Hi Trillium Hikes I just wanted to add a little info that you might find useful. We sell both this GeerTop tent and our own version (STATION13) so we know this tent very well. We also know that talking to the Chinese is never that easy as things often get lost in translation and misunderstood... and their tent instructions can be vague and somewhat lacking in detail. So here's the thing. The inner tent foot end guyline always confuses folk because it seems to be required as you are erecting the full tent, but in fact it is not. There are two ties on the inner of the flysheet at the foot end that tie to the foot end pole and when the foot end fly is pegged out this holds the tent up. The guyline on the foot end inner is really just for using the inner tent alone, without the flysheet, if you happen to be camping on extremely warm nights... or you live somewhere hot and it never rains. What GeerTop don't provide is two additional guylines for the foot end of the flysheet. We always include two extra guylines along with extra pegs so that the foot end flysheet can be guyed out if required (notice the two guyline tie loops on the top corners of the flysheet foot end). In very bad weather pegging out these two additional foot end ties keeps the flysheet taut, keeps it away from the inner and prevents a flat spot for puddles to form at the foot end. That said, in most cases people simply keep the centre triangle of the foot end flysheet pegged down to hold the tent up - the foot end side triangles can be zipped open for ventilation when required. All the Best.

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The defect you mentioned can be mitigated. I lay something on top of the bivy, at the overlap to lift the fly sheet away.

I've been camping for over 50 years and despite owning many tents over that time, most have had design flaws of one kind or another right up to the present day,,grrr. Also there are gaps in the market that need to be filled but tent makers seem unable to recognise them.