Hi, I have recently bought an urban escape 4man tent in Halfords, for my first ever camping trip. It seems to be quite well made and sturdy. I have practiced putting up and down on my own and no problem so far. The sig seems to be slightly flimsy though and I think a footprint groundsheet would be a good idea. There isn't a specific one for my tent. Can anyone advise if another one would suit for a different tent? It slopes inwards at the front and would a large heave tarp do the job, even if it is sticking out all round the tent? I have looked at several universal online, but nobody gives measurements!!! Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Easy / cheap option would be to measure the footprint of your tent and buy a tarp to suit.
You'd want it to be about 6 inches smaller so the tent completely covers the tarp.
Don't leave the footprint extending beyond the edge of the tent as water will just pool between them.
Any tarp can be used as a footprint under a tent but it needs to be a couple of inches smaller than the actual tent base all the way round.
These tarps come in a range of sizes and are good quality.
Cut the tarp to size, fold over the cut edges a couple of inches and stick down with tarp tape. It doesn't take more than a few minutes - I did one yesterday. Hammer eyelets in the new corners if you want, and job done.
Thank you so much everyone for your replies. I think a large tarp folded in for this trip, simply as I haven't time to cut one. Sarah, I was wondering if that was possible, I had no idea you could repair a tarp in that manner. A roll and some eyelets will be purchased at the first opportunity. Are there different pegs for securing a tarp/groundsheet? I'm intending to buy new pegs for the tent as those supplied wouldn't hold a sneeze. Any recommendations would be gratefully received (reasonably priced. Also can you stick carpet onto the sig with duct tape?
I use mushroom pegs for my footprint. You can usually just push them in unless the ground is really hard and they have smooth rounded tops so won't damage your groundsheet.
I would suggest that using duct tape to stick a carpet to the SIG would cause problems with leaving adhesive behind when you pulled it up again. If the carpet is not fitting well and is sliding around you could use stick on Velcro patches which would stay in situ on the SIG permanently.
Foggers, that was exactly my worry. I don't want to ruin it. I've decided to use masking tape instead, it shouldn't leave anything behind that cant be lifted off with ease. I have searched high and low for flat top pegs, the sticks in Northern Ireland doesn't appear to have heard of such a thing... I have bought cracking steel rippled pegs, but the flimsy pegs that came with the tent, if they were put in straight there would be no sharp edges and buried well. I'm hoping that will do for this trip round top pegs are on the list. Thanks to all for advice. It is much appreciated. I'm currently packing, I can't wait lol.