A pad for underneath the entire tent?

[MacGyver]

Part of the reason I started hauling a collapsible floor for my tent was because I always seemed to have trouble finding a spot without some sort of rock sticking up. The mountains in western Maryland seem to have a LOT of rocks - to the point where driving tent pegs can even be a problem. I don't want to spend a lot of time excavating a spot to pitch the tent but I'm now thinking about dropping the bulky floor so I can get into even tighter and more remote spots. I don't really trust a thin footprint or a sheet of heavy plastic to protect the floor, and I got to thinking about a roll of closed cell foam cut to the shape of the tent. I've found several sites that sell foam of varying thicknesses that are plenty wide and long enough to do this but I'm wondering if anyone ever tried something like this. Thoughts...?

[hwc1954]

Re: A pad for underneath the entire tent?

I've got three 80 inch by 28 inch rolls of very soft closed cell foam, 1/2 inch thick, like Airex exercise mats. Three of them line the floor of the Marmot tent. Two of them line the floor of the small Sierra Designs tent I just refurbished. I have a thin footprint under the tent that keeps the bottom of the tent clean. These foam mats go inside the tent. I got tired of my knees getting stabbed by rocks. It is impossibe to move all the rocks in NH. The ground is all rock.

The foam mats roll up with straps around them for transport, but only for car camping. Obviously too big for backpacking. I got the idea from people that put the interlocking foam flooring pieces together. But, it seemed to me that two or three mats would be easier to put down than a dozen pieces.

I only had one of the mats the last time I went camping. It was fantastic. I actually think even 1/4 inch foam would work fine.

[MacGyver]

Re: A pad for underneath the entire tent?

Thanks for the response, hwc. You seem to have the same problem in New Hampshire that we have here in Maryland - rocks, rocks and more rocks. Did you ever think about putting the foam under the tent? I really worry about damaging the tent floor, if not my self-inflating mattress. I'll still be carrying all my gear in a pickup truck so having a full 50 by 88 inch roll of foam wouldn't be a concern at all.

[Bigdog57]

Re: A pad for underneath the entire tent?

I use a closed-cell foam sleeping pad (Walmart blue pad) under my one-man bivy tent, so yes, your idea would work. Protects the tent floor better. And with your truck, the bulk of the pads isn't a big deal.

[ppine]

Re: A pad for underneath the entire tent?

I used to carry a sheet of plywood in the back of my pick-up. It worked well for sleeping in places like Death Valley which can be full of rocks. If we are talking about car camping that is a good solution.

Now I carry a large rubber mat which accomplishes the same thing. Nothing else to buy or remember to bring. It is always in the truck.

[Bigdog57]

Re: A pad for underneath the entire tent?

Tractor Supply Store has 4'X6' rubber truckbed mats that could work well too. Not as thick as the foam pads, but it would provide good abrasion protection for the tent floor. They also have thicker (and heavier) 'stall floor mats' that would provide ultimate protection, if you wanted to deal with the weight and bulk.

[MacGyver]

Re: A pad for underneath the entire tent?

ppine - I'm very familiar with the plywood solution Seeing that people have been putting foam under their tents, I'm starting to wonder what my hesitation was about.


BigDog - I love the TSC stores - I'll be checking out the truck mats next time I'm there, although I imagine they're a lot heavier than what I have in mind. I figure the sponginess of closed cell foam would be a lot more comfortable.

[hwc1954]

Re: A pad for underneath the entire tent?

You seem to have the same problem in New Hampshire that we have here in Maryland - rocks, rocks and more rocks.

Hah. New Hampshire is solid rock. Here's a typical hiking trail in the White Mountains:

Did you ever think about putting the foam under the tent? I really worry about damaging the tent floor, if not my self-inflating mattress.

Not really. It's going to protect the tent floor either way. You could lay your tent out over broken glass and nails and not damage the floor if nobody is walking or crawling around in the tent grinding it down into the rough surface. So the foam is protecting the tent from above, too. The thin nylon footprint beneath the tent is keeping the mud off of it -- and is a heck of lot easier to wash off at home than the tent is!

Rolls of foam can get pretty pricy. It's also pretty soft -- Airex type foam is very dense closed cell foam but feels more compressible like an open cell foam. I'd rather keep it clean inside the tent as a luxurious surface than wet and muddy. I use mine as exercise mat flooring in my little basement workout gym, so I get double-duty use. I guess it just depends on what foam you end up with. If I were using a thin sheet of less flexible blue closed cell foam, I might think about putting that under the tent, although that still leaves the problem of wet muddy foam rolls. As it is, the footprint is the only really wet muddy thing when I pack up. It goes into a stuff sack, separate from the tent, and is the first thing to get dried and shaken out when I get home.

[MacGyver]

Re: A pad for underneath the entire tent?

I'm new here and not really sure about posting links to other sites, but I've found a place that has 87 inch wide, 5 yard roll of 1/2 inch thick foam for just over $60. That would give me enough to make two footprints - one for my two person tent and one for both of my three person tents. Cheap enough in my book! I have a blanket that I use to cover the inside of the tent and already planned on putting plastic under the foam to keep it clean.

As far as the rocks around here go, I have to bring a mattock with me just to dig a cat hole. There aren't so many boulders above ground, just a thick layer of rocks just under the surface that no trough is tough enough to break through

[MacGyver]

Re: A pad for underneath the entire tent?

Edited to remove the name of the company and the link
The company charges an insane $113 to ship.

[hwc1954]

Re: A pad for underneath the entire tent?

In fairness, shipping big rolls of foam is expensive as heck because of oversize charges.

When I bought my foam pads, it was still $20 to $25 to UPS ship three 28 x 80 inch rolls.

I ordered mine from this place:

http://www.foamorder.com/closedcell.html

They've got several grades of closed cell foam.

[MacGyver]

Re: A pad for underneath the entire tent?

I know I'm looking at a wide roll, and that probably means they're over the length limit for standard delivery. I guess they're shipping by common freight. But I would also figure that it's foam - and could be folded, banded and stuffed in a box that would allow it to go by UPS, FedEx or other delivery service.

[MacGyver]

Re: A pad for underneath the entire tent?

Thanks for watching our backs MacGyver!!!! That was nice of you to do that research and edit out the link.

My pleasure... I know there are a lot of people who don't have deep wallets these days. To be fair, I emailed the company about this issue and got a prompt reply. If they make the transaction feasible, I'll put the link back.

[Moss]

Re: A pad for underneath the entire tent?

Rubber roofing, the stuff rolled out for flat roofs that gets covered with rocks is the best. I was lucky and had a contractor give me a roll that was 8' wide and very long. It come in all kinds of thicknesses, the stuff I have is like an bicycle inner tube. It's heavy duty stuff, but can be packed easier than your collapsible floor. Find a local company that does alot of flat roofs they might cut you a deal so you don't have to buy a whole roll.

I use that roofing material under the tent and a few army surplus sleeping pads in high traffic areas inside the tent, with a piece of astro-turf covering most of my tent floor with no worries in New England.:cool:

[MacGyver]

Re: A pad for underneath the entire tent?

Moss- I can't believe I didn't think of that. When I was in the carpenter's union, I was on a lot of roofs and saw a lot of that roofing. I'll definitely be looking into that. Thanks.