That's where the confusion lies though, sleeper. For me at least!
Even if we are convinced that a breathable groundsheet is the way forward in an awning, almost as a carpet, surely there is no advantage of putting a breathable ground sheet under a tent's SIG. It won't let the grass breath, as it has a non-breathable SIG directly on top of it. It won't keep the underside of your SIG clean, and certainly not dry, as the dew etc can rise through the holes/weave. Not to mention bugs, grubs, and worms etc.
Maybe it would give a little protection against damage from thorns etc, but I wouldn't have thought it would work as well as a full on non-breathable footprint?
As their rule states "sig is fine but any other footprint has to be breathable", then surely you may as well just plonk the SIG directly on the ground? With or without a breathable footprint, the underside of the tent's SIG is gonna end up wet, and quite possibly dirty too... and the grass is gonna be flattened (and killed off, depending on duration of pitch?)
Currently, I sit here convinced a breathable ground sheet in an awning could well do more good than harm.
Still convinced though, that a breathable ground sheet underneath a SIG of a tent is totally pointless, for the site, and the tent.
Surely, for a breathable ground sheet to breathe, it needs air above it... not a bloody great big plastic sheet fitted to a tent, quite possibly with carpet and furniture above that!!
Can anyone help
We are on a campsite using an Isabella breathable groundsheet but each morning a new hole has appeared as if something is eating it but there are no signs of mice or anything like that
Has anyone out there had a similar experience ...... We are baffled
1 hole is as big as 5 pence piece and a perfect circle
I for the life of me cannot see the difference in putting the tent directly on the grass with the sig or if you use a footprint, they are both made of the same material normally,
as for the holes in the breathable groundsheet they don't stop your feet getting wet, far from it actually you normally have to contend with worm casts and slugs getting thr them
I would only agree to no use of footprint if the site agrees to underwrite any repairs to, and cleaning of, my SIG.
Can't see that happening, so I'll stay elsewhere.
Seems a badly thought through rule to me. As has been said, if there is one waterproof sheet over the grass (i.e. the SIG) what harm does another waterproof sheet do, if it only occupies the same patch of grass?
I personal wouldn't want to go where a footprint isn't allowed - its so much easier with a foot print in terms of mud etc and also protecting your sig
------------- June 2015: seaview international 2 nights
July 2015: little winnick 2 nights
August 2015: lower polladras 5 nights
august 2015: tollgate farm 5 nights
august 2015: oakdown 3 nights
September 2015: tregarton park
family of 6 with young children
If more sites do this they'll have to rethink their business strategy. Repairing and maintaining pitches should be part of their operating costs.
I can see why they start to get upset by additional canopies and gazebos having groundsheets. Most of the times 1/3 to 1/2 of a pitch would be covered, not 80-90%.
But you are happy to pack away your expensive tent with a wet groundsheet covered in mud, grass and dirt smear it all over your canvas, damage the waterproofing and risk mould? I think a hole in the groundsheet is the least of my worries., easily repaired though it's never happened yet, they are pretty tough
There is no confusion, additional groundsheets must be breathable, they don't mean under your SIG, I asked acampsite, they said absolutely no additional sheet under the SIg, it damages the grass more, which is absolute twaddle, it's not gooing to breath with a SIG on top, these types of campsite are only interested in trying to save their grass in case they lose money withno idea or care about campers, best suited to festival goer types with cheap pop up tents (not £800 ones) who don't mind cooking outside even if it rains. They often have on site drinking and games rooms.
I think it's selfish of sites to not allow additional plastic under a SIG though, it's fine for camper vans, awnings - you don't have to cover your tent in wet mud, dirt and grass and ruin an £800 tent every time you pack up. Personally I don't care if I have to camp on a mud pitch as long as my SIG stays clean by putting a plastic sheet under it, I went to one of these sites and had to spend all morning trying to clean and dry the f'in groundsheet before I folded the tent, luckily I brought a few old towels in case, never again !! They should spend some thought on the type of grass they plant, some clearly don't, there are harder wearing types than lawn seed.
If they wanted to avoid this with tents they could rotate the camping areas and maybe have less tents but seeing as they are so selfish and only bothered about how many tents than can squeeze in during the season it's unlikely they'll do it.
We have just returned from a week on Mull. The site (Sheiling Holidays, Craignure) have installed tent pitches which are on a form of astroturf. The benefits to tenters is that it is almost always clean, dry and mud free. The benefits for the site is that there is no detrimental damage to the pitch and can be used on a continuous basis with a quick turnaround of visitors which obviously means more return financially.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Breathable Ground Sheet
via mobile 31/8/2021 at 8:13am
