Hi Chris,

I use a cut-down Neatsheet in my GoLite Hex. It's basically two layers of soft, Tyvek-like material that has proven sufficiently waterproof in the conditions I've encountered, It's also non-slippery, silent and offers a bit of warmth.

I do not know if it would wet through in truly soggy conditions.

Cheers,

Rick

In my somewhat limited experience, Tyvek and 1.1 oz silnylon are similarly waterproof. No, Tyvek isn't absolutely waterproof- but neither is silnylon. If it were me, I'd go with Tyvek mostly due to cost and ease of folding. If the not-quite-waterproof qualities of Tyvek and silnylon are showstoppers a more appropriate option might be urethane coated nylon or polyester:

http://www.seattlefabrics.com/nylons.html#poly ctd rs
http://www.seattlefabrics.com/nylons.html#1.9 oz Urethane Coated Polyester Ripstop

Larry,

I am debating with the same thing with the ground cloth. What I am going to do is get a 8x10 foot ground cloth and connect it to the inside of the pyramid shelter (where the bug next will be connected anyway....my pyramid is going to be 10x10 feet). This will create a bathtub floor effect on three sides, and my hope is that the condensation from inside of the tent will drip on the outside.

This should also provide a space to walk into the shelter without walking on the ground cloth.

Rick: How much does your Neat Sheet weight? It is inexpensive, but how durable is it? It looks like it would weight quite a bit for the size I am looking for.

Aaron: I have come to the similar conclusion that tyvek and 1.1 sylnylon are very similar in waterproofness. But the big thing for me is the weight savings with the sylnylon.

Our group of (6) using 3 large Gossamer Gear Polycro gound sheets (2 people on one large sheet) have over 60 nights using these in our Mids for the last 5 years and I have never heard anyone complain or have an issue with noise ???
I'm a super light sleeper too. Other guys snoring .... an issue yes, but not these!

Tyvek. You can cut and tape it to make a bathtub. It will be waterproof enough unless you have outright streams under the floor.

For just a general ground cloth, it sounds like a 10x10 silnylon tarp would do the trick. Could double for a sun/rain shelter for cooking and eating. Keep in mind that a 10x10 tarp may be a little smaller--- "finished" size issues.

With that many in in the party, one hiker could carry a cheapie blue poly tarp for the "expedition." Get a 12x12 and hack it into a bathtub floor with scissors and duct tape. Use it for a drop cloth, etc when you get home.

3 mil polyethelene plastic is good - maybe 2 oz / square yard - a little noisy - cheap - probably lasts only a few trips.

1.1 oz silnylon (1.4 oz with coating) isn't totally waterproof - okay for a tent but if you are touching the inside surface, for example your sleeping bag is on it, it will soak through some.

If you coat it with mineral spirits/silicone caulk, it will be pretty waterproof, plus you won't slip around on it. Maybe 3 parts spirits to 1 part silicone. Clear caulk from hardware store works fine.

I did this on my bivy and have used it at least 50 nights. It started peeling off the bottom after a few nights - don't do this. The top surface that I put my air mattress against has held up fine.

Hopefully not too much of a hijack of this thread, as some earlier comments related ---
I just did a 3-day snowshoe trip where I slept under a tarp on snow/ice. I.e., packed down slick snow, virtually ice, I guess, temperature right around freezing.

My polycro groundcloth was useless, as even on very level ground it was sliding around a lot, quite frictionless. I had two 1/8" GG ccf pads to combine with my inflatable, so fortunately was able to put one of those under the inflatable to keep it from sliding.

I'm speculating that I should be using tyvek as a groundcloth when tarp camping on snow in future? Most winter camping I've done in the past has been with a floored tent, so this was a new one on me.

TIA !

I used tyvek last winter in my MYOG pyramid. It was about 33 degrees, so the floor was a mixture of slush and mud, but the tyvek kept me dry. It was on a fairly level spot, so I did not slide around, but it is MUCH less slippery than silnylon. (I have used both in the past)

When I originally posted this thread, I was pretty confident in going with tyvek because it was the cheaper option. Now that I am pursuing MYOG, I am now re-considering silnylon.

Is there any way in making silnylon less slippery? I was hoping there would be some kind of liquid or some method in adding friction to the material. The only other idea I had was to use rocks to prevent me from slipping around when I have to choose a not so level place to sleep. Waking up to realize that you are spooning your dad or friend is kind of awkward. :)

After I put a layer of silicone/mineral spirits (1:4) on silnylon it is no longer slippery, almost sticky. When I put it on the side that's against the rocks it rubbed off after a while. The side I sleep on has held up pretty good after maybe 100 nights.

Permatex Flowable Silicone Window sealer is supposed to be better, but I haven't tried it and don't know if you could cover a groundcloth with it.

I bought some spray in a can from REI many years ago to spray on things to make them less slippery.