i cant decide if i should bring a footprint for my nemo gogo or not. i just ordered it so i havent used it yet. anyone with experience wanna make a recommendation for me? thanks
Depends on where you're going, terrain, weather, etc.
I generally never take one around here, because I can find a nice flat, jagged-rock free spot to pitch my tent without having to worry about it getting shredded, and I'm careful while I'm in it.
If you're mindful of your gear, and the ground surface you'll be on isn't liable to poke holes in your floor, you can easily survive without one.
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I agree. I usually don't take one, either, unless I know I'll be camping where it's going to be muddy - it helps keep the bottom of the tent less muddy. (And, since I no longer feel the need to prove I can camp in wet, rainy, muddy, weather, I can't remember the last time I took one.)
I'll sometimes take one when I'm trying to save a few ounces by leaving a chair kit behind. Then, I can use it to sit on in camp, possibly with my mattress on top of it. Of course, a small closed-cell sit-pad also works.
#130832 - 03/16/1007:55 PMRe: to take it or leave it?
[Re: Jake28]
Trailrunner
member
Registered: 01/05/02
Posts: 1835
Loc: Los Angeles
I have a Gogo but I have never used the manufacturer's footprint for it, or any other shelter. Instead I use this. It's only 1.5 ounces and durable enough to last a season.
When I pack up the Gogo I just roll it up with my sleeping bag still inside and throw the whole thing in my pack. That eliminates the weight and hassle of stuff sacks for both. But I don't want to put a dirty and possibly wet or muddy shelter in my pack against clean clothes ("clean" is a relative term here!) so I use a ground cloth. Also, the floor of the Nemo is not 100% waterproof against hydrostatic pressure and if the ground is wet you will feel it. But the ground sheet is a non-woven plastic and is truly waterproof.
_________________________ If you only travel on sunny days you will never reach your destination.*
* May not apply at certain latitudes in Canada and elsewhere.
#130835 - 03/16/1008:22 PMRe: to take it or leave it?
[Re: Jake28]
Jimshaw
member
Registered: 10/22/03
Posts: 3983
Loc: Bend, Oregon
tent footprints are a modern way of building tents with inadequate floors so they can say the tent is lighter, then they sell you a footprint. You don't need it unless you intend to camp somewhere that will shred the tent bottom. Unless of course you're worried about getting mud on the bottom of your tent.
I do not even own a footprint and I wouldn't use it if I did. Jim
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These are my own opinions based on wisdom earned through many wrong decisions. Your mileage may vary.
I'd take it but cut the rear 1/3 off B/C you only really neeed it where your are kneeling or sitting, namely the front 2/3 of the tent, to protect the tent floor from wear and tear.
How's that for a compromise?
Eric
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Registered: 02/05/03
Posts: 3293
Loc: Portland, OR
When I saw a footprint for my REI Chrysalis one-person tent on sale for $0.83, I snapped it up at once and couldn't have been happier.
I plan to whack off pieces of it and use them for small sewing projects that need pu-coated nylon. In about a week, I am going to use about 1.5 sq. ft. to sew some rain-shedding shell mittens.
As for using a footprint under my tent, I do so occasionally when the ground is quite wet and some seepage is possible.
#130846 - 03/16/1010:59 PMRe: to take it or leave it?
[Re: aimless]
Boomer
member
Registered: 10/21/09
Posts: 98
Loc: Minnesota,USA
only use mine when its wet out
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Registered: 10/27/03
Posts: 820
Loc: north carolina
Originally Posted By Glenn
Hey, Jim:
I read a "tip" once that said you should take a ground cloth and put it inside, instead of under, your tent, like a rug.
Never quite understood the logic of this - never tried it - I assume your opinion of this would also be along the lines of "you gotta be kidding me."?
We always put a big blue tarp *inside* our tent for car camping. Makes it much more waterproof, and resistant to shoes, sticks, sand, etc. But not for backpacking.
#130877 - 03/17/1011:42 AMRe: to take it or leave it?
[Re: kbennett]
Jimshaw
member
Registered: 10/22/03
Posts: 3983
Loc: Bend, Oregon
What I was referring to is a piece of plastic "film" like .5 oz painters plastic. Sometimes in the Winter there is a lot of condensation or upwelling or something on the floor - I have no explanation except that the floor is on snow and gets wet. Putting this 2 ounce piece of plastic film on the floor under your gear WILL keep the tent floor dry for some reason.
My buddy and I always did this snow camping in the Sierras. One time he said "I brought the plastic but I'm not putting it in just to experiment without it". The next day his sleeping bag was so wet that he wanted to go home, mine was dry and I used the plastic film. BUT it was sunny and we hung up a clothes line and he dried his bag in the sun so we spent another night, this time we both used the film and the next morning both tents were dry. I think it fits under the "who knows but it seems to work" category Jim
_________________________
These are my own opinions based on wisdom earned through many wrong decisions. Your mileage may vary.
#130878 - 03/17/1012:17 PMRe: to take it or leave it?
[Re: Jimshaw]
ChrisFol
member
Registered: 07/23/09
Posts: 387
Loc: Denver, Colordo
I am guilty of always carrying a ground cloth just because I never know what the ground conditions are going to be like at any given time and for around 1.5oz per sheet of Polycryo or Tyvek, I don't see why not.
I have no experience of bivies like the Nemo, but I would suspect that I would always carry a ground cloth when using one for the simple reason of keeping the dirt/mud etc either on the sheet or on the ground and not on the bivy-- which will go back into your pack-- I wouldn't want the contents of my pack getting covered with the crap on the bottom of my bivy.
Jim: I didn't realize that you had suggested this somewhere; I wasn't trying to play "gotcha." Years ago, I read some book (can't remember what one now) that suggested taking a regular coated-nylon groundcloth to use inside the tent.
#130883 - 03/17/1001:06 PMRe: to take it or leave it?
[Re: ChrisFol]
Jimshaw
member
Registered: 10/22/03
Posts: 3983
Loc: Bend, Oregon
Chris, I assume that you know that if the ground cloth is larger than the tent that it can collect water running off the tent and funnel it under the tent making everything wetter than without the ground cloth. That's why tent "footprints" are the same size as the bottom of the tent.
When I was a kid we used canvas ground clothes so they could be larger because the water soaked through. I think If I used a footprint I'd make some holes in it to let the water out. Jim
_________________________
These are my own opinions based on wisdom earned through many wrong decisions. Your mileage may vary.
What I was referring to is a piece of plastic "film" like .5 oz painters plastic. Sometimes in the Winter there is a lot of condensation or upwelling or something on the floor - I have no explanation except that the floor is on snow and gets wet. Putting this 2 ounce piece of plastic film on the floor under your gear WILL keep the tent floor dry for some reason.
My buddy and I always did this snow camping in the Sierras. One time he said "I brought the plastic but I'm not putting it in just to experiment without it". The next day his sleeping bag was so wet that he wanted to go home, mine was dry and I used the plastic film. BUT it was sunny and we hung up a clothes line and he dried his bag in the sun so we spent another night, this time we both used the film and the next morning both tents were dry. I think it fits under the "who knows but it seems to work" category Jim
I guy I used to camp with was the only other person I'd ever heard of that put his ground sheet inside his tent. I thought he was nuts the first time he suggested that, but as you said, it definitely keeps moisture from creeping up from below.
This was back before silnylon, so I don't know if the same will hold true with sil or not.
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Light, Cheap, Durable... pick two
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