Tent footprint as tarp

[Sean Heenan]

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.

[brian lowe]

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.

[Corey Miller]

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.

[Randy Martin]

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.

[Sean Heenan]

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.

[brian lowe]

another even cheaper/thrifty option would be a regular poly tarp. You would have to check my math but a 6×8 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.

[Sean Heenan]

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.

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