Ground Clothes
- Thread starter tx river rat
- Start date
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To protect the camper, you put it inside. If, instead, you want to protect the tent, you put it outside. All depends on your point of view, I guess.
A fella who wears both belt and suspenders would have two, one inside & one outside.
A fella who wears both belt and suspenders would have two, one inside & one outside.
Kayak Jack said:To protect the camper, you put it inside. If, instead, you want to protect the tent, you put it outside. All depends on your point of view, I guess.
A fella who wears both belt and suspenders would have two, one inside & one outside.
Putting a ground cloth inside IN ADDITION to one outside is a great idea. Putting one inside ONLY protects the camper at the expense of a wet, muddy, leaf-covered and possibly damaged tent floor. I would rather take the chance of maybe getting wet inside the tent in one of 50 camping trips than having to wipe down a muddy tent floor every time I go out.
Just my way of doing it. Not right or wrong.
Joey
The manufactures of the tents advise to put the ground cloth ( footprint they call it ) under the tent to protect the bottom of the tent from anything that would puncture the floor and cause it to leak. That is one reason they advise to have it under the tent and not sticking out on the ends or sides. Sticking out from the tent they will funnel water under the tent between the tent and the ground cloth. Tucked under the tent the water will flow under the ground cloth.
One that I know of , The North Face Company , actually make there footprints so they attach to the poles of the tent after it is erected. This way the footprint is secured to the outside bottom of there tents and if the tent needs to be moved the whole thing can be moved at one time , ground cloth and tent as a solid unit.
I would rather have the footprint muddy/sandy/dirty then the bottom of the tent being that way. I tried one of the plastic footprints inside a tent and it was like walking on ice ... slippery. A human body will not cause the damage to the tent floor like a stick or sharp rock would do without something to take the abuse in place of the tent floor receiving the damage. To put it in a different way ... the ground cloth is an sacrificial item to save the tent floor from the damage , ground cloths cost a lot less to replace then tents do. :roll:
If you are worried about mud or sand or anything getting into the tent ... take your shoes off before entering the tent. Besides most tents ( self standing ) can picked up , shook and everything comes out the door.
Chuck.
One that I know of , The North Face Company , actually make there footprints so they attach to the poles of the tent after it is erected. This way the footprint is secured to the outside bottom of there tents and if the tent needs to be moved the whole thing can be moved at one time , ground cloth and tent as a solid unit.
I would rather have the footprint muddy/sandy/dirty then the bottom of the tent being that way. I tried one of the plastic footprints inside a tent and it was like walking on ice ... slippery. A human body will not cause the damage to the tent floor like a stick or sharp rock would do without something to take the abuse in place of the tent floor receiving the damage. To put it in a different way ... the ground cloth is an sacrificial item to save the tent floor from the damage , ground cloths cost a lot less to replace then tents do. :roll:
If you are worried about mud or sand or anything getting into the tent ... take your shoes off before entering the tent. Besides most tents ( self standing ) can picked up , shook and everything comes out the door.
Chuck.
Went to Cabela's yesterday to pick up a couple of things. I was poking around the camping department( Do NOT do this unless you have a ready supply of expendible income) and saw that they had both, the tent ground cloths and tent liners- about the same number of choices of each. So, it is left to the camper to get what suits him best.