Hilleberg Nallo 3 GT improvements

The full footprint sold by Hilleberg (which seems to cost some 140 eur!) is marketed as protecting the floor of the tent from wear and tear. I've heard rumors (unconfirmed, of course) of Hilleberg engineers themselves stating that the footprint is stupid—the floor of the tent is by far strong enough to survive normal use, and they only make the footprints because people request them regardless!

I do not use my wood-burning campstove in the tent vestibule, as that would be more of a fire hazard, and the smoke would stink up the tent big time.

In exceptionally fine weather, the vestibule of the Nallo 3 GT can be rolled back, effectively leaving the front of the tent open, with just a short "hood" above it (as detailed in the tent's instruction manual). To do that, I just need to detach the groundsheet from the two front corners, and fold part of the groundsheet underneath itself out of the way.

The width of the fabric initially, including frayed edges, was 155 cm. I sewed turned hems on all edges, which used up some of the total width—that's where the final maximum width of 145 cm came from. That left a gap of just over 10 cm to the outer tent wall on either side, so I maintained that same gap all around—that's where the rest of the final dimensions came from.

Elastic straps, made of some 5 mm wide elastic band just over 20 cm long per strap, extend as loops from each of the six corners of the groundsheet. The band passes through the toggle bead (an ITW Tactical toggle, no less, as I happened to have those in shelf—don't ask), and both ends of the band are sewn to the groundsheet inside the hem. Thus the bead is at slightly less than 10 cm distance from the edge of the fabric (again, not too critical). That places just a slight tension on the straps, so the groundsheet settles in place smoothly.

The cost was something like 20 eur total—and that's including the overpriced toggle beads.

So I placed stainless steel split rings (i.e. key rings) on them. That adds some peace of mind without adding practically any weight. I would have preferred simple solid rings of metal (that is, not split rings), preferably of aluminum, but that would have involved sewing, which I deemed too much hassle for its purpose. Had I decided to sew, I would also have replaced the simple loops with longer, tightenable straps, like the ones in the corners of the tent. That would give a bit more outward reach when needed, e.g. when there's a rock directly underneath the loop. But in that scenario, I use a short extension guy line (see below).

The extra lines live in a small pouch and weigh practically nothing, yet they have saved the day a few times, and do give extra peace of mind when the wind is strong. They can be attached to the same spots where the tent's own guy lines are connected, to give extra support in multiple directions for the poles in high wind. I've also used them as extensions to the tent's guy lines, e.g. if I want to tie one to a tree instead of using a tent peg. The shortest ones can be used to extend the ground loops of the tent, if there's a rock directly underneath, or to add another peg a short distance away for extra support when the ground is especially soft.

And yes, any old line and runners would do just as well, but the Line-Loks happen to be the best there is, and the Hilleberg high-visibility line wasn't really that expensive either. Although later I did find extremely similar red-white 3 mm cord at Motohelvete at a much lower price per meter.

I ordered four cheap Y-profile red anodized aluminum pegs from eBay and have been quite happy with them. 23 cm pegs just fit in the original peg bag, and compared to the standard ones (which are 16 cm long) they do give that much better grip in soft earth. (But, mind you, in any normal soil the provided pegs are absolutely enough—the longer ones won't be needed in anything but soft sand or moss. And, on the other hand, if the ground is too hard to sink the standard pegs into, these won't help a bit!)