Tent ground cover

[bakerjw]

I just got my 1 man tent. A Eureka Midori solo. Not the lightest 1 man tent but the price was good ($118 delivered). I could have shaved off 8 oz for another $220 but I will live with it.
Anyway, I want to get a ground cover material to protect it from the ground. I want light as possible obviously.

My options are.
Lowes house wrap which I have - Free, very crinkly and fairly lightweight. It is white and a similar material to blue tarps. i.e. woven flat strands.
Tyvek house wrap. Probably about $20.00 delivered. Not sure about the weight but very crinkly.
Tyvek softwrap. Probably $20.00 delivered. Very soft and not crinkly.
I just got some waterproof ripstop nylon. Probably $15.00 delivered. Quiet and very light material.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[Lentamentalisk]

If  the tyvek is too rinkly you can put it in the washing machine (cold, delicate) and ti will make it much more fabric like. Not sure how this affects the water-proofness, but it is really only there for puncture protection anyways.

[Enjoying the View]

Clear window film works well and weighs next to nothing. It is not super durable but I have 15 or so nights on my most current piece and still no holes or tears. Its cheap and seems to do the job well.  

Something like this. And cut to fit.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_96393-1410-V75_0__?productId=3799417&Ntt=

[chrisx]

A thin piece of plastic works.
Cut a 30 gallon trash bag down both the sides,  buy a 3 mil sheet of plastic at home depot, etc.
Tyvek is not watertight.

[bakerjw]

I'm more interested in protection from sticks, rocks, etc... The bathtub is plenty waterproof.

[mtnbound]

The trash bag idea is pretty good. They are light, cheap and, if you get the heavy duty ones made for outdoor use, it will provide good protection from sticks, rocks, etc.  And no crinkly noise.

[bmike-vt]

I use a tyvek piece with our family tent. Loud, heavy, crinkly. Works great though with the kiddos to protect the tent.

I don't carry one when going solo - TarpTent Moment or Contrail. Just carefully scan where I setup and be mindful in camp.
Would the window plastic really protect you from sticks and rocks? Curious, never used it before.

[Enjoying the View]

Regarding the window film. For me. It seems suprisingly strong for its weight and what it is. But with that said I have always been pretty particular about site selection and clearing the ground before setting up my tent. So in reality the film has probably not been challenged for its puncture resistance much. In most cases I would say it's really unnecessary for anything at all. But it is nice in keeping the tent cleaner.

[Adam Alphabet]

http://gossamergear.com/polycryo-tent-ground-sheets-protection.html

[Racingguy04]

I like tyvek 1443R (http://www.amazon.com/Kitemaking-Material-Durable-Lightweight-Breathable/dp/B00JBBOAM8/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1456726255&sr=8-4&keywords=tyvek) it's not crinkly like house wrap, but thick enough and reasonably light/compact.

I also think you could make a decent footprint with the nylon and some sewing/ingenuity that doesn't weigh much.

I used to guide alot, and really wore out my gear so I religiously bought and used footprints that were made for the tent and managed to get 500-600 days use out of some tents, so I do think that ground cloths work reasonably well. I've gotten to the point now though if I really want to save weight, I'll go without the footprint/ground cloth and just put the tent on the ground. If you're going to use the tent alot, this might not be the best solution, but if it's going to be your dedicated fast and light tent, I think it's ok. Or use a ground cloth when weight and space aren't at such a high premium, and don't use it when they are. You do have to be a bit more careful about where you put your tent, and maybe spend a minute or two clearing/checking the spot, but honestly, I see it as a chance to improve your camp craft. If your tent floor gets a hole, it's not terribly hard to patch, and if it looses it's waterproofing there's ways to rewaterproof it (use urethane, not DWR). Most people's tents get retired due to damage from poor storage, zippers breaking, poles breaking, or holes in the fly, very few tents are retired because of floor damage so I don't think it's super critical to reinforce the floor.

[maettu99]

I use an emergency blanket as ground cover.
Retains/reflects back 90% of body heat and is relatively cheap.

[evdog]

Pallets of lumber often come wrapped in a tyvek-like material.   Go to your local building supply store and ask for one that will soon be in their dumpster.  The material is fairly light, very strong, and waterproof.  I got two ground sheet size pieces out of mine.  You might shave a couple ounces with a different material but hard to beat the price...free.

[discostew42]

http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=43&products_id=144

I have this MLD product which is just a form of food wrap. I believe it's a shrink wrap product that they use prior to shrinking.

I cut mine out to fit the footprint of my Fly Creek UL 1 and was able to attach some grommets so that I can run it as a fast fly.
Cheap and light weight.  I don't have a lot of time on mine yet but everything MLD sells is pretty solid so I am looking forward to
using this for bikepacking trips to come

[drwelby]

http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=43&products_id=144

I have this MLD product which is just a form of food wrap. I believe it's a shrink wrap product that they use prior to shrinking.

It's also the same material they sell as "Window Shrink Film". You can buy a big patio door kit at most hardware stores and they often discount them in the spring. The patio door kits are usually made with a little thicker material than the window kits. Online you'll see it called "Polycryo", "Polycro", or sometimes "Polycyro", which seems to be a mangled trade name for polyolefin.

[offroute]

Remove rocks/sticks and smooth out ground, set up tent, slide sleeping pad underneath.

I've never used a ground sheet bikepacking and never perceived a need to. Never used an inflatable pad either. A small roll of duct tape or piece of GTX repair material on board is assuring.