So I'm in the market for a new tent for the first time in 20'ish years. Old REI Sliptent 2 person last pretty well until the floor and fly got too sticky to set up well and started leaking.
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How many people are buying the manufacturer's footprint and why?

I always used a piece of 6 or 8 mil plastic that I trimmed to fit. I thought it worked fine and was cheap. I've seen several reviews where the footprint doesn't extend out into the vestibule.

Are the manufacturer's footprints that much better? And what do you do in the vestibule area?

The plastic is just fine. Depends on the manufacturer, some footprints are just plastic cut to size. Others are a coated nylon and clip into the tent in some way.

Thank goodness you didn't ask inside or outside! For me, the footpring aka ground cloth is for protecting my tent.

Save some money and make your own. Below is a link for one of the best DIY groundcloth I have seen. My new tent just came in and I will be making one.

Ground Cloth

One of the things I specifically look for is a tent configured for a "quick pitch" option. This translates to using the ground cloth, rainfly and tent poles (which come with the tent) to erect a free-standing structure (not including the tent).

I find this particularly desirable when you are putting up or taking down your tent in the rain. You erect the "shell" and can come back later to put the tent up inside the shell ... in more or less dry conditions. The reverse process allows you to taken down your tent and stow it while leaving the shell up. Again in the rain, this means the tent part of your shelter has a very good chance of staying dry.

This option is sometimes available with tents that clip to the poles, and the ground cloth has a means of connecting (via something like a buckle) to the rainfly.

Going this route has allowed me to pitch my tent in essentially dry conditions when otherwise it would have been wet by the time I got the rain fly on. And I pretty much hate trying to sleep in the wet.

dd

Tyvek works

I like it when the tent comes with a footprint-- it is already the right size and it has clips/ grommets to attach it to the poles.
Our current tent, a marmot, the footprint does not extend to the vestibule. I find that annoying, husband does not. I plan on making an extension for that area.

Personally I think a footprint is a total waste. Why spend an extra hundred or two hundred dollars to save weight on your new tent and then tack it back on with a footprint. A footprint is designed to do two things: keep moisture from seeping up through the tent bottom and protect the tent from abrasion. In my opinion the footprint does neither. Anything that will abrade and penetrate the tent bottom will do the same with the footprint - that extra couple of millimetres of nylon isn't going to do much of anything. As for keeping water out, a footprint is more likely to trap water and invite it in. Better, in my opinion, to buy a tent with a heavier bottom to start with. Just my two cents.

I partially agree with Kerry, I don't think a footprint has anything to do with keeping water out of the tent. My boys were in one of my tents in 2012 and the floor around them and between them floated off the ground. There's no way anything separated the water from the bottom. I use them but I also see Kerry's point about how much protection you actually get.

I agree with dentondoc's take. Very nice to be able to set up in the rain without getting the inside of the tent wet. Also, the footprint does provide extra protection for the bottom of the tent. No one is going to pitch a tent where there are obvious protrusions that will damage the floor/footprint, but you do move around in a tent, and abrasion happens between the surface of the footprint and ground. Will plastic work? Sure it will, but it is more bulky and does not give the quick pitch option that dd talked about.

quote KerryG: "Personally I think a footprint is a total waste. Why spend an extra hundred or two hundred dollars to save weight on your new tent and then tack it back on with a footprint. A footprint is designed to do two things: keep moisture from seeping up through the tent bottom and protect the tent from abrasion. In my opinion the footprint does neither. Anything that will abrade and penetrate the tent bottom will do the same with the footprint - that extra couple of millimetres of nylon isn't going to do much of anything. As for keeping water out, a footprint is more likely to trap water and invite it in. Better, in my opinion, to buy a tent with a heavier bottom to start with. Just my two cents."

So no footprint for your new six figure tent;-)

quote overthehill: "Tyvek works"

Cheap, light, waterproof, and very puncture resistant. Easier to handle than a plastic sheet. With a bit of imagination and home engineering make it attach to the frame for "fast pitch" use.
Then you have the choice to extend into the vestibule or not.

I'm half way into the "good tent doesn't need one", but I rebuild many used tents and it's a great option.

butthead

quote Frenchy19: "

quote KerryG: "Personally I think a footprint is a total waste. Why spend an extra hundred or two hundred dollars to save weight on your new tent and then tack it back on with a footprint. A footprint is designed to do two things: keep moisture from seeping up through the tent bottom and protect the tent from abrasion. In my opinion the footprint does neither. Anything that will abrade and penetrate the tent bottom will do the same with the footprint - that extra couple of millimetres of nylon isn't going to do much of anything. As for keeping water out, a footprint is more likely to trap water and invite it in. Better, in my opinion, to buy a tent with a heavier bottom to start with. Just my two cents."

So no footprint for your new six figure tent;-)"

Nope. That's kind of the point. Their Kerlon 1800 fabric is a big part of what I'm paying for. Anything that can tear through that stuff is going to make short work of a footprint. When I spoke to the Hilleberg distributor about their tents they said that they sell footprints because people want them not because they need them.

I feel the same way about the floor of my Kodiak canvas. If anything can tear through that, it deserves it, and it was my fault for pitching it in a terrible location. I kinda do like the idea of a Tyvek sheet to reinforce cheaper tents, though....

I use tyvek and cut it so it goes out into the vestibules and acts as a rug. That way I can set gear and stuff out there and it is under cover and off of the ground.
The commercial footprints are heavier and some do and some don't go out into the vestibules or only into one of the two vestibules.