View Full Version : Tyvek or Plastic Under Your Tent
Rightfoot
04-11-2013, 12:01
I have always used a sheet of plastic under my tent as a foot print but have seen many use Tyvek. I know Tyvek is more puncture resistant, how about as a water/moisture barrier. What are your preferences??
Thanks for your input
BirdBrain
04-11-2013, 12:21
I have always used a sheet of plastic under my tent as a foot print but have seen many use Tyvek. I know Tyvek is more puncture resistant, how about as a water/moisture barrier. What are your preferences??
Thanks for your input
Bumping this thread. I am using a bivy/tarp setup and am curious too.
just did an 80-miles section in TN/NC, i carry a Contrail Tarp tent (has a floor). i use a piece of Tyvek for the gound, making sure that when i unfold it that i have a couple weighty things to anchor it down, Tyvek is very light and can blow away, a small rock or two works.
got home and tossed the Tyvek into the washing machine, washed it on gentle cycle w/ just a touch of soap. washed up wonderfully!
.com
Feral Bill
04-11-2013, 12:39
I never use a sub-floor with my tents, except in gravely car camping spots. With a tarp, I use a coated nylon floor, though a plastic one works, too.
garlic08
04-11-2013, 15:50
Neither, actually.
daddytwosticks
04-11-2013, 15:55
2 mil painter's drop cloth plastic. :)
The Snowman
04-11-2013, 16:39
I like to use a space blanket light cheat and water proof.
Bear Cables
04-11-2013, 16:41
Tyvek gets my vote. Lighter and washable.
Neither, actually.
I'm with garlic, as usual. I don't use a ground cloth even with a floor-less tarp.
Another vote for "no groundcloth" with my shelter when backpacking.
This article (http://www.pmags.com/ground-cloths-a-quick-overview) is one I dig up for these frequent threads (http://www.pmags.com/topics/getting-started). :)
swjohnsey
04-11-2013, 18:44
Me 4...................
I always use Tyvek it seems to insulate and waterproof alot better than other items i have used in the past.
Another Kevin
04-11-2013, 18:49
Another vote for "no groundcloth" with my shelter when backpacking.
This article (http://www.pmags.com/ground-cloths-a-quick-overview) is one I dig up for these frequent threads (http://www.pmags.com/topics/getting-started). :)
Thanks, Mags. Your article has no flaw! (So what do y'all waaaalk on, if it has no flaw?)
staehpj1
04-11-2013, 18:50
nothing for me
Thanks, Mags. Your article has no flaw! (So what do y'all waaaalk on, if it has no flaw?)
Funny..as I am from Rhode Island originally, I probably would say "flaw" when my accent comes out. ;)
MuddyWaters
04-12-2013, 00:45
polycryo or cheap space blanket.
The beauty of the space blanket is $3 at every walmart in the US.
polycryo works better if will use for shelter ground cloth too.
May not need it , but most carry something for shelter floors anyway, if you got it, use it.
fiddlehead
04-12-2013, 01:10
Funny sometimes how folks think they need a double floor but only single roof.
Some even carry a piece of tyvek to set their pack on when they rest (yes, I've seen this with my own eyes).
Usually these are the people who have foot, ankle, knee problems because they are carrying too much stuff.
But, if you prefer, go for whatever is lightest. (none for me)
rusty bumper
04-12-2013, 09:06
No ground cloth under the tent for me.
Chaco Taco
04-12-2013, 09:18
tyvek, once it gets used a bunch, it like a nice floppy sheet and packs down really small. I mainly use it so nocthing will puncture the floor of my tent.
TrailNameLucky
04-13-2013, 23:20
Cuben fiber cloth
Funny..as I am from Rhode Island originally, I probably would say "flaw" when my accent comes out. ;)
Draw and drawer rhyme in Rhode Island, too.
Mags, you're a long way from home - ever get homesick?
Oh - no ground cloth with tent for me. Tyvek with tarp (though I don't use a tarp without a hammock anymore, if I can help it :)).
You'll slide downhill on a piece of plastic if the slope is steep enough and you use a nylon covered pad.
Btw: Worn tyvek pills and tends to pick up bits of leaves, needles, and dirt. But then you can replace worn Tyvek. At least you won't have to worry as much about holes as you would with plastic (though I hear that polycryo plastic - sold by Gossamer Gear and designed as window heat shrink clear insulation - is much tougher than polypropylene painter's drop cloth).
http://gossamergear.com/shelters/polycryo-ground-cloth-large.html
If you use Tyvek, take a Sharpie and have those you hike with autograph it and include their email addresses.
Just an idea, Coosa
Draw and drawer rhyme in Rhode Island, too.
Mags, you're a long way from home - ever get homesick?
