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While camping up at black swan fearby last october we had a problem with shap twigs poking through the SIG on the vario 600 - site owner had cut the big hedge week before with a flale mower - bits all over

My dad has given us - along with the rest on his vintage camping gear , along with a ridge tent he bought second hand over 40 years ago - a thick rubberised type ground sheet

,my idea was to put this under the tent as we put  it up to protect the SIG from damage - is this a good idea or will water get between them and possible cause us a problme ?

  Hi carlofbrigg

        No it wont cause any probs , but be sure to tuck the groundsheet about 2 inches under your flysheet , this will stop rain water from getting inbetween the two .    

 hope this helps

            breezy

You must make sure the groundsheet doesnt protrude outside of the main area of your tent as water will get trapped under your tent and cause all sorts of problems. Ive got a footprint groundsheet for my Vango Aspen 700 DLX which is a groundsheet made as the same shape as my tent and i find this ideal for keeping the mud off the bottom of my sown in ground sheet which in turn keeps the mud off the inner tent fabric when im packing my tent away, then all i have to do is hose down the footprint groundsheet when i get home.So yes the extra groundsheet is a good idea with loads of benefits.

mud dont bother me as much as damage to the SIG from stones / sharp sticks  - never really thought of it until last year at fearby were it was a bit messy

Last year, we used put tarpaulins down before putting the bedrooms and inner groundsheet in. Made packing up an awful lot easier, the mess was on old tarpaulins instead of new tent ; )

We're off again in August (and maybe before if we can escape), will definitely be using the tarpaulins again, yes, not overlapping the outside!!

sorry put it in wrong place

how do you get on with the vario carole ? weve only had it out once thinks it a very nice tent - think our old ground sheet is only 4 x 3 so it will only go under part of tent

We have a piece of awning carpet to go inside to make it warmer

A footprint groundsheet is a good idea with SIG (apart from you having to carry yet one more thing), but don't forget the good old fashioned technique of walking round and across the area you intend to pitch on first, and picking up the worst of the debris. Even a double groundsheet won't save you from ripping if there`s a protruding tent peg, piece of broken glass or similar sharp object. And though dog poo won't rip a groundsheet, you just don't want to be pitched on it....

And of course we all walk our pitches when we pack up, yes? To remove every last tiny piece of our debris? I know that cutting hedges is a different type of debris (I would have complained) but I get sick of arriving on pitches and finding them littered with matches, fag ends and bits of food wrappers.

Quote: Originally posted by f1ferrari0 on 20/1/2008

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Last year, we used put tarpaulins down before putting the bedrooms and inner groundsheet in. Made packing up an awful lot easier, the mess was on old tarpaulins instead of new tent ; )

We're off again in August (and maybe before if we can escape), will definitely be using the tarpaulins again, yes, not overlapping the outside!!

 

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That's exactly what we do.  We got a huge tarp from B & Q for about £13, we cut round our groundsheets to get the basic shape and when we are pitching we tuck the edges under so that we don't catch any rain between the two.  it makes it so much better when you are pitching and packing up, means you don't have to fold your tent up on wet grass if it's early morning and you don't get nasty, muddy groundsheets.  We just fold the tarp up, take it home in a bin liner and jet wash it in the back garden.

LOL, yes, we did exactly the same, mind you, the neighbours looked at is hosing down the tarp on the washing  line 

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That's exactly what we do.  We got a huge tarp from B & Q for about £13, we cut round our groundsheets to get the basic shape and when we are pitching we tuck the edges under so that we don't catch any rain between the two.  it makes it so much better when you are pitching and packing up, means you don't have to fold your tent up on wet grass if it's early morning and you don't get nasty, muddy groundsheets.  We just fold the tarp up, take it home in a bin liner and jet wash it in the back garden.

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