Well should I buy a footprint for our gobi? I have never used on before and not to sure if it worth the £24 from GO.i know it don't sound alot but just don't wanna be wasting money for nothing so any help will be great fully receive as iv got to this afternoon to make up my mind :)
They help protect the SIG (Sewn In Groundsheet) from stones and other sharp objects, helps keep it dry and keeps it clean. This makes packing your tent up a lot easier as you are not trying to clean the underside of it whilst folding.
However, you don't have to buy a specific ground sheet. Any cheap bit of plastic will do. Just cut or fold it to slightly smaller than the actual footprint of your tent. If you leave it bigger than your tent footprint water can collect and pool under the main tent.
Completely agree with RST5. They are not an essential item but I would highly recommend one. Also agree that any old plastic ground sheet will do and you don't need to buy the specific one for the tent. Making your own will probably be cheaper or sourcing one the same size as your tent.
Quote: Originally posted by RTS5 on 28/7/2013
They help protect the SIG (Sewn In Groundsheet) from stones and other sharp objects, helps keep it dry and keeps it clean. This makes packing your tent up a lot easier as you are not trying to clean the underside of it whilst folding.
However, you don't have to buy a specific ground sheet. Any cheap bit of plastic will do. Just cut or fold it to slightly smaller than the actual footprint of your tent. If you leave it bigger than your tent footprint water can collect and pool under the main tent.
I would definitely get one. Mud on your SIG when packing up must be a nightmare. Mud on a ground sheet can be cleaned off at your leisure, just take a black bag or similar to put it in until you get home
If you decide you want one buy a cheep blue builders tarp of the right size . It's what we use does the same job at a fraction of the cost .
And the way I look at it if a tent needs an additional foot print it should come with the tent and not be an option . It is in part due to the SIGs being to thin that makes a foot print necessary in the first place .
As others, I would highly recommend one - it takes all of the muck so that the bottom of your tent doesn't have to, and protects from stones, etc.
We have a home made one for an older tent, and the proper one for a newer tent.
If you can save enough money to make it worth the effort, then make your own from any plastic ground sheet. Buying the proper one however, should give you the correct size and shape, along with eyelets in the corners and along the sides to let you peg it down, to stop the wind taking it away when setting up/packing away.
By the time you've cut it to size, bought eyelets and fitted them, it may be cheaper, and certainly easier, to get the proper one?
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DEFINITELY recommend using/making a footprint. We always seem to dismantle our tent on the day it decides to pour with rain, and it was a LOT easier to hose down a grubby sheet of tarp, rather than re-erecting a tent post holiday, because it needed a clean.
Costco, sell a large heavy duty tarp at a price of about £18. A bit pricey, but the quality is very good. A pair of scissors and a packet of eyelet's and you have yourself a footprint.
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Topic: To buy or not to buy?
I would definitely get one. Mud on your SIG when packing up must be a nightmare. Mud on a ground sheet can be cleaned off at your leisure, just take a black bag or similar to put it in until you get home
