Groundsheet alternatives?

I think what you're using is best for your tastes….just gonna have to live with the weight.

Lighter tyvek can get destroyed unless you baby it. If you don't mind replacing/taping it much more frequently, then it might do the trick.

Silnylon / waterproof polyester fabric are alternatives, but the silnyl has no body to it – the poly is noisy as can be but may be worth trying.

Split the difference, couple a large polycro with a piece of tyvek trimmed to fit the pad, 2 oz + 3 oz. I like the extra protection under the neoair, and also use the tyvek for lying in the sun on dirty ground or as a sit pad around tar sap.

By shrink wrap I assume you mean polycro (been thinking of trying it myself).

How about cuben? Pricy but light.

My bivy has a sylnylon floor and I put that directly on the ground with the pad inside.

SOL emergency blanket. Orange on one side silver on the other. Not as fussy as the polycro. Light, inexpensive.

A large contracter bag – open it out and trim it down to the size of your choice. It's a little heavier duty than the 2mm drop cloth some people use, and not so clingy as the polycryo.

Lori,
Are you talking about the 55 gallon contractor bag, or is there something even larger?

Thanks.

I don't know if this would work (and haven't had coffee yet) but maybe try taping the edges of the polycro with gorilla tape to give it a little more body just on the edges? Use one color of tape on one side and a different color on the other to differentiate the sides.

2.5 mil plastic. May not be durable enough for long thru-hikes, but if you can replace it about every 500 miles or so, it would work just fine. The 2.5 mil is way more manageable than Polycro, and weighs about 3.5 oz for a solo size.

I just cut out 3' X 7.5' sections from an orange Coughlins tube tent. Seems like it's tougher than the drop-cloth plastic from Home Depot. I can get at least 3 solo sheets from one tent and they're cheap.

Anyone know how this stuff compares to polycryo? I've never used it before but maybe it's an option. Seems similar though

http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=43&products_id=144

I'm a floorless tarp camper and I played around with various groundsheets too, including polycryo/shrink wrap, tyvek, and painter's plastic. I really hated the polycryo. I used a 2mil "pebbled" (i.e. textured) painter's plastic for a long time; it was cheap, not too slippery and easy to cut to size. I decided to try tyvek last year and I like it best. It the least slippery one, so I can trim it smaller and not worry that my Neoair will slip off of it at night (which it did on the polycryo.)

So, my tyvek groundsheet weighs in around 2.5oz. Going to cuben would cut that weight to less than half. Cuben's texture is similar to tyvek, but it's also just as bulky.

All in all, I'm no longer all that fussed about an ounce if I'm happy with what I have. If I see a cuben remnant or seconds going cheap, I may make the transition.

Where do you guys get your tyvek? I don't want to have to buy a whole roll at home depot or something. Also I've got some 42 gallon 3mil contractor bags, thinking about using those. Just got a borah bivy with a silnylon floor, but I'm a little paranoid about it getting holes in it.

>> Where do you guys get your tyvek?

Ordered mine from Quest Outfitters. 14M type, $5.45 per yard, 60" wide. 1.25oz per square yard. It's plain white, without the Tyvek logo that I usually see on the rolls used in construction.

There may be cheaper places to order it from and I'm sure you can order from Amazon, ebay, etc. but Quest is my go-to place for technical fabrics/notions and their customer service is outstanding.

I currently use cuben fiber but it's also serves as a poncho and is made to clip into my shelter creating a bathtub floor (Zpacks). If it wasn't so multiuse I wouldn't have paid the price.
Pdreviously I was a tyvek user and really liked it. I suggest type 1443R which is lighter than the house wrap. It can be softened a bit by running it through a couple of water only wash cycles. There are two sides to it, one slick and one with a bit of fuzz/tooth. The fuzzy side should be on top otherwise you start collecting debris from the ground. I found it to be very durable. It is not waterproof so if you're trying to sleep on top of water you're going to get wet.
The best price I found was at

http://intothewind.com/shop/Repair_and_Kitemaking/Fabric_for_kitemaking_or_kite_repair/Tyvek

$3.50 a yard at 60" wide plus shipping. They also sell on Amazon

1. I have found 2 MIL thickness plastic sheeting very adequate.

2. For lighter weight I use a 1 MIL thick "entrance area" 2 ft. X 2 ft. piece for my solo tent in high abrasion areas like S. Utah.

3. And for lightest weight I just coated the silnylon floors of my Moment DW and Scarp 2 with a 5:1 mix of odorless mineral spirits to clear GE Silicone caulk. Put on with a small paint roller and wiped down with a blue paper shop towel.
This gives the floor exterior more abrasion resistance for very little added weight.