Cheap lightweight blue polyethylene tarp ground sheet

Discussion about making bushwalking-related equipment.

Cheap lightweight blue polyethylene tarp ground sheet

Postby keithy » Fri 30 Aug, 2019 9:10 pm

I thought I'd give a quick post to this as I mentioned in my thread on the Nemo Hornet floor viewtopic.php?f=15&t=30239.

I've previously made ground sheets for my various tents using 1443r Tyvek and the crinkly Homewrap.

In 2017 I stumbled across this blue tarp at Daiso (the Japanese $2 shop). It is 1.8m x 1.8m. and made of this blue polyethlene weave fabric. It is thinner than the Bunnings medium duty blue tarps. Bunnings had one called the Ezytarp that measured 1.7 x 2.3m that looked like a similar polyethelene fabric (70gsm) in green. The Bunnings one was similarly priced about $3.50 and had folded over reinforced edges as well as corner eyelets and comes with some cheap pegs. https://www.bunnings.com.au/ezy-tarp-1- ... s_p3330092

The cheapie Daiso tarp has eyelets punched in at the four corners and weighs a shade under 150g (I weighed at 148g).

Blue Tarp Groundsheet (5) Small (Small).jpg
Blue Tarp Groundsheet (5) Small (Small).jpg (135.6 KiB) Viewed 10163 times


It is lighter than the Tyvek homewrap, and about the same as the Tyvek 1443r, but only set me back under $3 for the 1.8x1.8m mat. I don't know if they make a different size - it would have been nice for a 2mx2m which would mean I could cover all the floor area of my tents.

I have a couple of other ground sheets for my other tents, including a 20D siliconised nylon floor but they all weigh over 230g.

I bought 2, and first used it with my Axeman hiking pole tent as a ground sheet. You can see it sticking out of the bottom in my pics in my review of the tent here: viewtopic.php?f=63&t=28191

I used a loop of stretch bungee cord through the eyelets. At first I wasn't sure how well this material would fare, so I didn't bother cutting it down to size - I just folded the extra material under, bunched up the corners at the fold over point and secured it with a bungee cord loop, with the idea I could also use it as a tarp if the need arose.

Since at 1.8m it was marginally shorter than my tent length (2m), I was short 0.2m. So I elected to try short bungee cord at the head of the tent - where I would be entering and exiting, and at the foot of the tent, I would have a deficit of 0.2m. I used a length of guy rope here for the short end to secure to my tent pegs.

It has performed nicely. The polyethelene is waterproof, and the ground sheet has helped with thin tent floors and moisture. The slight deficit of length hasn't hurt my tent, given that most of the weight inside the tent (me and my gear) is at the head.

I am keenly awaiting Dan Durston's 2P Mid tent, but earlier this year I picked up a Nemo Hornet 2P and a Big Agnes Fly Creek to see which one I'd use as a (semi) free standing tent to use in my travels - hopefully for Corsica and Chile.

I tested the Nemo Hornet and on wet ground, without a ground sheet, was disappointed to find that moisture seems to seep in through the 15D nylon floor. Not much, but I did find damp patches when I pressed my hand to the fabric on the wet floor, and some moisure under my mat. Even my cheapie Axeman with its 20D floor didn't seep like this.

I was going to cut a length of Tyvek 1443r to make a groundsheet for it, but I bought two of the blue tarp sheets back in 2017, so I cut one down to fit my Nemo Hornet to test it out in wet conditions again.

To fit the Nemo, I cut it town to about 1.3m x 1.8m (weighing 100g). I relocated the eyelets from the cutoff section to the smaller mat, and since the Nemo Hornet is about 2.1m long, the mat deficit is now 0.3m. So again, it is a shade shorter than my tent, and I have had to do the same trick as I did with the ground sheet for the Axeman tent.

Here are some pics.

This is what it looks like - all folded up
Blue Tarp Groundsheet (4) (Small).jpg
Blue Tarp Groundsheet (4) (Small).jpg (100.6 KiB) Viewed 10163 times


The old fabric ground sheet (used with my Axeman tent since 2017) is on the bottom - after 2 years of use and abuse under my other tent. I have rinsed it down a few times since it has gotten muddy, dirty and dusty. The new one I have cut is on top.
Blue Tarp Groundsheet (2) Small (Small).jpg
Blue Tarp Groundsheet (2) Small (Small).jpg (128.38 KiB) Viewed 10163 times


The eyelets on the old one have seen better days. I didn't reinforce them, so I have now used some duct tape to reinforce them.
Blue Tarp Groundsheet (1) (Small).jpg
Blue Tarp Groundsheet (1) (Small).jpg (192.81 KiB) Viewed 10163 times


The reinforced eyelets and my bungee cord loops - and the extra adjustable guy rope loop, using this slidey tension knot viewtopic.php?f=15&t=22358&p=291467
Blue Tarp Groundsheet (3) (Small).jpg
Blue Tarp Groundsheet (3) (Small).jpg (186.88 KiB) Viewed 10163 times
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Re: Cheap lightweight blue polyethylene tarp ground sheet

Postby Neo » Sun 03 Nov, 2019 5:09 pm

Nice work on the the reinforcement. Just did that to a hevy duty space blanket.

Blue tarps are one of those items that should be banned from sale in my opinion, along with micro beads, synthetic wet wipes etc etc
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