What to use as a ground sheet?

[Scrappy]

Tyvek, 2mill plastic, or a 6x10 silnylon tarp for 69 bucks that weighs 11ozs from Etowah Outfitters/ Etowah Gear?


Maybe I'm over thinking this but I'm thinking the tarp due to its weight and versatility. But I'm not sure if it would be durable enough for a ground sheet under my tent. What do you experienced backcountry guys think?

 

[back country]

I use a tyvek sheet under my sleeping pad, even inside a tent. When my pad cost me about $150 I want all the protection I can get! I would go with a sheet of tyvek. It’s durable and cheap, which are two good qualities for items that get used on the ground. Save the ultralight tarp for applications like setting up a glassing spot out of the rain or something like that.

Just my 2 cents.


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[Owenst7]

2 mil ldpe weighs about 2-3 ounces for a 7'x3' section, packs the size of a softball, and costs about $3 for enough painters plastic to cut 3 IIRC. They last me over a year of backpacking without getting holes, but I've never worn one out. I use them to lay meat on when butchering and swap them out for a clean one when I get back to the truck, so it's pretty rare that I ever use one for more than a year before I throw it away due to being bloody.

 

[Scrappy]

A 9x12 2 mill painters plastic is listed as 1.02 pounds. I think I just overreacted when I saw the weight on the package. I need about 7x9 to cover everything under my stratospire 1 to include the vestibules. That would probably take the weight down to about the same as the tarp. Ya I'm seriously over thinking this.

 

[45-70]

Tyvek.
I take two pieces up the mountain. One for under the sleeping pad and the other is in my pack. Use for laying meat out, emergency uses, impromptu tarp etc. Cheap, light and you can dye it if you don't like white. Wash it a few times and it gets nice and soft. Buy online at the well known places or better yet, hit up the Forman wherever you see new homes going up. He'll probable give you enough to last a few years.

 

[Owenst7]

A 9x12 2 mill painters plastic is listed as 1.02 pounds. I think I just overreacted when I saw the weight on the package. I need about 7x9 to cover everything under my stratospire 1 to include the vestibules. That would probably take the weight down to about the same as the tarp. Ya I'm seriously over thinking this.

That was probably the shipping weight in packaging.

It's the same material as Tyvek but less dense. They're both made of polyethylene.

 

[Scrappy]

View attachment 76883 owenst7 is this the same thing your talking about. It doesn't have the ldpe on the package.

 

[mtnkid85]

Another voter for Tyvek. Ive been using the same piece for several years and its still holding up fine.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I ran a space blanket for years.

Space All-Weather Blanket | REI Co-op

Multi use. Work fine as a ground sheet but it weighed 12oz.

I did the Tyveck thing too. A decent size piece is 6-9 oz and you loose a little function over the space blanket.

I picked up two things from seekoutside.

https://seekoutside.com/ground-tarp/

The ground tarp is going to be a better overhead cover and Should be as good a ground cloth as the Tyvek or emergency blanket. $45 bucks. 40d. 10 oz.

I also bought this:

https://seekoutside.com/mountain-mat/

Going to try it out. I loose the overhead cover option but that is less of an issue if I have a main tarp. It can also let me leave my sitting pad at home so at 8 oz I save nearly 10oz over a small cut sitting pad and my old emergency blanket while picking up some r value for my sleeping pad.

 

[Trial153]

The mountain mat looks like a great option. Anything that can serve two functions is going to save space and weight.

 

[TradLife406]

Been using polycro but it's kinda a pain the butt as my pad slides around on it and it's so thin I doubt it's actually doing any good. I did see someone has a dynima maybe ground cloth with guy out loops. Gunna go this route I think.

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[Owenst7]

View attachment 76883 owenst7 is this the same thing your talking about. It doesn't have the ldpe on the package.

Your attachment doesn't work. Just go to your local Walmart/Homedepot/etc that sells paint. It's just plastic painter's plastic. I've found the 2 mil to be more than durable enough. I believe it is sold in .7 mil thickness but I think you'd be well beyond the point of diminishing returns. If the 2 mil wasn't strong enough for you (I backpack in Nevada with tons of cacti, so I can't imagine needing something more durable), the 3 mil and 5 mil products are just as cheap and readily available.

I believe the Visqueen product I used to install as a vapor barrier is 5 mil thickness. Held up fine to a construction crew stomping all over it and dropping tools while it was laying on steel pandecking.

 

[Owenst7]

Been using polycro but it's kinda a pain the butt as my pad slides around on it and it's so thin I doubt it's actually doing any good. I did see someone has a dynima maybe ground cloth with guy out loops. Gunna go this route I think.

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Dyneema is also polyethylene. Painters plastic, Tyvek, and Dyneema/Cuben are all the same thing, just different densities. As the density increases, you'll gain tensile strength and lose elasticity.

Dyneema makes a lot of sense for a tarp shelter/fly where tension on the material increases the function of the structure. The tighter you can pitch it, the less it will flap and the better it will handle snow loads. I don't really see the benefit for something you lay loose on the ground to lay on, however.

 

[HeadnWest]

The mountain mat looks like a great option. Anything that can serve two functions is going to save space and weight.

What other function could it be used for? Looks very bulky to me. I use tyvek, but if I needed to spend money, I would choose the SO ground tarp, at least it can be used as sun or rain protection in a pinch.

 

[Desk Jockey]

What other function could it be used for? Looks very bulky to me. I use tyvek, but if I needed to spend money, I would choose the SO ground tarp, at least it can be used as sun or rain protection in a pinch.

It is a 40x80 ground sheet with a little r value
Fold to 20x80 and it is a 1/4 thick sleeping pad
Fold a couple more times and I have a 1 inch thick 20x20 sitting pad