Don't bother with proper footprints, they are a complete rip off for what they are.
I picked up two 3m x 4m 150gsm (decent thickness) tarps from Amazon for £10 each delivered. Quality and thickness is great, protected our tent groundsheet perfectly at Fforest Fields on their all weather gravel pitches. No holes in the tarps either.
------------- April 2015 - Castle Camping, Staffordshire
June 2015 - Castle Camping, Staffordshire
July 2015 - Pillars of Hercules, Fife
August 2015 - Fforest Fields, Powys
we always just use a medium weight polythene dust sheet from B and Q (costs about £3 and just tuck it in under our carpet(no SIG or ZIG here)then just throw it away, keeps the back of the carpet nice and clean
Just ordered some 200 g/m² tarpaulin 6x4 for our tent which is 4.8x3.5, Think they are inside measurements. Will need to do a bit of folding.
Would definitely rather put a footprint down first.
Just back from a campsite in Cornwall which has 'banned' the use of footprints. On account of the damage they do to the grass!
Have to admit I used mine, regardless for all the above reasons.
In discussion with the site owner they said that the site gets a lot of caravan users in September who complain about being on pitches where the grass has been 'killed off' due to tents being placed on the grass. They also limit the number of days you can stay if you have a large tent for similar reasons.
When I lifted my tent you could see the imprint on the grass and also watched how long it took for the imprint of previous tents to return to green.
Quote: Originally posted by Rhj296 on 13/8/2015
Just back from a campsite in Cornwall which has 'banned' the use of footprints. On account of the damage they do to the grass!
Have to admit I used mine, regardless for all the above reasons.
In discussion with the site owner they said that the site gets a lot of caravan users in September who complain about being on pitches where the grass has been 'killed off' due to tents being placed on the grass. They also limit the number of days you can stay if you have a large tent for similar reasons.
When I lifted my tent you could see the imprint on the grass and also watched how long it took for the imprint of previous tents to return to green.
So they might as well ban all tents then. A tent will harm the grass whether or not a footprint has been used, especially if it has a SIG!
------------- May 2015 - Arrow Bank 4 nights
July 2015 - Manorafon 4 nights
August 2015 - Piccadilly Caravan park 3 nights
August 2015 - Wheal Rodney 11 nights
It doesn't seem logical but it is their policy and stated clearly in the terms and conditions. Zipped in or sewn in groundsheet seemed fine but footprints and additional ground sheets are banned. If found using one you may be asked to leave the site. Owner feels, in discussion with him that they do more damage to the grass than just the tent footprint on its own.
They will only allow bookings for large tents of 15 nights max.
I saw lots of them sticking out from under other tents as well as witnessing them being used as tents were assembled and dismantled.
If I were to start a campsite I think I would make sure I had enough spare pitches to be able to rotate and rest them as required. It might also be prudent to have pitches large enough to be able to position the tent either side thus allowing the grass that was beneath the previous users tent to rejuvenate instead of plonking the tents all on the same muddy patch.
There are still plenty of good, well maintained campsites that have nice grassy pitches and if one can do it I don't understand why they all can't.
Over recent years as camping has become more and more popular I have found many pitches deteriorating badly. That is why I started using a footprint in the first place. This is possibly because pitches are in constant use and have no time to recover. This really is just bad management and that extra tenner a night by selling those 'resting' pitches is hard to turn down.
How ridiculous! No way can a separate groundsheet/footprint cause any more damage than the SIG or ZIG of the tent itself!
By all means, ban the use of non-breathable ground sheets in awnings/extensions/canopies etc (for tent or caravan etc) that doesn't have a SIG/ZIG, but to try to force us to put our tents on his/her 5hi*ty pitch without protecting it with a footprint sheet underneath will only cost him bookings, and income.
As said, they may as well just ban tents full stop.. "No Tents allowed" is far less offensive, and far more acceptable than "Tents only allowed without footprints"!!
Having said all that though, as Rhj296 states they witnessed plenty of tenter's using footprints, I strongly suspect this site owner doesn't actually know what he/she is talking about, hence these tenter's "getting away with it". They clearly don't know their footprint from their elbow!!
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: FOOTPRINT OR NOT?
