What is the purpose of a footprint?

[zig-zag man]

Seems to me that if you are going to pitch your tent on a spot that will potentially damage the floor of your tent, just how much will Tyvek prevent a tear/puncture?

[Venchka]

Is Tyvek the only option? I don't think so.
The benefits may be largely psychological. I don't have enough experience in enough different locations to know the answer.
Like most multi variable questions the answer is It Depends.
Wayne


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[Just Bill]

Wayne is correct.
Footprints are like shoes, shelters feet.
Unless you're wearing steel plate anti-nail work boots- if you step on a nail it will probably puncture your foot.
Poly-cro, tyvek, etc are basically flip flops. They will keep a bit of dirt off your tent, get you off damp ground, and maybe take a bit of the beating from light debris.
Generally speaking...
Poly cro will really only serve for moisture/dirt.
Tyvek will help with some abrasion damage especially out west in gravely terrain...so it can be your sacrificial layer. In forest duff, it will deflect a bit of pine needles or other light stuff- but if you step on a nail...

We go barefoot too.
But if you got some wiz bang SUL fabric... then your bare tent floor is like a newborn babe on it's own.
If you got some bomber hilleburg floor fabric... then your tent floor is like some barefoot ultrarunner.
course the key to walking barefoot is very careful site selection... same with walking in sandals really.

So... it depends.
But tyvek isn't some magical barrier for punctures. But it's cheap, easy to replace, and will help with abrasive surfaces in particular well.

You camp in eastern hardwood type forests around your area... depends. Still a good bit of open rock or other areas you might want to stay at, still a good bit of forest duff if you're careful that going barefoot or with polycro might work just fine.

A dab of the appropriate seam sealer is the Neosporin of barefoot accidents should your tent step in the wrong spot.

[zig-zag man]

The hiking community, as a whole, has gotten me "born again" when it comes to pack weight. I don't want to carry something that I don't need. But I do see what you guys are saying about sacrificing the footprint with scuffs/abrasions and the like rather than wearing out the tent floor. Having just purchased a used Solong 6 (thanks, salty-sack), I need a piece of Tyvek that measures 100" x 55". Where can I pick up a piece of Tyvek with these dimensions? I certainly don't need a hundred foot roll, or whatever a roll length is. Thanks for your responses.

[HooKooDooKu]

I find the biggest purpose for my footprint is to help keep the tent clean and dry.

The bulk of my camping happens in the very humid very damp GSMNP. Same spots are used over and over, so you're usually setting up on dirt. In the morning, there will usually be moisture on the underside of your tent or ground cloth.

So in addition to providing a small level of physical protection, I like having a ground cloth to take the brunt of that dirt and moisture that I can cleanly fold the "dirty side" in on itself and keep the rest of my tent and rainfly clean.

[Leo L.]

I've learned about Tyvek footprint here at WB, made one for every tent I'm using, and love them.
(OK, I'm using not the original Tyvek, but a similar housewrap stuff)

I'm carrying the footprint on every hike now, be it a long dayhike, a local (multi-) overnighter with tent, or a long desert hike without tent.
- It does protect the tentfloor (the tentfloor of my MSR Hubba Hubba NX is very thin)
- It serves as a protection against ants, other insects, debris and any stingy, wet or dirty environment during breaks
- It provides a perfect bed for a noon nap
- Its my home, kitchen, dining and sleeping room when out in the desert
- It serves as a "clean desk" when sorting equipment or packing up in the morning
- It serves as an emergency weather protection during desert hikes when I don't carry any other rain stuff
- Since I'm using the footprint for every night outdoors, my Thermarest never got a puncture again
- It has a white and a dark-grey side, so its easy to fold it away always "dirt to dirt" and "clean to clean" sides

[ant]

The hiking community, as a whole, has gotten me "born again" when it comes to pack weight. I don't want to carry something that I don't need. But I do see what you guys are saying about sacrificing the footprint with scuffs/abrasions and the like rather than wearing out the tent floor. Having just purchased a used Solong 6 (thanks, salty-sack), I need a piece of Tyvek that measures 100" x 55". Where can I pick up a piece of Tyvek with these dimensions? I certainly don't need a hundred foot roll, or whatever a roll length is. Thanks for your responses.

You can buy Tyvek by the foot here https://dutchwaregear.com/tyvek.html

[HooKooDooKu]

I'm using not the original Tyvek, but a similar housewrap stuff

Can anyone provide a comparison? Are these other brands of housewrap basically the same as Tyvek or are some of them fundamentally different.
There's been a ton of construction in my neighborhood, but I've yet to see a single house getting wrapped in the Tyvek name brand stuff.

[capehiker]

I hadn't used a foot print for years until this past spring. It wasn't the durability of the floor, it was the floor kept wetting out. I had a brand new Nemo Hornet 2P which has a lower hydrostatic head and it failed miserably in prolonged rains. I ended up buying the foot print until I could get my Tarptent Moment (which has double the hydrostatic head).

[Deadeye]

my 2 cents... we used a footprint on a tent for 20 years, and I'm sure it helped prolong the life of the floor, but it was still the floor delaminating that eventually put the tent in the trash. I now have Henry Shires' TarpTents; the floor is pretty tough, and I don't use a footprint. I figure by the time I war out the floor, I'll want the newest model anyhow.

