I am debating over weather I should leave the footprint for my tent home, or should I take it with on my Thru-Hike next Feb. would save a little weight, How important is it to have??? any thoughts on this??
Patriot
Patriot
Tent-Footprints
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#2
Well, the floor of your tent will probably get worn faster if you don’t use a foot print. So, I figure that it’s cheaper to replace the foot print then it is to replace the whole tent.
Second, I use the foot print as a ground sheet when sleeping in shelters. It tends to keep the grime off my sleeping bag.
Peaks
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#3
Buy yourself a section of soft tyvek. It works great as a foot print for tents. It’s light and cleans up just fine in the washer. Just be careful not to put it in the dryer because high heat will skrink it.
NedtheFed
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#4
You can also make one yourself if you cannot get Tyvek. Also, Tyvek comes in different thicknesses as I recall, and sometimes it hard to get smaller pieces. I couldn’t find it for sale in small enough pieces to make it, so I used my old shower curtain and cut it to fit the floor area of my tent, plus one inch on each side. Low cost (it would have been thrown out otherwise), lightweight, works just as well. Or you can go to a Dollar store and buy one for a buck and use that one.
-xtn :boy
airferret
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#5
We used a Henry Shires Tarptent and we bought the Tyvek footprint. It was well worth the weight. I agree that it saves wear and tear on the bottom of your tent and Bootz used it as a floor cover in the shelters. If you can get Tyvek (and I think they will sell you a footprint at Walasi-Yi Center at Neels Gap. Call them and ask) Also, if you get a Tyvek ground cloth, wash it and dry it first. The noise of the fabric will almost fully go away and it is much easier to pack. Good luck in '06!
Blue Light
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#6
MaterialConcepts.com sells tyvek ground covers. They sell the hard and soft. I bought the soft. You can get an 8’ X 10’ Omni-covr Type S made of 100% Dupont Tyvek for $39.99 After you wash it once it’s like a soft piece of cotton. I used the tyvek cover to wrap my tent poles in. The 8’ X 10’ cover will be large enough to make 2/3 ground covers.
NedtheFed
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#7
There are several choices for foot prints.
Many tent manufactures sell a coated nylon foot print so you can set up your rain fly without the inner tent. But I’ve never seen this actually done.
Tyvek has been mentioned by several posters. If you look around, you should find it from several sources, or stop by a construction site as scrounge a piece.
4 mil plastic sheeting is also an alternative. Some use a thinner plastic sheeting, but I suspect that it is really too thin to resist getting punctured by sharp stones and sticks.
Peaks
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#8
i bought mine on ebay. it was $1.99 a foot and 9 feet wide. i just looked it up again and now it is $1.50 a foot. here is the url:
jerm
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#9
You People are Great, Thanks so much, In getting ready for nexts years hike I have not even heard of “Tyvek” Your experience has made life easier.:cheers
Patriot
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#10
Tyvek is really nice and durable but I’d save some money and some weight (it is much lighter than a factory groundcloth) and just go with plastic from the hardwear store, like painters tarps. It’s really cheap and when it wears out, which’ll be a while you just get more for 3 bucks.
zach attack
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#11
Kite tyvek is lighter and more quiet (for shelter use)than construction tyvek. You can buy online from Into the Wind Kites at http://www.intothewind.com/search?listall=1
Marcia
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#13
If by worn out you mean damaged, yes, I have experienced something (probably a sharp twig or rock) puncture my tent floor in a Clip Flashlight a few years ago. It happened when I was going ground clothless, something I no longer do.
Skyline
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#14
We didn’t use a ground cloth for the entire AT this year, and only got minor wear on our Tarptent squall 2. We figured that if we punch a hole we could just patch it with some seam sealer in the next town. Never had to though. And we aren’t easy on gear, not at all.
Gravity
Gravity
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#15
By all means use a footprint for all of the above reasons. I yogied a big piece of Tyvec from some guys at a building site…I even offered to buy it, but they just gave it to me. I soaked it in the wash tub and carefully wrung it out so it was soft and not noisey.
Please do remember to cut the material 1.5 to 2 inches smaller than your tent. If it sticks out, rain can wick in over it and into your tent. Just a reminder since you probably know this. Oh…remember the print side faces the ground.
Lady Di
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#16
ooops…mis-type in my original post
Lady Di is correct, cut smaller then your floor space by 1 inch, not larger…
-xtn :tongue
airferret
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#17
I’m sorry I was misleading in my last post. Foot prints are junk. Ain’t nobody on this forum worn out there tent bottom.
Magictouch