Is a tent ground cloth worth it?

For a tent with the fairly tough floor of the BA, I don't think I would carry a ground cloth. When I through-hiked the AT 8 years ago, I began with a ground cloth and quickly decided to drop the weight with no problems. This past summer on the Colorado Trail, I used a Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo with the heavier standard floor, so again, no ground cloth and no problems.

The best reason I can think of for a ground cloth is if you will consistently camp in muddy ground in which case the protection of a light sacrificial groundcloth might be worth it. The other option is the much heavier footprint option which can convert the fly to a tarptent setup by leaving the tent main body at home. Otherwise, it probably doesn't make that much of a difference.

I like to cut GG Polycro ground sheets down to cover just the part of the shelter that my stuff and I are on top of. This keeps the parts of the floor that are pressed into the ground protected, without covering parts that barely make any contact. I have a Lunar Solo with the UL floor, and this has always kept the floor safe. It ends up weighing less than half an ounce and gets the job done for me.

If you plan to use the "fast setup" feature — i.e. setting up without the inner tent — then you should get the footrpint.

You mentioned using the footprint for shade. That's probably not a bad idea, assuming you bring guylines and trekking poles, etc. to enable a quick and decent set up.

But if you won't really use the footprint in either way, then I think the footprint is both unnecessarily expensive and heavy.

I use 2-mil plastic sheetings (aka painters cloth) cut to size for groundsheet. One roll makes 2-3 groundsheet and costs around $2-$2.50 at all paint and hardware stores. They are re-usable multiple times, and they do a good job keeping the tent floor clean and helping to protect it.

Neither dedicated footrpints nor plastic / tyvek groundsheets will substitute for careful campsite selection and inspection prior to plunking down the tent.

I have a BA Seedhouse SL3 for hiking with my girlfriend. The reason I bought a groundcloth for it is as a sacrificial layer between my very expensive inner tent and the varied surfaces on which it will be sitting. I'd rather throw away a pinholed or abraded or otherwise degraded groundcloth than an inner tent!

If I was doing 120 nights or more on a hiking trail, I'd personally think about a groundcloth for that reason. I'd hate to get 3/4 of the way through a hike and wake up to a wet bag and a ruined tent, and I'd hate to have to throw out such a nice and expensive piece of kit after less than one season.

But then again I live in the Coast Mountains and I pitch on gravel, rocks, and uneven ground with errant sticks and roots everywhere. Maybe the AT has friendlier sites, in general?

PS incidentally, the footprint for the SL3 makes a nicely-sized siltarp. If the weather socked in it would be nice to pitch it over the common area, or else over the front of the tent to make a porch + much nicer vestibule!

Thanks to all for your input. I am thinking…"just bring it (make the wife carry it) and I can always send it home and use the painters plastic instead. I think it will be one of those items that will be determined as the final pack weight is determinesd. It is a multiuse gear but also appreciate the reminder of good site selection always being the priority.

Ben:

I re-read your post — and realized that I missed the part about the PCT. Would this be the entire length? How many nights?

I ask because 2-mil plastic sheets are probably good for up to 10- or so nights (with careful site selection). For longer trips, I understand that tyvek is a more robust material. No experience with the GG material mentioned above.

Ben,
There is a post around here some were about someone doing an entire thru-hike with a single GG ground cloth for the entire distance.
The 40" wide version is well worth the extra .2 oz for the extra 4" of protection it gives you on each side.

Thannks Aaron I dig around for it.