Suggestions for making a tent footprint

[Leo L.]

I use a house wrap material that is similar to, but heavier and more sturdy than Tyvek.
It has one white, and one dark-grey side.
The white side always is my clean side, and the dark-grey provides much better drying in the sun.
True, this house wrap material, just like Tyvek, is not absulutely waterproof and will absorb water. In the same way the water will evaporate as soon as exposed to some sun. A short break of 15 minutes, the dark-side up exposed to the sun, will make it perfectly dry.

While my PU-coated Silnylon poncho never seems to dry up completely, there will always be some hidden folds where drops of water gets stuck.

[Ercoupe]

I use a sol emergency blanket, tough waterproof and dual use.
A footprint is a necessity if you are in cow country

[Rex Clifton]

Buy the footprint that is made for the tent, tape on top of your footprint material (I used Tyvek), outline with a marker, cut out the Tyvek footprint, return the factory footprint.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[kayakpro]

An easy way to get a tough footprint is from a cheap Walmart tarp. It will be heavier than 2 mil plastic and much tougher too. I have used this as a Tyvek substitute. It also worked well under my rain fly when a seam started leaking and as as a blanket on a brutally cold night. Not sure 2 mil plastic provides much protection against punctures

[DownEaster]

Buy the footprint that is made for the tent, tape on top of your footprint material (I used Tyvek), outline with a marker, cut out the Tyvek footprint, return the factory footprint.

I think I can make one with just the picture (and the tent, of course) as a reference.TFFHVFLY216_Footprint-004.jpg
Start with three grommets in strapping tape pull-outs where the tent pole ends are, and the 1443R Tyvek needs to be cut to fit inside the pole area. Anchor those three pull-outs to the Tyvek, and I'm done. I've got the 1443 Tyvek on order, and I'll get a package of Coghlan's grommets next week.

[archie]

I almost didn't try the polycro as it seemed to frail, too light, and just seemed liked a generally bad idea.

I'm am sure glad I gave it a shot, because I love it!. I have over 60 nights on my first piece and it shows no signs of wearing out. Try it.

[kayakpro]

Go to Home Depot and get one of the 6 x 8 - 5 mil medium duty tarps and trim it down. It is basically a waterproofed version of Tyvek and is under $5. I have not tried heat sealing the edges yet. It can be an extra blanket if it gets really cold, a back up under a rain fly if you spring a leak and a good protective ground cover. If you are an ultralight freak, this may not be the lightest choice for thru hiking; but then no foot print is probably best if lowest weight is the priority.

[Cheyou]

Go to Home Depot and get one of the 6 x 8 - 5 mil medium duty tarps and trim it down. It is basically a waterproofed version of Tyvek and is under $5. I have not tried heat sealing the edges yet. It can be an extra blanket if it gets really cold, a back up under a rain fly if you spring a leak and a good protective ground cover. If you are an ultralight freak, this may not be the lightest choice for thru hiking; but then no foot print is probably best if lowest weight is the priority.

Have you actually used a waterproof tarp over your sleep system as a blanket in cold weather? Does not sound like good advice to me. But HYOH .

[Venchka]

Have you actually used a waterproof tarp over your sleep system as a blanket in cold weather? Does not sound like good advice to me. But HYOH .

Peruse WhiteBlaze long enough and you’ll find numerous recommendations to place a plastic trash bag around the foot of your sleeping bag or quilt.
Clever hey!
Wayne

[Ethesis]

Have you actually used a waterproof tarp over your sleep system as a blanket in cold weather? Does not sound like good advice to me. But HYOH .

actually wasn’t too bad when I tried it.

[Carl7]

I tried the window tint polycyro for my ground cloths during my prior two two week section hikes. In both cases, the polycyro window tint tore lengthwise. Once this happens, it tears very quickly from end to end. It is very tough and light material, but this is it's weak point. I personally like the plastic painter tarp cut to size. Don't go to thin on the plastic.

[MtDoraDave]

Peruse WhiteBlaze long enough and you’ll find numerous recommendations to place a plastic trash bag around the foot of your sleeping bag or quilt.
Clever hey!
Wayne

Ice crystals on the outside of the sleeping bag / inside of the trash bag. That's what happens when you are caught in the back country with an inadequate sleeping system and try the trash bag method out of desperation and/or ignorance.
- or, to be clear, that's what happened to me when I tried it.

[Leo L.]

One way to use a waterproof sack of any kind would be to use it INSIDE the sleeping bag.
Whatever waterproof material I've tried to cover my sleepingbag to improve insulation, led straight into a wet sleeping bag. It helped to stay warmer for the moment, but ended up soaking the bag.
Very bad when you are forced to stay out multiple nights under such conditions, without being able to dry out the bag during the day.

[kayakpro]

Yes, but warning.... don't wrap it around you tightly. If you do, you are likely to wake up in a bathtub from the condensation. I lay it loosely over my sleeping bag so that it can breath around the edges and have not had a big problem.....after taking a bath once LOL...

[Harrison Bergeron]

Polycro is much tougher than tyvek in my experience, and a fraction of the weight. It's light enough that there's no point NOT having a footprint. And by the way, the main reason I like a perfectly waterproof footprint like Polycro is that its so much easier to wipe down in the morning than the bottom of your tent. You just flop over half, wipe, flop over half, wipe, and so on until you can pick it up.

But all the guys who said they ripped a hole in Polycro makes me wonder if there's a difference between the stuff from Home Depot and the stuff I get from Gossamer Gear for $9.