[DownEaster]

Are these other brands of housewrap basically the same as Tyvek or are some of them fundamentally different.

Some are basically the same; some are different types of materials. Weight isn't a factor for house construction, so pretty much anything used in construction is going to be heavier than what you'll want to carry.

The Tyvek that's most commonly used for tent footprints is the lighter stuff designed for kite making, not building wrap. That's "Tyvek 1443r", and Amazon has it here by the yard.

[Just Bill]

Can anyone provide a comparison? Are these other brands of housewrap basically the same as Tyvek or are some of them fundamentally different.
There's been a ton of construction in my neighborhood, but I've yet to see a single house getting wrapped in the Tyvek name brand stuff.

As many flavors as rain jackets with these but basically-http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/Making-Sense-of-Housewraps_FHB177.pdf

A woven product- like the pinkguard/greenguard- useless for us. Very common though... easy to see it's made like the old aluminum/nylon cheap lawnchairs were woven. Comes in lots of colors with custom printing.

Nonwoven- Tyvek and similiar... Sounds like Leo has Typar- that has the distinctive two color look. It's unusual to see off brand tyvek, but not unusual to see names printed on it.

Other stuff- drainwraps of various kinds that have 3D shapes. Tyvek is just a flat sheet and lays smooth- this stuff doesnt. I don't know why you couldn't use it, but I'm not sure why you would seek it out. It's typically a bit heavier.

Finally is solid plastic. PolyCro is the window shrink insulation and suprisingly durable for what it is- and super cheap at the end of winter when they clear it out.
But any disposable cheap plastic painters tarp type sheet will work.

[MkBibble]

I seldom see it mentioned in these "Tyvek vs. Footprint" discussions, but a double wall tent with the factory footprint allows you to keep the inside portion of tent dry when setting it up in a driving rain. Comes in real handy when you need it.

[Tipi Walter]

Here's my take on the tent footprint issue---

https://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php/125580-Footprints

https://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/sho...=1#post2071967

[Ethesis]

I'm about to make another footprint so my wife can compare tyvek to polycro.

That said, I'm looking at modest protection against splinters and abrasive contact. Tent fabric has gotten really light.

I have tents i use for car camping id never use a footprint for.

My REI half dome I'd use a footprint on just to experiment but not for any practical reason.

But 4-5 ounces is what I'm talking about and with the footprint as disposable.

Some UL tent companies just sell polycro sheets to put down without anchoring or anything else.

Cheap, disposable and waterproof.

Note your footprint should be smaller than your tent bottom. That way it does not capture rainfall.

[Leo L.]

Can anyone provide a comparison? Are these other brands of housewrap basically the same as Tyvek or are some of them fundamentally different.
There's been a ton of construction in my neighborhood, but I've yet to see a single house getting wrapped in the Tyvek name brand stuff.

When I did the first reconstruction of my very old house some 25 years ago, I've used original Tyvek a lot. I remember it being a bit like paper - thin, stiff and noisy.
They stopped selling Tyvek here a few years later, due to the fact that it became very slippery when wet (we use this "housewrap" typically as one of two layers on the roof).

The stuff I have now is what we can buy now and have used during the most recent house overhauling:
Its a fleece of Polyethylene that gets press-rolled with a hot structured roll, that lets the PE fleece fibers melt together locally.
Aside of the weight, it has all advantages I'd ask for a footprint.
After having it used for many nights out and having machine-washed it, its not slippery, not noisy, very cosy and smells good.

And yes, it allows to setup the tent rainfly first, so the inner tent doesn't get wet in a rain.
Its not very lightweight, my footprint of 2mx1.2m weights in at 374g (thats 156g/m²)

[Venchka]

Solong 6 footprint:
30" at the two short ends.
50" max. at the middle, 48" will work if the piece you find is 4' wide.
96" long.
Get a 4'x8' piece and trim the 4 sides.
You're welcome.
Wayne


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[MuddyWaters]

footprints have 2 uses

1. protect tent bottom from wear

2. reduce moisture transmission and hence internal condensation when pitched on damp ground

Ive never cared about 1.
#2 is useful and the primary reason I used one car camping with scouts.
But not if I got to carry it.
I made my own, a little smaller than tent bottom, shock corded to tent stakes to make it taught under tent. No reason to ever buy overpriced commercial ones.

[Slo-go'en]

The AT is often a wet trail. The footprint aka Ground Cloth helps prevent water from wicking through the floor of the tent. It also keeps the floor clean so mud doesn't get all over the rest of the tent when you stuff it into the sack. Depending on the material you use, it can help prevent abrasion and punctures.

The footprint can have other uses too. Use it in a shelter, use it as a small tarp, use it to hide under during a thunderstorm. Can even use it as a toga while doing laundry

Web sites that sell kite making material often sell light weight Tyvek by the foot.

[QiWiz]

I don't think the benefits of a footprint outweigh the weight penalty. Instead, I try to pick a nonabrasive location as best I can, and remove any pointy objects under my shelter floor when setting up, and never walk on my shelter floor. For a solo or two-person shelter I put my pad inside and move on and off of the pad as I enter and exit. The number of repairs i've had to make are negligible and minor. YMMV.