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  1. #1

    Default Polycro Groundsheet @ Home Depot/Lowes?

    Anyone know where I buy a Polycro groundsheet at your local big box retailer (Lowes/Home Depot/etc)?? I'm looking for the lightweight stuff (replacing a tyvek sheet that weights 4.5oz).

    Same stuff as what Gossamer Gear sells, I just don't want to pay $10 shipping for a $8 item. I found some painters plastic online at Home Depot, but it was 400' worth (that's a heck of a big tent).

    Thanks--FF

  2. #2
    Hike smarter, not harder.
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    Aren't the window insulation kits the same stuff? Buy a Gorilla, I bet they ship you a groundsheet free.
    Con men understand that their job is not to use facts to convince skeptics but to use words to help the gullible to believe what they want to believe - Thomas Sowell

  3. #3

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    I believe the polycro GG sells is the same stuff(polyethylene product) they put over clothes when getting them back from the dry cleaners. I don't think it is exactly the same as painters plastic and certainly lighter in wt. I use the polycro. It is my lightest wt ground sheet that I have. GG does give you two for the price(they don't last long). You might inquire about getting a lower slower shipping price. If you search around job sites you can probably find some plastic sheeting for the asking. I also know painters plastic is sold in smaller quantities. It mighty however be called something else.

    Even though I sometimes use the polycro, and it is lighter wt than the Tyvek I get at home centers(Tyvek comes in different wts w/ slightly different characterstics too), it is not much of a wt difference unless you are a gram weenie like I have been known to be. I get my Tyvek cut to size at homecenters or scavage for free at jobsites. Another thing about the polycro, not only can it be somewhat fragile, but it has virtually NO insulation from the ground. The Tyvek I get has a R Value of I think R 1.9. Might be important if you are sleeping on cold ground.

  4. #4

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    My experience is that the polycro is tough as nails. I've been mighty impressed with it for a ground cloth. It's become the only thing I will use.

    The heat shrink window covering is what you want. It can't be compared to painters drop cloth plastic. Its a completely different kind of plastic.
    There is a certain joy in exhaustion.

  5. #5
    Hike smarter, not harder.
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    My polycro is nothing like what my clothes come from the dry cleaners in. But tyvek does better out here on big thorns, stickers, and cactus, so I usually use it.
    Con men understand that their job is not to use facts to convince skeptics but to use words to help the gullible to believe what they want to believe - Thomas Sowell

  6. #6

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    as others have mentioned, the polycro is pretty much the same thing as the shrink over window sheets. I have found them more durable that others here. I normally get something like 50 nights out of one which I think is reasonable. Emergency blankets don't even make it one night for me, and the 2mil painters drop cloth only makes it around a week before I do something bad to it.

    Quote Originally Posted by Dogwood View Post
    The Tyvek I get has a R Value of I think R 1.9. Might be important if you are sleeping on cold ground.
    Really? Are you sure that number isn't tyvek with some dead air in house construction. R1.9 would be the same as 5/8" of a good closed cell foam. I have real trouble believing this number.

    --Mark

  7. #7

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    It is Mark. I was reading the specs wrong. I was reading for a different type of Tyvek product, not the home wrap hikers typically use. Tyvek, the kind hikers normally use and found at home centers, actually have a very small R Valu. Still better insulation than polycro though although the difference is probably minimal. Maybe it's because I have the belief I sleep warmer on Tyvek than Polycro. Thank You.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by frisbeefreek View Post
    Anyone know where I buy a Polycro groundsheet at your local big box retailer (Lowes/Home Depot/etc)?? I'm looking for the lightweight stuff (replacing a tyvek sheet that weights 4.5oz).

    Same stuff as what Gossamer Gear sells, I just don't want to pay $10 shipping for a $8 item. I found some painters plastic online at Home Depot, but it was 400' worth (that's a heck of a big tent).

    Thanks--FF
    If you ask for polycryo, they probably won't know what you're talking about, so just go into Home Despot and ask for "plastic shrink wrap window insulation kit." For less than $10, you should be able to find a nice big sheet that you can cut into several groundsheets.

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    Available at hardware stores, Lowes, HD, and some discount stores (Ocean State Job Lot had it), sometimes only seasonally in fall and winter. Or Amazon:
    http://www.amazon.com/3M-2144W-Indoo...7204208&sr=8-8

  10. #10

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    I'm going to check out the plastic window shrink wrap. Thanks for everyones advice.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by frisbeefreek View Post
    Anyone know where I buy a Polycro groundsheet at your local big box retailer (Lowes/Home Depot/etc)?? I'm looking for the lightweight stuff (replacing a tyvek sheet that weights 4.5oz).

    Same stuff as what Gossamer Gear sells, I just don't want to pay $10 shipping for a $8 item. I found some painters plastic online at Home Depot, but it was 400' worth (that's a heck of a big tent).

    Thanks--FF
    I can't address the polycro but you might consider using weed block...you can probably get a 4x8 sheet from any plant nursery...weighs next to nothing and very hardy. I used the same for my GA section. cheers.

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    Quote Originally Posted by cowpoke View Post
    I can't address the polycro but you might consider using weed block...you can probably get a 4x8 sheet from any plant nursery...weighs next to nothing and very hardy. I used the same for my GA section. cheers.
    Cowpoke, is the weed block water proof? I thought it was designed to let water pass through freely.

  13. #13
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    I haven't checked the EXACT material. But my polycro sheet and one of those clear, disposable ponchos seem to be made of the exact same stuff.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Snowleopard View Post
    Cowpoke, is the weed block water proof? I thought it was designed to let water pass through freely.
    Duuuuuh......boy do I feel like an idiot...brain fart here....they do allow water to pass through....I use them under my hammock....something to walk on and not track dirt into the hammock....my bad....sorry. Carry on! cheers.

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    Quote Originally Posted by cowpoke View Post
    Duuuuuh......boy do I feel like an idiot...brain fart here....they do allow water to pass through....I use them under my hammock....something to walk on and not track dirt into the hammock....my bad....sorry. Carry on! cheers.
    No problem Letting the water drain into the ground seems like it would be good for under a hammock -- otherwise it seems like there'd be puddles.

  16. #16

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    I got over 1200 miles on one polycro sheet. I got 1800 miles on another, although I did patch it with clear tape a couple of times. Still, it held up well.
    Some knew me as Piper, others as just Diane.
    I hiked the PCT: Mexico to Mt. Shasta, 2008. Santa Barbara to Canada, 2009.

  17. #17

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    After a few hundred miles(500 miles or so, even in the soft desert sand) my polycros usually have so much tape on them they probably weigh more than a comparably sized Tyvek groundsheet. I still like that they save a little wt over the Tyvek though when new.

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    Quote Originally Posted by sbhikes View Post
    I got over 1200 miles on one polycro sheet. I got 1800 miles on another, although I did patch it with clear tape a couple of times. Still, it held up well.
    Glad I ordered two pairs then.

  19. #19

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    I got to the Washington border on one sheet of polyCro when I did the PCT last year. It had a few duct tape patches (mostly from the deserts of SoCal), but was still fine and could have gone the complete distance. But as I had a spare in my bounce box, I choose to swap it out. Obviously some people are more gentle with their ground clothes then others.

  20. #20

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    Yeah, I painted some colored circles on my polycros and play Twister on it!

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