Has anybody used a tent footprint as a tarp? Footprints seem to be cheaper than tarps of the same size? By the the way my first post.

i used one for a couple years as a tarp,it was for a Big Agnes Seedhouse sl2 i think and it work relatively good.

My foot print is made of PolyCryo, I suppose I could make it bigger and use as an actual tarp when it was needed. I usually just push through the rain until its time to set up camp though. At that point I'm going to have to use it under my tent.

You could definitely use them. My experience is that footprints are typically made from a heavier gauge material than most lightweight tarps so may be a bit heavy. Also most footprints are narrow since they need to be more narrow than the tent floor itself. That may make for an awkward dimension for tarping.

Thanks. Yeah it would seem that you would have to pick the right tent to get the right size footprint but I was looking at a Big Agnes Fairview 4 Footprint and it is 8 feet x 7ft 2inches and 14 ounces. Seems like a pretty good size but not having experience perhaps it is too big/small. Being cheap/thrifty at 27 dollars that seems like a really good deal if it can be used as a tarp.

another even cheaper/thrifty option would be a regular poly tarp. You would have to check my math but a 6x8 poly tarp would weigh about the same,those are about 4 oz a square yard i think. poly tarps are kinda noisy tho

and the size would depend if on the weather and if your going to use a bivy with it.

Edited by gonecrazy on 03/08/2012 10:30:57 MST.

I have used poly as ground cloth but not as a tarp. Just kind of thought that since a tent footprint would have some type of attachment points that it would be easier to stake out, add guylines and add other attachment points than a poly sheet.