I wanted to test my Eureka Tet 3 this year (she's 4 years old) by not putting a tarp over her. She came thru with flying colors. I did notice that I wasn't as warm as in past years with a tarp, tho.

My new marmot limestone 6 stayed warm and dry - it has a full coverage fly, fitted ground cloth and 2 small vestibules - I totally love it. I also have a mountain hardware tent that has never leaked. I also never tarp overhead. Every Eureka tent I've had has leaked badly. Good tents are the key and save money and frustration in the long run.

YC

I used a Eureka Tetragon 4 for several years and I always stayed dry. I got it on sale at Campmor. The floor needed a tarp underneath since the floor material was light weight. Two things are key: make sure the tarp is 6" smaller than the floor of the tent and not sticking out anywhere, and remember to stake out the rainfly on the sides so that it clears the sides of the tent. With the rain falling 6 inches or so away from the tent, it's not likely to pool underneath. That goes for any tent. Another feature to look for is a "bathtub" floor. The floor itself wraps up the sides of the tent and that seam is protected by the all over rain fly. Some of the bigger tents have the floor seam at ground level, and or a fly that only covers a small part of the tent. Tarping helps those tents.

This year I used a LLBean 4 person family tent, which was heavier than the Tetragon. I liked that I could almost stand up inside (5'). I stayed dry the whole time, and hopefully it will continue to perform well for the next 10 years.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I'm taking notes. My tent is a Eureka Blue Mesa 1610 and I use it with the footprint made for that tent, so I'm pretty done with them. I camp at fest with 2 kids and away from fest with 2 kids plus another adult, so I'm thinking I want a 6-8 person tent. I'm hoping that if I have some idea of what I want and start looking now, I can find something for a good price, but I'm expecting to spend a lot- I think it's worth it if it saves me time and money trying to waterproof it every year and the frustration of being wet and worrying if it's going to rain.

We had two tents and both were bone dry through the rains this year:

REI Base Camp 6 (which I loveeeeeee) with the made-for-it footprint.

http://www.rei.com/product/777755/rei-base-camp-6-tent

and an LL Bean King Pine HD 6 Person Dome with no footprint at all.

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/68612?fe ... Id=1124611

Even the screen house area which has no floor was dry (we closed up the sides during the rains).

DF

If you have a small tent, you can boost water resistance for about $1 with a thin plastic drop cloth from a paint department. Draped over top, clipped with clothespins. For years I used a clear plastic sheet of Visqueen (construction sites use lots of it), draped over top and out about another foot on either side of my 7x7 tent. Worked fine.

Of course the perfect solution is a "flown" tarp over your tent and somewhat beyond--- IF you have the site for it. Carefully rigged to prevent puddling and direct run off. But I got by for years -- and as a worker I was there long enough there were always some super rainstorms -- with the cheapie drape.

my eureka sunrise 9 has worked perfectly for me this year and last.

this year, we had those 2 days of more or less light rain; last year we had that sudden torrential downpour.

last year, it was partially tarped. this year, I used my tarp instead in front of the tent to create a huge front porch.

http://store.eurekatent.com/sunrise-9-tent

I'm with Colleen. My tent is so old, I've lost the original fly, and it has actual holes in it. But I got NO water inside, by draping the outside with .5 mil painters drop cloth. Small binder clips work well to clip plastic to pole sleeves. I also use it to line the INSIDE of the tent, so it rides up the sides a bit. Keeps the humidity from coming up thru the floor.

edited to clean up spelling, etc

I'm totally sold on putting a tarp on the INSIDE floor of the tent. I'm kept very dry with no moisture building up under my air mattress and the floor like it did when I put a footprint under the tent..

My Kelty Zodiac 4 has a vestibule and stayed dry the last two years! I just put painters plastic under it. (but not the vestibule, that caused a river in 2011) 2011 I was also in an open area with no tree coverage, no tarping, and stayed dry through the whole storm. This year there was A kelty zodiac 9, I think, in my neighborhood, and that looked nice! If I ever come with friends, I may get that!

We have a Kelty Mantra 7 which is huge. It has a full coverage rainfly, all the seams, including the ones on the floor are taped. Huge double vestibule. I can fit coolers and 2 chairs under it, a porta-potty for nighttime if I want. The thing is bombproof. I've had it out in driving, torrential rain, sleet, high winds, big storms, being scared to death, lol. and not a drop of water anywhere. I've had it for about 6 years. Kelty is expensive but in my opinion you get what you pay for with camping equipment. You buy Walmart stuff, you get Walmart quality. Just my opinion. YMMV.