Footprints and carpets..... necessary or just nice?

[Alambil]

Very small budget for my tent expenses (well, £200 for the tent - not much for extras!)

Do I NEED a footprint and / or carpet? (for the Outwell carolina 3)

We have both

makes us a bomb on resale - people know that the SIG ahs been protected

footprints fab esp. if you use stony sites, as we do

carpeyts are a luxury really, although we have a baby who was camping at 5 weeks,plus I have reynauds, so the insulation is a big bonus

(Mind you am in dogbouse for bying 8m of bunting yesterday for the tent, only allowed to use it when we're camping for ds3's birthday apaprently. Bugger that,tent was supposed to be a gift for ME LOL)

OK dotty - you can get that pvc oilcvloth stuff at john lewis (or many places online) and it is v nice, but would make your rug very stiff and heavy and is hard to sew. I would probably go for a proper old-fashioned woven blanket to back it with, the kind you can get in a charity shop. Or, get one (or more) of those cheap tesco picnic rugs which are usually just a plain colour, and use that as a backing. Both of these options v. cheap. The advantage of the blanket backing is you could use your rug on the bed too if necessary, but the picnic rug backing would mean you could also use it on the grass. Fleece would also work - lightweight, washable and dries quickly too.

Mmmm, I want to make one of these as well now! Would be the perfect way for me to get some good practice at knitting as I'm just starting with it.

JetLi - make camping stuff! embargo sidestepped!

Slubber - of your retro melamine.

Slubber re batard - it's a kind of bread too apparently. I was very surprised to see a "sundried tomato bastard" for sale in my local shop.

batard amused me too, but i am v. childish about such things. dh always sighs when we drive past clitheroe

We use newspaper just inside the entrance. Absorbent and easily replaced, and disposable. We have rules like 'no drinks in the tent' and 'no shoes in the tent'.

lololol at bastard sundried tomato bread. I'm with chevre with the puerile sense of humour.

Another of my recent purchases has been eco matting to go in the porch area. For some reason I am desperately concerned about grass and fret mildly about it yellowing under our sig through the duration of the camp (and am ridiculously happy for it when we strike camp and it sees the sun again). I think I can hear all the little blades stretching out, cheering wildly as they recomence photosynthesis.

where was I

oh yes, so the eco mat that is grass friendly is going in the porch area for all the wet stuff and filthy feet and then the picnic rugs inside for the snuggly-bugglyness.

For those with mo-fo tents PLUS fitted carpets, aren't they a giant pita to clean & shake out?

Wow - I'm going for the fleece - it looks brilliant. Have started knitting my first square (although I don't think it's going to be properly square - more a kind of shape that lots of other shapes will be sewn on to!).

Am horribly excited, even though dp thinks it's the most bonkers idea she's ever heard of!

Woohoo - roll on camping!

Can I ask a silly question while I'm here? What's the difference between a groundsheet (which we seem to have two of included with the tent we bought on ebay) and a footprint? Are they the same thing?

Cor slubber, get you and yer upwardly mobile eco mat compared with my broadsheet newspaper. upgrading zombie plan

JetLi Wed 17-Jun-09 14:33:49 Add a message | Report post | Contact poster

Oh fab - pimp my tent! Bedouin style-y interior! Bunting and fairy lights!
Shame that myself and DP agreed to a shagging embargo on buying any more camping equipment last night - no more stuff to be bought this year until we've actually been camping.
Bummer, BUMMER, BUMMER!

I read that as you had a shagging embargo on - what fun is camping without the sex , . Maybe you need to let DP know the embargo could be lifted with fairy lights and bunting.

Peacy I am envious of 8 metres of bunting - where did you get it from - tis DS2's birthday next week when we are camping

Dotty you could use PUL to back your blanket, it's the stuff they make nappy wraps from. You can get it by the metre from here
It's flexible and waterproof at the same time!

oh WOW, I an get polar fleece to match my bunting, lol

lol molly. Now you just need a matching fruit bowl and rucksack and ....... [poof] you'll become a person who dwells in the Outwell catalogue

the alternative dark Outwell Catalogue that is.

Slubber - thanks! I'm still not sure though - we put the tent up in our garden a couple of weeks ago and used one of the ground thingys - the other looks exactly the same? They're both made of the same material.

So would we use both or just one? I think they're the same shape - big rectangles.

It's a Khyam if that helps with advice giving!

I suppose we could use them both for the hell of it?!

Pookamul - thanks - I'm sold on the fleece idea though (even though I'm sure it won't be as water proof and will get horribly dirty the minute we put it on the tent floor!). Have nearly finished the first knitted square - will post a photo when it's finished!

themadhouse on ebay, loads on there at pretty reasonable prices.

Footprints are in addition to SIGs, or sewn in groundsheets: groundsheets that come included are instead of SIGs, they are a matter of preference I think although most people find they're fiarly deadset eiter way.

With a groupndsheet, the upside is it is replaceable; SIGs being a part of the tent are not (unless you have a bucket groundsheet which is arguably best of both.....)

Downsides are insects, etc

Dotty we ahd a spare with our old Khyam. You culd use two quite easily, would give you double insulation

[[http://www.fleeceponchos.co.uk/patterned-fleece-fabrics/cats/prod_164.html this is] our next fleece order, to be amde into aponcho for ds3 as he has lost his. The others already have them from there, but saving and sewing myself this time.

here

hmm what a mystery. Do you think you bought a tent package with additional footprint? Thinking about it logically (moderately difficult post glass of nice wine) the footprint really only comes into its own if you have a sig. It saves you fannying about with cleaning the underside of the whole tent.

If your tent is a non sig then I'm not really sure of the benefits of putting a footprint under a normal groundsheet. Maybe you lucked out and have a heir and a spare

The most important question I have been DYING to ask you is how on earth are you going to cope without your electric blanket?

And for teh door we have a rubber doormat, lives n the boot as a protectormost of the time, comes out for camping- and the outwell doormat goes inside LOL

oh peachy peachy peachy

matching doormats....

Been to any nice caravan show rooms of late my dear?

Slubber! You'll never believe it but when we bought a new mattress about 4 months ago, dp made me throw my electric blanket away!

OK, it was 15 years old and flickered and buzzed a bit and was probably about to electrocute me, but honestly...

Must admit though - we bought one of the spring + mushy stuff mattresses and it's sooo warm that I don't miss the electric blanket too much.

And I also have a hot water bottle every night! So that's coming with me and I've treated myself to a lovely Outwell flannel/cotton sleeping bag and a Fat Airic just so I'm warm enough to sleep

Doormats?! I'm clearly way behind on all things camping..!