I miss the food, and eating said food by the ocean,..that's about it. ;)
(I visit my family once a year. Get my 'clam cakes and chowda' fix. Mrs Mags also discovered the wonders of Scialo Bros bakery on The Hill. She swears it is as good as any bakery in Germany...which is saying A LOT. I also can cook, so I baked what is in the attached photo last month. :) This good RI Italian boy will bring RI to the Casa Mags kitchen! ;)
21089
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To make this thread related, I haved used polycryo and I don't think it is a very good choice personally. Yes it is light, but it seems to be in the 'light for the sake of going light' category. Has a hard time staying put...at least for me. I don't use a ground cloth anymore. If I did, I'd probably use Tyvek or a painter's drop cloth.
garlic08
04-14-2013, 14:30
...I haved used polycryo and I think it is not a very good choice personally. Yes it is light, but it seems to be the 'light for the sake of going light' category. Has a hard time staying put...at least for me. I don't use a ground cloth anymore. If I did, I'd probably use Tyvek or a painter's drop cloth.
That was my impression the one trip I used polycro, also the last time I carried a ground cloth.
One other criterion to consider with Tyvek--if you're sleeping on snow in very cold temps, the snow may melt with your body heat and the Tyvek will refreeze to the ice below you and you might leave a trace of Tyvek when you pack up. That doesn't happen with bare silnylon.
handlebar
04-14-2013, 19:33
Mags,
At least a while ago your "go to" shelter was SMD Wild Oasis that has no floor. It's mine "go to" shelter also. I use a piece of tyvek trimmed to be just big enough to overlap the bug netting. It also serves as a base for when I cowboy camp.
Even on the rare occasions when I carry my Tarptent Rainbow, I still take a piece of Tyvek along in case I want to cowboy camp.
Yep, still use it. Been my shelter for quite some time now. Light, simple to set up and enough room for my 5'6" frame.
Aquaman12
04-16-2013, 15:09
Does anyone prefer the polycro over other options? Ive used tyvek and it worked great for shelters and tent. I was going to start using polycro this summer to save some weight, but after reading this thread, Im wondering how the switch will be.
Some like it and swear by it. Both tyvek and polycro are inexpensive. Try it out. At most, you'll be out less than $10.
I carry a ground cloth to protect the bottom of my tents and also to use in shelters. I carry a Neoair and am concerned about punctures in shelters. I have used tyvek, 3mil plastic and cheap shower liners (from Dollar General). They all work.
whiteout
04-17-2013, 13:16
Tyvek is under my hubba hubba most of the time.
shakey_snake
04-18-2013, 01:28
Um...yes?
Tyvek is a type of cloth made of plastic.
I use tyvek under my tent because, once broken in, it is MUCH quieter than polycro.
Gossamer Gear Plastic Groudcloth-1.7 oz-helps control the mud......
Orc skin works for me. Quiet and light because the Orcs carry it in for you (quiet after you snuff them I mean).
Seriously though Tyvek gets my vote.
I don't use a groundcloth with a tent but I can't see using a tarp without a groundcloth or bivy (or both).
Is it really possible?
stranger
04-27-2013, 11:38
I use a no-see-um netting groundsheet...protects the waterproof floor, drains so water can't collect on it...if anything I think it makes more sense to put tyvek inside your tent than underneath, water will find it's way on top of it and will become trapped between your waterproof materials.
Double Wide
05-13-2013, 20:01
Polycryo. It doesn't make any noise under my tent. At least none that I heard. And I have a neoair, so in shelters, the polycryo is a must-have.
FarmerChef
05-13-2013, 21:03
Tyvek for me. Works like a charm and never had any problems with water getting in. Plus it's white so you can take a sharpie and make a checkerboard for playing, well, checkers or chess or anything else that might use that pattern. You could also make a tic tac toe grid and use pebbles and sticks as markers. It is quiet and can be sewn though you'd need to seam seal it if you intended it to resist water as well as it did before sewing.
No groundcloth under a tent. Might use one when tarping or cowboying though - trimmed down polycro or dumpster dived Tyvek(about 30" X 84").
Tyvek is permeable while plastic sheeting or polycro is not. This sometimes factors into what I use.
Gossamer Gear Polycro Ground Cloth. 1.7 oz, works much better than my old Tyvek.
The lightest option is to use neither, and just be careful with site selection and setup. But if you want to use something, then IMO tyvek is probably a better protection layer for the weight than similarly heavy plastic.
SunnyWalker
05-15-2013, 21:23
I m using it for floor go my Gatewood Cape. I m sorry i m in NM on CDT. No rain yet.
theinfamousj
05-17-2013, 01:53
Does anyone prefer the polycro over other options? Ive used tyvek and it worked great for shelters and tent. I was going to start using polycro this summer to save some weight, but after reading this thread, Im wondering how the switch will be.
I do, but then again polycro was my first groundcloth (it came free with a tent). By comparison I find tyvek to be too ... pilly, I suppose. It is harder to keep clean and when I'm cowboy camping on my ground cloth, I don't want bits of forest duff with me or else I would have simply foregone the groundcloth to begin with.
Now as to whether it helps my tent or not, I cannot say. I've used tents without footprints and tents with. Some get holes sometimes in their floor and others not. No tent I've used a polycro footprint - or for that matter any footprint - with has ever had holes in the floor, but not all of the tents without a footprint do develop these holes (or should that be "yet"?).