The reason I don't want to go without my bug mesh and floor

Black Canyon of the Gunnison, best kept secret in Colorado

Floor - I once used ONLY the fly (rain cover) when camping at Black Canyon of the Gunnison.  My kids, Julia and Johnny were in the other tent that had a floor and bug mesh.  It started raining like crazy.  Waking me up, the kids were yelling that water was underneath their tent.  I woke up and turned on my headlamp.  My mat and sleeping bag were completely surrounded by water.  Needless to say, we stayed the night in a motel in Gunnison, CO.

While backpacking, I tend to pitch my tent on the top of a rise or ridge (not the top of a ridge where I'm exposed to the wind, just sub-ridge on a hill) but I still don't like the idea of rain flowing into my tent.  Ray Jardine says it won't come in if I'm on a rise, but I'm still chicken.

Bug Mesh - I don't like mosquitos and I must have some psychological need to have some kind of barrier between me and the outside world.  Maybe it is 50 years of living in homes with screens on the windows.  Once I can get over this, I think I can go to a pop-up bug bivy and save myself 10 oz.