Ground Sheet for Tent
 

When camping in a tent along the way: 1. do you use a ground sheet and 2. do you put it inside or under the tent? Many years ago I always put it under the tent to protect the floor from sharp objects, and thought it protected the interior from rain water; then I read an article saying that it should go inside as placing it under the tent will work to trap water between it and the tent floor, increasing the probability that water will get into the tent. Anyone have thoughts or preferences?

I stopped using ground sheets a few years ago, but when I did I always put them under the tent.

Under, as a hole in the sheet still leaves you with an intact tent floor. Inside, if the tent floor punctures you have water in the tent and basicly a plasitic "raft". I originally bought the OEM Big Agnes footprint and used that but have switched to a piece of Tyvek™ house wrap cut using the original as a pattern. Lighter and I dont worry about abusing it.

Plastic sheet .. Hot melt glued to the bottom of the tent or using strapping tape Loops around the tent stake Loops.

& .. slightly smaller so water does not collect on top of the plastic .

Get holes and such, cheap to replace,

Well, that's wrong.

Doesn't happen if everything's done right:

+1. But I do, at times, carry window shrink film (1.8 ounces) that I use picnic-blanket style for eating on. If I find my tent-site very wet or rough I'll make double use of the film as a barrier underneath the sleeping spot of my tent.

I use a light sil-nylon tarp as a ground cloth for our tents. I use it more to keep the tent clean as well as floor protection. In many places the moisture will condense on the surface that is in direct contact with the ground. The light barrier between the tent and the soil keeps it dry and clean. Even in dry weather, condensation will collect on the ground cloth and the inside of the tent's rainfly. Both dry quickly on dry, breezy mornings. I also keep it close to the top of my gear to use as a shelter during heavy rain showers experienced during thunderstorms. My wife and I have burritoed into it on more than one occasion.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...c01454c9bb.jpg

In the morning it is just shaking out the tent, no wet dirty bottom, and worries about drying it out later in the day, especially if not camping for a couple of days.
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...1d1915034c.jpg

But if a clean tent does get wet, it increases the drying options. That tent has been used hard for 7 years, and only need one thorough cleaning.
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...11/OltonNL.jpg

Yep, Just a tarp under the tent will do wonders.

I don't use one and have found the floors of my tents still last as long as the other parts so a ground sheet just seems like unnecessary weight and bulk. I figure that even if I do eventually get a hole in the floor I can start putting a light ground sheet inside then - so why bother carrying it in the meantime.

I put the ground sheet under the tent. What I normally use is a "space blanket," the plastic and reflective foil survival blanket. It is not terribly heavy, is quite tough, and works well under a two-person tent.

I don't use one. I never had a damaged floor from things poking through, even on a 13yo tent. The only time I find a groundsheet useful is in winter, when the tent floor sticks to the snow.

I use a Footprint for my Akto. It provides a floor for the porch and is good if you camp on mud.
Footprints do not extend beyond the fly so there is no runoff trapped.
They hook on to the fly so can be used/packed as part of the tent and have no impact on speed of assembly.

I've carried an emergency blanket for years, never thought of using it as a ground sheet or anything else. Ask and ye shall receive :) That's why I like Preacher Casy so much in The Grapes of Wrath, he said "I ain't a preacher no more, a preacher's got to know, I don't know, I have to ask". Thanks for the idea.

Tyvek house wrap. Cheap, disposable, available everywhere. Very waterproof and slightly breathable.

One or two large trashbags makes the perfect groundcloth. Super lightweight, does the job, really simple to air out.

I too use this approach (Spaceblanket)

Agree with most above, when I use one, under.

On trips where I do not care about weight, I might bring ground sheet designed for that tent.

On trips where I am trying to minimize weight, I bring a cheap emergency type space blanket to use if will be camping on gravel or thorns or rock, but on those trips I almost always find nice soft grass to set up on so I do not use the space blanket. I bought several of these space blankets on sale for less than $2 (USD), 50 grams each.

This coming summer I plan to camp in thorn country, I expect to bring the regular footprint along even though it adds a lot of weight, I want the extra protection for the floor on this trip.

When I was in my teens or 20s, if I did not have to worry about mosquitoes in cooler weather, I often camped under a tarp instead of a tent. Then I used a better space blanket, one with reinforced fabric in its structure, used as my floor.

I like a painter's dropcloth folded to be slightly smaller then the tent under the tent. It's small, lightweight, and super cheap, so when it gets holes, I just go to the nearest hardware store and spend $1-2 on a new one. I could see a couple overlapped garbage bags (held together with duct tape if they don't want to stay down when you flop the tent on top) serving the same purpose.

Obviously that is your choice and your gear, habits, and choice of sites may well be different, but for me I have found that to be unnecessary and I question whether it would even do much good for the following reasons:

1. Having toured across all five of the worst infested goat head states some of them more than once, I have never needed to resort to camping on top of thorns. I always have managed to find a thorn free place to camp. I have seen some camps that were badly infested, but always passed them up.
2. Goat head thorns make it through tire tread and casings, they made it through my sandals, and I really don't see one extra layer of floor being enough to stop them anyway.

I made a footprint out of a vinyl tarp (the lightest weight- very cheap) complete with grommets for tent poles, etc. . There are lots of videos that show you how to make one. It is cut in the exact shape of my tent only slightly smaller. It works perfectly and it is very light.

When I bought my Hilleberg tents (Nallo 2GT and Akto) I bought their footprints. Same basic reason why I bought custom-built touring bicycles and why I buy tailor made dress shirts: it is all about the no-compromise fit. The cost?? For me relatively neglegeable :D

That makes about as much sense as saying you buy custom shirts because you can, and wear two of them at the same time.

I've always used cheap plastic sheeting for the same reasons Doug put up. Have used pieces of mattress plastic or paint drop sheet plastic, cut to slightly smaller than tent floor.
Always under tent, doesn't make any sense to put it inside tent.

I've found it very useful in protecting tent floors in gravelly sites, and handy also on rough cement if you ever pitch tent under a shelter, less abrasion for tent floor.
Seems to me that plastic sheeting is just as light or lighter as the more footprint things sold with tents that cost 30 bucks easily. Plus I never set up a tent with no tent body, mosquito less camping or other critters is not something I've experienced in summer camping.

just use a piece of blue tarp cut 6" smaller than the tent.

don't use one of those special-made dealies sold by the manufacturer
that clip onto the tent. did that once.........rolled over at night and
squashed a mouse that was burrowing between the tent and ground
cloth.

took days to figure out where the smell of death was coming from.....

I guess you don't do much interpreting of English language items. I suggest that you need more practice - because you have gone off on some misinterpreting tangent. I wrote that I bought 2 Hilleberg tents with footprints. The period at the end of that sentence indicates that item is closed. Then I elaborated on buying tents with footprints which give a no compromise fit. A question was asked and opinions were given - including mine. You don't have to agree with mine. I am not even asking you to have an open mind - just respect other opinions without going off on a nonsensical tangent.

Got that linkage??

No where did I mention wearing tents or even two shirts at the same time. It is ALL ABOUT the NO COMPROMISE FIT. Got it?? The cost is not an issue for me IF the item fits and works the way I want it to.

Someone once said "the customer is always right". YMMV. From your comment it DOES vary. carry on with things that make sense to you :rolleyes:

Let the rest of us get back to the OP's question and keep an open mind.