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I bought a Eureka Inntorest 3 last Fall. Unlike most smaller tents sold these days, there is no "fitted" footprint available for this model (and as it's discontinued, there won't be). In my 30+ years of tent camping, I've never really needed a fitted footprint and always just used a tarp of about the right size and folded any excess underneath.
However, looking at how today's footprints are designed, I see the advantages. For example, having webbing/grommets that match up to the tent's poles should do a better job of keeping that extra layer of protection in place. So, with that in mind, I looked for other tents with the same floor dimensions (63" x 90") and there are many that are close, but not exact, and at the cost of these things, I didn't want to buy one that I thought would fit and have to mail it back because it didn't.
Finally, I decided to go with what I knew and just get a tarp to fit, but add a way to attach it at the corners rather than just letting it "float". I went with this one, which measures 59" x 84.6". So, it'll be about 2" short on the long sides and 2-3" short on the short sides. In other words, there will be 2-3" of the tent floor overhanging the tarp on all sides. Is that an acceptable amount of overlap, or should I look for a larger tarp and cut it down?
Also, as a simple means of attaching the corners, I just used some lengths of thin (1/8") bungee cord, thinking I'd just loop that over the webbing that the poles attach to at each corner. If I want to get fancy later, I might add nylon webbing and grommets that would be a little more secure and look less jury-rigged.
However, looking at how today's footprints are designed, I see the advantages. For example, having webbing/grommets that match up to the tent's poles should do a better job of keeping that extra layer of protection in place. So, with that in mind, I looked for other tents with the same floor dimensions (63" x 90") and there are many that are close, but not exact, and at the cost of these things, I didn't want to buy one that I thought would fit and have to mail it back because it didn't.
Finally, I decided to go with what I knew and just get a tarp to fit, but add a way to attach it at the corners rather than just letting it "float". I went with this one, which measures 59" x 84.6". So, it'll be about 2" short on the long sides and 2-3" short on the short sides. In other words, there will be 2-3" of the tent floor overhanging the tarp on all sides. Is that an acceptable amount of overlap, or should I look for a larger tarp and cut it down?
Also, as a simple means of attaching the corners, I just used some lengths of thin (1/8") bungee cord, thinking I'd just loop that over the webbing that the poles attach to at each corner. If I want to get fancy later, I might add nylon webbing and grommets that would be a little more secure and look less jury-rigged.
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