Ground Cloth

[12hrsN2AT]

Hi Guy's I am a new poster but have based my philosophy on hiking on the knowledge I learn here. I am currently using a Guidegear 9'x9' tarp over a military pup tent mosquito net in an A-Frame shape. I use a Tyvek ground cloth and have been having a problem with water pooling underneath it, I pick high spots to pitch but water still seems to run in from many little arteries from around the edges. Has anyone been able to get Tyvek to stay in a tub shape? Or have another solution.

[Alligator]

Hi Guy's I am a new poster but have based my philosophy on hiking on the knowledge I learn here. I am currently using a Guidegear 9'x9' tarp over a military pup tent mosquito net in an A-Frame shape. I use a Tyvek ground cloth and have been having a problem with water pooling underneath it, I pick high spots to pitch but water still seems to run in from many little arteries from around the edges. Has anyone been able to get Tyvek to stay in a tub shape? Or have another solution.
I was giving some thought to this last week as little rivulets approached my sleeping area beneath my tarp, but with painter's cloth. You might be able to make a tub shape with a few binder clips, paper clips, or clothes pins.

[HikeLite]

I saw one poster say that he stakes out his groundcloth using short lengths of cord tied to the groundcloth with a sheetbend knot, and when staked out the sides go up in a bathtub effect.

[capoken]

http://www.trailquest.net/dlgcdcgrdsheet.html


This is a nifty product that might solve your problem.

[12hrsN2AT]

WOW! Such great responses! Thanks guys. I am in South Florida and do a fair amount of hiking on the Florida Trail where it stays pretty wet and high ground is sometimes non-exsistent. My 3rd Section Hike of the AT is here (I am heading to GA next Thursday). After working with the Tarp this month, I feel pretty comfortable I'll be ok.

[peter_pan]

Try getting off the ground...Your tarp will work over a hammock... if it is the silnyl version, it is light enough at 16 oz, if it is the urathane coated type it is a little heavy about 1.8 lbs...but hey, you already have it....

Ditch the pup style bug net...the standard issue weighs 1 lb 14 oz and tyvec at a 6x7 piece is 6 oz...total 2 1/4 lbs....Amazonia's moskito model is $39.99 and weighs about 16 oz add ropes or straps at 6 oz ea and tree savers if using rope at 2.5 oz ea....and you would save a feww ounces...

Altenatively, get a Hennessy Backpacker UL at 31 oz, if you have the light 9x9 use it, the swap will take your total shelter wgt to about 40-41 oz...which is at least 11-12 lighter than your ground set up...definately drier...and...a whole lot more comfortable.

Just another perspective.

Pan

[neo]

ya dont need a ground cloth when ya have a hammock:cool: neo
http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/7105/size/big/sort/1/cat/500

[Doctari]

If not going to go hammock: your ground cover should be (slightly) smaller than the foot print of your tent/tarp. Otherwise water will be collected by the overhang & then pool between the tent & the ground cover.
You can either: cut the ground cloth to size or fold it over to fit. I do the latter, as it allows for extra space on those (very) rare times I stay in a shelter. And, the floor of my tent is somewhat like this <> but I prefer a rectangle in the shelters

Doctari.

[Seeker]

WOW! Such great responses! Thanks guys. I am in South Florida and do a fair amount of hiking on the Florida Trail where it stays pretty wet and high ground is sometimes non-exsistent. My 3rd Section Hike of the AT is here (I am heading to GA next Thursday). After working with the Tarp this month, I feel pretty comfortable I'll be ok.
i'm over in west-central louisiana... lots of swamps and creeks, though there are enough dry places too. i use a hammock... never a problem finding a dry place to sleep, regardless of terrain or weather (and there are trees all over the place).

peter pan hit it right on the head.

[12hrsN2AT]

I mostly hike in the Everglades an we do not have ANY trees, the huge (19 Oz. with stuff bag) mosquito net is very important for me, as I need to move around and pack or unpack my gear during the height of bugdom, dusk and dawn. On the AT my longest hike is a week so far, so I am trying to use my everglades gear, minus the big knife. I look forward to carrying the net and my 20 Oz. Tarp. My Tyvek is shaped <_>, very similar,and about the same size as the net. I do have a hammock in the yard I enjoy very much, I find it pretty easy to sleep in it in the middle of the day in bright sunshine.
I wanted to add that I will be on the AT next Friday as long as Katrina dosen't change that so I need to make what I have now work, as much as HH sounds right for the AT.
Seeker, you ok from the hurricane, looks like you still have electric, better than we did down here, I was out of juice for 3 days and had to use some of my supplies and stove.

[Colter]

The solution for me is to carefully pick where I set my tarp up. As you know, finding high ground is important. Hard-packed earth is a bad place to set up a tarp unless it's truly on a high spot because water is much more likely to run if it can't soak in. A thick carpet of pine needles or leaves is much better. I've never shaped a ground cloth in a "tub shape."

In my whole thru-hike I don't recall ever having problems with water running in, no matter how hard it rained.

One problem with relying on a "tub" is that unless the material is truly waterproof, it will probably soak through and you'll end up wet if water runs under your ground cloth.

[Seeker]

Seeker, you ok from the hurricane, looks like you still have electric, better than we did down here, I was out of juice for 3 days and had to use some of my supplies and stove.
sorry for the delay... i didn't read your whole post and missed this part... yes, i'm fine... thanks for asking... i live way over near texas, about 60 miles inland... i saw a big bunch of clouds monday morning, but all we got here was blue sky, puffy clouds, and 20-25mph winds from about noon to 3pm... not even rain. we got lucky... folks in N.O. aren't doing so well... shane steinkamp, from 'the place with no name', lived in metarie (N.O. suburb), or close to it... anyone heard how he's doing?

[HikeLite]

This is about Shane.

http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.culture.backpacking.backpackgeartest/37688

[Seeker]

dang! i had no idea... i went through that in 2002... lost my business of 6 years and was unemployed for 8 months... right before 9.11... i wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy...

thanks for the info...