7D sil/pu Bathtub groundsheet

[Don Burton]

Here are a couple of pictures of a bathtub groundsheet I made using the 7D sil/pu fabric that Rockywoods sells. It’s basically a copy of an MLD bathtub groundsheet. It’s 28″ X 86″ X 5″. The struts are carbon fiber rods inside 210 Dyneema sleeves sewn into the corners. It clips into my Deschutes tarp with mitten clips attached via shockcord. 3.5 oz.

So far I’ve been happy with the fabric. I haven’t had any water leak through. I just taped the corner seams with cuben tape but silnet or sort is recommended. I put the PU on the inside and the sil side faces the ground. The only thing that’s kind of strange about the fabric is if you pack it damp it sticks to itself like Saran Wrap. I think that’s the PU side but I’m not sure.

 

[Derek Weeks]

Nice work looks great!

I was wondering, where did you find the carbon rods at? I’ve been wanting to make a ground sheet like the one you made, but didn’t know how Ron made the sides.

Thanks!

Derek

[Don Burton]

Derek,

Thanks. Pretty easy myog project. I had a zpacks arc and one of the carbon fiber rods in the frame snapped. Zpacks sent out replacements so I just cut the broken one to the size I needed. You can buy them here though.

http://dragonplate.com/mobile/categories.asp?cID=18

[Thomas Conly]

Hey Don, how much use have you put onto the ground sheet? I’ve made a tarp from the same nylon and it’s totally waterproof so far, but I’m a bit worried about longevity.

Derek, I’ve used carbon fiber arrow shafts for tent pegs with great success. You can buy all of the components for arrows separately, and the shafts are often sold in long lengths which are then trimmed to size by the store. I got a fist full of roughly 6″ cutoffs from a friendly local place for free.

[Don Burton]

Thomas,

I have 18 nights on it this year. It’s still waterproof. So far no complaints except for the “Saran Wrap” effect I mentioned.

How did you seam seal your tarp?

[Thomas Conly]

I did seam seal it, but there was only one outer lifter patch that needed to be done. I used the seam sealer as a glue to hold on the inner patch and that’s working pretty well.

[Sam Farrington]

That’s something, that a 7D material would hold up so well in a bathtub tent floor.
Agree that the silicone coated side should face the ground, as the sil coating is a little more flexible and resists abrasion better.
Thanks for the thread.

[Derek Weeks]

Thanks for the reply I’m going to order the rods and try my hands at making the groundsheet!

Thanks again!

 

Derek

[J-L]

How’s this bathtub groundsheet holding up? Any issues besides the Saran Wrap effect? I’ve been thinking about making an inner tent using this material as the floor, but currently leaning to going with a heavier fabric

[Hoosier T]

I’m not the OP but I wanted to point out that Membrane Silpoly PU4000 (slightly higher Denier than above – 10d) is on sale at a good price right now. FWIW…

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