to camp where ever I decide, thus I have more flexibility in site selection. On the other hand I often go with groups and have to camp in designated areas based on inflexible group plans. This means a camp area that can be devoid of grass and vegetation, under dripping trees and plenty of bare dirt which is either mud or can turn to mud in a downpour.
Thanks for your thoughts on the matter. I guess I will not try to fix what isn't broken, and continue with the Squall 2.

Yup, preset campsites can be a muddy mess. Have you ever thought about a hammock? It gives you the ability to set up above the mud and if you are using a hammock and tarp combination rather than a connected unit like the jungle hammock, the ability to set up in a more open configuration if the weather is nice.

green and tan
are those team colors BTW?
Anyway

A very long time ago and far far away, <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />I spent a summer BPing and carried an 8x10 sheet of plastic as my only cover. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />Back then we called it a ground cloth <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> although it was not cloth at all, <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> and we laid our stuff on it and slept under the stars. (this is all per Colin Fletcher) <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> If it rained you simply pulled half of it over you. It weighed 6 ounces. Now days you have to buy a tarp made of UL silnylon and it weighs a pound and costs $120 on ebay. Its the same thing guys. And a huge number of tarp setups are simply tube tents without the benefit of a floor. Tube tents were great - light simple and effective AND they kept you clean - tube tents were a great improvement over plastic tarps.
<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />Jim YMMV <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Tube tents were also suffocation hazards that only lasted about 5 minutes before the cheap plastic was shredded beyond being able to be used. They let blowing rain in, were small and cramped and your feet stuck out the ends. I used them in Boy Scouts and they sucked. They did make a great "sweat lodge", though. Anyone who could spend the night in one woke up in a puddle of sweat and 10 lbs. lighter.

BF

bf cool new avatar he he

I remember being hit by an unexpected lightening storm in the Sierras. We were sleeping on top of my tube tent, but we - me, GF and her son and the dog, all got inside it and waited out the morning sun to hike out in the rain.

They maybe a suffocation hazard in the winter, but if you use a ridge cord and tie it up like a tarp - Its is an improved tarp. Cheap is in the eye of the beholder, but if you are condemning a tent design because someone made it of cheap plastic, how about new UL tents made of tyvek plastic - not much difference. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

My siltent is a siltarp trimmed on two sides, rolled into a burrito and sewn. The bottom end has a triangle of no seeum netting and the door end has various closures. The entire thing with cord and 4 stakes in a stuff sack weighs 16 oz and its 8 feet long and ITS A TUBE TENT. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Do you have condensation problems with you 'tube tent'?