The North Face Tadpole 23 Footprint - 2008

I usually just a cut painters tarp for my groundcloth, it's cheaper, lighter and easily cut and replaced. However, I was interested in running my tent in "fast and light" setup with just the rainfly, poles and footprint. The setup looks nice, but the fast and light setup is simply too heavy for what it provides. I suppose it's a bit sturdier than setting up a tarp on your trekking poles, but if I need something freestanding - I probably need the tent body too.

As a ground cloth it works great (just make sure you set it up smooth side down). It's heavier than my cut painter tarps, but not by much, and the exact fit and the ability to attach it to the tent are nice. It's a nice piece of gear, that just doesn't quite fit my newer style of packing. In the future, I will probably use it when family style camping, and not use it on the trail.

This footprint is a must have. For only a few bucks extra when you buy the tent, you save yourself a whole lot of hassle trying to clean all the mud off the bottom of your tent. It fits into the tent stuff bag, so it doesn't cause an added weight/space issue. It's thin but I reckon any extra layering will aid insulation from beneath. If you're a cheap-skate, you could always stick a survival bag under the tent, but what happens when you need the survival bag!!!? The only thing wrong is that it doesn’t encompass the ‘porch’ area of the tent. This would have been nice.

This was perfect. No great additional weight or bulk, but a great deal of additional protection.

definitely helps keep your tent protected as well as adding some additional wetness protection for you. it's tiny packed and it's definitely worth carrying around.

Ideas are great; but they've got to translate into practical application. The footprint doesn't cover the vestibule area! Are you listening to the users or are you just impressed with your own ideas?
We are saying what is needed and you are ignoring that.
Get up to speed people. Good product but it is busting to get better.

Ideas are great; but they've got to translate into practical application. The footprint doesn't cover the vestibule area! Are you listening to the users or are you just impressed with your own ideas?

Good product but it is busting to get better.

I love how good it fits compared to other tents and their footprints (most).
It is great to protect the bottom. It isn't heavy either for throwing in the pack.

Footprint is sweet, its light, it packs small, and it kept me dry through a wicked rain storm and on the snow. What else do you need........except..... it would be nice if it covered the Vestibule area. oh and one more sweet feature, the ability to leave the tent behind and just use the rain fly and footprint, excellent! Thanks,

This footprint is so small and lightweight you won't even know it's there. It's done great protecting the bottom of my tadpole tent. It's color coordinated right along with the Tadpole pole/loop colors, and is easy to use.

I bought the tent and the footprint and I couldn't be happier with both of them.
Well made, light, sturdy, well thought out design.
The only thing I wish they had was a second footprint to go under the gear area. I understand why it's not part of the footprint itself but it would be a nice accessory.
Tom
P.S. Easy to set up too.

Can a footprint work poorly? Seems to be made of good material, good stitching at the edges and pole/stake tabs. It's shaped like the tent, but I wish it extended out into the vestibule.

Greatest North Face tent that we have owned. Just took it to the Boundary Waters in Canada for 10 days. It kept out the rain and mosquitos and packed up really small.

The Floor of the Tadpole 23 is very thin and fairly flimsy, the footprint just gives you the added piece of mind that nothing is gonna poke/leak through. The Footprint is small and compact enough to fit into the compression sack along with the tent. Only problem I have with it, is that it doesn't cover the floor of the Vestibule, still it's well worth the investment.

This footprint is light and small enough you can jam it into the bag with the rest of the tent (best done when it's clean.)

It really makes putting the tent up completely brainless, because you get to see how the tent is going to sit and can reposition with just the footprint, which doesn't conceal the pointy rocks the way two layers of tent floor and roof do.

As mentioned, it's all color coded with the tent so no matter how crispy you are you can set the whole shooting match up.