Author Topic: What material do people use as a groundsheet?  (Read 1491 times)

gunwharfman

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What material do people use as a groundsheet?
« on: 21:07:53, 15/04/20 »
I use a groundsheet all of the time and I bought it from Go Camping years ago. It's just a basic rectangle of a plasticky material, it works and doesn't weigh much either. Does anyone use a groundsheet that might be considered a bit 'exotic,' superlightweight etc?

ninthace

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Re: What material do people use as a groundsheet?
« Reply #1 on: 21:22:15, 15/04/20 »
I use a groundsheet all of the time and I bought it from Go Camping years ago. It's just a basic rectangle of a plasticky material, it works and doesn't weigh much either. Does anyone use a groundsheet that might be considered a bit 'exotic,' superlightweight etc?
I used something similar, it was fairly tough clear polythene sheet cut to shape (no "footprints" in those days).  No idea how it was "procured", it certainly was not bought.  I left it behind if I was "travelling light" relatively speaking as it did not fold small.  That meant I had to clean the worms and muck of the bottom of the inner whereas the plastic could just be folded outside in to contain any muck that did not come off easily. 
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Owen

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Re: What material do people use as a groundsheet?
« Reply #2 on: 21:22:45, 15/04/20 »
My groundsheet is super lightweight I don't use them. One of my pet hates, tent manufacturers that put groundsheets on their tents that are so thin and delicate just so they can sell it as lightweight. When really you have to carry a separate groundsheet which adds to the weight and makes the tent not lightweight at all. It's just another con.

ninthace

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Re: What material do people use as a groundsheet?
« Reply #3 on: 21:40:59, 15/04/20 »
My groundsheet is super lightweight I don't use them. One of my pet hates, tent manufacturers that put groundsheets on their tents that are so thin and delicate just so they can sell it as lightweight. When really you have to carry a separate groundsheet which adds to the weight and makes the tent not lightweight at all. It's just another con.
Absobloominglutely.
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richardh1905

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Re: What material do people use as a groundsheet?
« Reply #4 on: 22:35:28, 15/04/20 »
I used to just use an orange plastic survival bag cut open, but I don't bother now - if the tent groundsheet gets damaged, I'll just patch it.
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richardh1905

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Re: What material do people use as a groundsheet?
« Reply #5 on: 22:36:22, 15/04/20 »
My groundsheet is super lightweight I don't use them. One of my pet hates, tent manufacturers that put groundsheets on their tents that are so thin and delicate just so they can sell it as lightweight. When really you have to carry a separate groundsheet which adds to the weight and makes the tent not lightweight at all. It's just another con.


+1  O0
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April

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Re: What material do people use as a groundsheet?
« Reply #6 on: 23:07:02, 15/04/20 »
We have 3 tents that have a footprint. The MSR Elixir, the MSR Hubba Hubba and the Terra Nova Southern Cross 2. The footprint came free with the MSR tents but the Southern Cross footprint didn't.

We don't have to use the footprint with any of the tents.

The footprint for the MSR is 220g. We choose to carry it because on the pitch inner first MSR tents the footprint can be used to enable the tent to be pitched outer first instead if it starts raining. The footprint can also be used to pitch the MSR tents with just the outer. It can also be used as extra protection if you can't find a great pitch and the ground might be wetter or rougher than you would like. We don't think the footprint is a con, it just gives us extra options with the MSR tents.

The Southern Cross footprint covers the porch area and it is nice to have a bit of a luxury. This footprint isn't necessary either but again we don't think it is a con, we carry the extra weight for the luxury.
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vghikers

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Re: What material do people use as a groundsheet?
« Reply #7 on: 05:50:25, 16/04/20 »
Quote
One of my pet hates, tent manufacturers that put groundsheets on their tents that are so thin and delicate just so they can sell it as lightweight. When really you have to carry a separate groundsheet which adds to the weight and makes the tent not lightweight at all. It's just another con.

