Polycryo vs. window treatment from home improvement store

Matthew,

I bought a couple of the Polycro ground sheats from GG, before hearing these were more or less the same thing, then a few weeks later I picked up some of the window treatment to use on some windows in my house I have not used the window treatment as a ground cloth but from taking a look at both products they seem to be exacatly the same thing.

Hope This helps

What I’ve noticed is there are 2 types of window treatments; an outside version and an inside version. The ‘outside’ version is heavier (2.5oz for same area) than GG’s polycro (1.5oz) so I’m wondering if GG uses the ‘inside’ version since it weighs 1.5oz.

I’ve been using the ‘outside’ version for 2 years and it is tough. This polycro is much tougher than those emergency blankets.

-Barry

What do you do after it is unfolded and gets dirty? Do you throw it away and use another piece or what?

“What do you do after it is unfolded and gets dirty? Do you throw it away and use another piece or what?”
That’s what I usually do with a 1 mil painter’s cloth; well, maybe after 7 days.

But polycro lasts a long time. The one hard thing with polycro with me, it gets soaked on the underside by morning and it attracts the dirt, grass, and needles. And it’s hard to clean off; more so than other ground cloths. So here’s the thing I do:
1. During a sunny break, I hang it out on a tree. BTW, polycro will shrink in the sun. You may want to preshrink them so you won’t have that hassle.
2. And for folding, to get it small, I fold it lengthwise in fourths; and then I roll it up. That squishes all the air out of it.

"I’ve been using the ‘outside’ version for 2 years and it is tough. This polycro is much tougher than those emergency blankets."

That's what I've been waiting to hear. I picked up some of the heavier stuff, but haven't had it out in the field yet and was wondering if I had made the right choice. Good to hear from someone who's tried it. I'll eat the weight penalty for increased durability.

I have been using the GG polycro and the "inside" window treatments. They seem to have similar characteristics to the GG polycro and are pretty durable. Honestly I have a lot more experience with the GG polycro which was well suited to solo use. I picked up the window treatment for my larger pyramid because GG wasn't shipping the extra wide anymore. It doesn't get used as much as my solo… so I haven't worn them out yet to have a real comparison.

+1 on the recommendation of drying it in the sun to get the yuck off. In the morning I take more of the landscape with me than I want to. This is the one thing I miss with tyvek. It's slight breathing resulted in less condensation and less yuck sticking.

–Mark