When do you know when you need to Replace your Footpring/Groundsheet for your Tent???


I use Footprints for Marmont Tungsten 2 men tent/Big Agnes Lynx Pass 2 men tent and cut groundsheet for my Catoma combat 1 man tent... and I was thinking 1 year of use...

I would have made my own out of polyethylene sheet in the 1st place.. so 2nd one is just as Cheap as the first.

Which is what I still do .. its a damp ground moisture barrier .. make it smaller than the tent floor so rain fall wont puddle on top.


When ? you figure it out.

Are we supposed to know what you do with your tent in a year's time and then agree with you? What's a year's worth?

I rarely if ever carry a ground cloth but if I did, I'd simply make one out of a piece of left over Tyvek which is tough stuff and should last for years.

Not my Tent and just the Footprint/Groundsheet!
I found Solo Tyvek groundcloth 7X2.5 for my Catoma Combat 1 man Tent... right now I am using Cut Polyethylene 7X2.8 and it is clear when new and now 1.5 yrs old going on 2nd winter in San Diego County in Southern California and the Polyethylene ground sheet is not clear anymore...

I am using cut Polyethylene 2.80X7 groundsheet for my Catoma Combat 1 man Tent 7.10X3X3 and the Polyethylene groundsheet is a 1.5yrs old use 7days a week... and I found Solo Tyvek groundcloth at Campmor.com/ at $14.99+S&H

you really did not need this post then?

I Really Don't know how long a Footprint or Polyehtylene groundsheet and Tyvek groundsheet will last!!!!!!!!!!!!!................. and my Catoma Combat 1 Tent sits on
a cement pad(Sidewalk) in front of a Dental Office

Back in the day, I slept on a sheet of plastic, folded double in lieu of sleeping pad and tent, more or less all year round, mostly on beaches, but just about everywhere else imaginable too.

In about six years if I remember rightly I got through three sheets
Only had one catastrophic fail when I'd laid it down in the dark on a broken bottle. Missed my kneecap by an inth when I knelt on it...

So my longwinded, expert opinion is... two years!

Others have already answered this, but on a somewhat unrelated note--please, please, please stop using Comic Sans when posting. It really doesn't leave a positive impression.

But I like COMIC SANS!

Whats wrong with Comic Sans?

Remember, we're at Bikeforums here.

Never bothered with a ground sheet and figured that if the tent floor ever deteriorated I could just tape in a 'footprint' at that time to replace it. But in over 40 years of camping I've never found a need to do that. The only tent failures I've had were from zippers or UV degradation of the fly - the floors were all still good.

They are useless in most situations, just an add-on for the makers. At one time none of the serious makers offered them. Unless there is something particularly destructive about the ground you are sleeping on. So they can be very worn, so long as they still provide whatever real or imaginary protection you needed.

Originally tents did not have sewn in floors, so a groundsheet could be useful, but where you put the tent or excavations might be necesarry to keep water out. With footprints they are doing so little suit yourself. I can't imagine replacing one every year, unless you camp on fresh tar, or something...

you know, you got me thinking, cause you mentioned when should you replace your groundsheet, so like, then i thought, hey, when should i change my underwear, and does it matter if i change it for a new pair or can i just turn them inside out, cause how do you know when to change your underwear, is it after one day, but what if i don't wear them all day, cause i like to sit naked when i read bikeforums, cause well you know, and why should i change my underwear if i'm not really doing anything, like if i'm out walking a lot and sweating maybe, but maybe not if i'm just lying around watching tv.

Hold the groundsheet up to the sun or a light if indoors. If you can see holes in it, time to replace it.

I've used groundsheets just about all my cycle-touring life. I had a close look at a tent we used at the weekend that is eight years old and has been used a lot at various locations around the world, and the floor is in beautiful condition. For this tent (and others), I use an "emergency" groundsheet that is silvered on one side, red on the other. The silver side goes upward when the weather is cool to cold, and downward when warm to hot. It works for us.

By the way, I have had the font discussion with the OP before. To no avail. Just the way it is.

I use window insulation shrink film. Lighter weight and packs smaller than poly or tyvek. I'll put a piece tape on any small holes or rips that materialize. When it has too many patches I break out a new one.

Comic Sans was heretofore unknown to me. See what I did there?

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Thanks

I was going to say that.