Another +1.
Several tents have suited us perfectly over the years apart from the damned tissue-thin floors, we had them  replaced with a decent groundsheet that would confidently withstand some of our rough pitches. It adds to the cost but we found it very worthwhile.

April

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Re: What material do people use as a groundsheet?
« Reply #8 on: 07:36:16, 16/04/20 »
If you look at the specs of tents, the lighter the weight, the thinner the flysheet and inner too, it isn't just the groundsheet. This isn't a con, the details are there for you to see and judge if it is the right tent for you or not. Anyone using these ultralightweight tents in colder weather have to compensate by taking more clothes/heavier bag to keep warm inside the tent. If we used the Hubba Hubba in colder weather we would have to do this because it isn't warm enough and it is draughty compared to the Elixir and Southern Cross.
 
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richardh1905

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Re: What material do people use as a groundsheet?
« Reply #9 on: 08:05:02, 16/04/20 »
Anyone using these ultralightweight tents in colder weather have to compensate by taking more clothes/heavier bag to keep warm inside the tent.


Indeed - especially true of single skin tents where high ventilation levels are needed to stop them turning into Drip Coffins  :D


But also true of tents that use a lot of mesh on the inner - I like controllable ventilation, a two layer mesh/solid door, for example.
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vghikers

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Re: What material do people use as a groundsheet?
« Reply #10 on: 08:33:21, 16/04/20 »
Quote
This isn't a con, the details are there for you to see and judge if it is the right tent for you or not.
Agreed, 'con' is not the right word, as you say it's not deception - the specs are given for all to see.

It's the usual case of paring specs to the bone and optimizing the headline figures to attract sales, rather than making a product suitable for typical usage.
It's worth noting that even Terra Nova, who will move heaven and earth to get their headline weights down, draw the line at offering pathetic groundsheets. Theirs are always pretty tough and have good HH levels.

For ultra-marathon participants who will tolerate anything to get the weight down, the 20D floors (or even a lot lower) are generally acceptable to them  :)

The ultrathin flys and walls have never been a problem, at least to us.


Owen

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Re: What material do people use as a groundsheet?
« Reply #11 on: 09:47:16, 16/04/20 »
If you look at the specs of tents, the lighter the weight, the thinner the flysheet and inner too, it isn't just the groundsheet. This isn't a con, the details are there for you to see and judge if it is the right tent for you or not.


True but it's still anoying when you see an otherwise good tent with a paper thin groundsheet and then an expensive footprint.

fernman

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Re: What material do people use as a groundsheet?
« Reply #12 on: 10:32:43, 16/04/20 »

It's worth noting that even Terra Nova, who will move heaven and earth to get their headline weights down, draw the line at offering pathetic groundsheets. Theirs are always pretty tough and have good HH levels.

Agreed as the groundsheet of my much-used Zephyros has not shown any problems yet* in spite of some of the rough places I have pitched it.

*except for a seam that needs resealing, in the middle of the entrance. I think I can put that off for a while yet.

When camping from my car on camp sites I use a £5, 6 ft x 4 ft Gelert groundsheet, but I won't carry it with me for wild camping because of the additional weight.

Owen

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Re: What material do people use as a groundsheet?
« Reply #13 on: 11:22:26, 16/04/20 »
When camping on very spiky Altiplano grass, we took to putting our Karrimats under the inner tent. Still managed to trash both the Karrimats and groundsheet but we could at least lay down.

archaeoroutes

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Re: What material do people use as a groundsheet?
« Reply #14 on: 11:34:34, 16/04/20 »
I've never bothered with a tent that I'm carrying. I find the tent bases are fine for me. Lying down on a mat, I don't have enough pressure to damage it or force water through in all but the worst situations (and then, I'm wet anyway so no real problem).
For car tenting, I have a footprint made of woven plastic. That's for a big family tent where we walk around and put chairs and table down, etc, so it needs to be durable.
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