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Hi Liz

I Suppose it is personal choice, but I have always used a groundsheet, even on my little 2 man tent - because I am lazy and it saves me having to clean the bottom of my tent, I can just fold that away and only have the groundsheet to dry out or clean. Having said that I have just been looking at a site I want to visit and it says that ALL tents require a breathable groundsheet - don't understand that myself as having a sig I cant see how a breathable groundsheet would make any difference apart from me having to clean the tent when I get home. Very frustrating.

Carpets - I am new to this, always managed with a rug before, but felt that as I am now a little older, requiring a tent with head room as I dont fancy all that crawling around on my hands and knees these days I thought I would go for the comfort of a carpet aswell, just makes the tent feel all snuggly on those common wet damp camping days

Most of our 16 years of camping was in tents without a sewn in groundsheet/carpet etc.  Then two years ago when we decided to get a new tent went for a SIG and carpet.  Well we are not going back now! The tent is warm and cosy, no mud flaps flapping about in the wind - bliss!

We bough a footprint mainly to keep the sewn in groundsheet clean as it has to be packed away with the tent it prevents the tent from getting dirty/damp.  It also helps getting the tent pitched as you have a 'footprint' of the space you need and can judge how far to pitch away from hedges etc.

Quote: Originally posted by lizex on 12/4/2011

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We've never had footprints, carpets etc and we're not all that sure what they're for. So folks, what it should we have and why?

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If you're happy then keep doing what you're doing!

I find a footprint useful (especially with our big tent) as I find it easier to hose that down if it gets muddy rather than trying to clean the SIG.
Plus it adds an additional layer of insulation.

As for carpets, we never bothered in our old tent but found the ground a bit chilly first thing in the morning. Got some picnic balnkets and found them to be really good and have now moved on to proper tent carpets which are brilliant (don't move around like the picnic blankets did)

I do really like (and need) my "comfy camping" style - that's what works for us so that's what we do!

Our friends camp like you (as we were pre our son coming along) and can't see the point of doing it any other way, but we are camping with them for a night this summer so you never know...

We have footprint groundsheets for all our tents (the 2 smaller ones share the same one, just fold under to fit) which helps us:

• position the tent and check for uneven ground
• keep it clean whilst putting poles in and collapsing and rolling the tent away
• keep the SIG clean whilst pitched so saves loads of time cleaning the bottom of the tent before rolling it away
• protect the SIG from being pierced by twigs and thorns on the ground

The carpets help preserve the SIG from being pierced or worn by furniture etc from above, makes a warm surface for bare feet and children to play on and acts as an insulator. We use dirt trapper mats and a shoes off policy to keep them clean.

I guess it was moving to a SIG tent and wanting a nice playing surface that led to us getting a footprint and carpet for the new tents, but we wouldn't be without now. Makes so much of a difference to the experience and ease of camping... for us.

 A foot print has two uses. 1 It keeps the inner tent ground sheet clean the other being the fact that most modern tents SIGs are so thin you risk damaging them with out a footprint . Foot prints use to be sold as stone sheets and usaul for packing type tents . Our Tipi has a seriosly heavy duty SIG but we use a blue tarp as a under sheet (foot print) just to keep it cleaner .

Manufactures have tried to make tents lighter and cheeper but then if you want it to last you have to buy the foot print . You dont have to buy a footprint a cheep blue tarp of the right size will do just as well at a fraction of the cost .

When backpack cycle camping we'd put roll mats under the inner if we thought there was a risk of damage

Re tent carpets thats surely just a matter of personal comfort

Quote: Originally posted by oldgit111 on 13/4/2011

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hi,
can someone explain what a 'breathable' groudsheet is ?
or what a 'footprint' is ?
or tent carpeting is ?

we haven't been camping for a good number of years, and now all the kids have left, we decided to get a trailer tent, for our forays, our ages now creeping up, so a bit of comfort, off the ground etc.

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Breathable groundsheets are often used for caravan awnings and are designed to allow the grass to breath. Tents without sewn in groundsheets can use them too. If the ground is sodden you can get water coming up through though. They offer no advantage where a tent has a sewn in groundsheet (SIG) as that is non-breathable and counters any benefit from a breathable under layer. Usually if you ring sites requiring breathable groundsheets you will find that they do not require them for SIG tents given this.

The footprint groundsheet is a groundsheet cut slightly smaller than the tent that goes under the tent's sewn in groundsheet to protect it and keep it clean for re-packing. As said above, a cut down tarpaulin will do the same job.

Tent carpet tends to be a fleecy or woven soft top layer with a waterproof base and potentially padding in between. This lies on top of the tent's groundsheet purely for comfort.