I think whomever came up with must
have been camping on a lawn…camp with me and sooner or later you will put your groundcloth on the ground…
where do you camp?
– Last Updated: May-10-06 5:14 PM EST –
My old Eureka has been in the Sierras, the Wind Rivers, the midwest, the deep south, the Canadian Shield, on rocks, sand, snow, ice and even softer landings like moss.
I have had this tent since the early 70's and never used an outie. It has ONE hole in the bottom, but several in the side. (From an inukshuk that fell over. Bad karma.)
The only tougher terrain I can anticipate is a lava field.
Interesting…that must be one tough
bottom on your tent…I usually throw my tent over tree roots,rose bushes or rocks…sand would be nice…why subject your tent bottom to the terrain when you can put a ground cloth between it…the logic is inescapable…what are you protecting when you put it on the inside; the bottom of your tent from your sleeping bag…? Seems eccentric
to each their own
opinion. I’ve seen this subject argued on every camping/canoeing/hiking board ad nuseaum over the years.
To me, it boils down to what you want to protect, your dryness, or the tent floor. Staying dry and warm is job one in my experience.
I’m sure you are right about
the discussion going around…The inside of my tents do not get wet with the…stop…!!! can’t go on any longer…
Yyvek groundcloth
Tyvek works good. I use it or a plastic painter’s dropcloth as an innie and a plastic tarp as an outie. Sounds like overkill, but I sleep dry and my tent floor stays protected…from both sides.
Both an innie and outie
– Last Updated: Jun-10-06 9:02 PM EST –
This is also known as the belt AND suspenders approach. ;-)
I use a tyvek ground cloth under my
tent. Like other ground cloths, it will protect your tent and is quite durable. The advantage of tyvek is first, that once it is softened (by washing in the washing machine and drying in the dryer on the lowest setting for just a short time, it is light and compresses very small. And it is water permeable. So, if water gets on your ground cloth, it doesn’t just run under your tent where it makes you damp and cold and frequently seeps through the bottom of the tent. Instead, it runs under your tent and seeps down to the ground, keeping you and the inside of your tent dry. Where I camp this is an important thing. And it’s less expensive than a good quality nylon tarp.
Its the rain
When a groundcloth is placed under a tent and it is even a bit larger than the tent floor, water running down off the tent gets trapped between the waterproof groundcloth and the tent floor, and then it gets into the tent thru any tiny hole. I have had Scouts show up with huge sheets of construction plastic and have a foot wide border of it around their tents. After a rain the inside was a pool several inches deep on the downhill side of the tent, only escaping thru the door zipper. That made me a believer in the inside approach. Yes the bottom does get dirty, though when dry it wipes right off, but the inside stays cleaner and driers. In an arid climate, outside might be better as long as you can keep the sand and dirt from tracking inside.