Protecting Tent Floors

[JoeN]

How do you protect your tent floors from the legs of cots, chairs, tables, etc? I have generally camped alone and have just been careful about what I put on the tent floor, but now that my wife is nearing retirement she plans to go camping with me. I usually camp in the spring when the kids are still in school and it is too cool for most campers and since my wife is a teacher she has not been able to go with me. Now, there will be the extra traffic of two people plus the grandchildren are getting old enough to go with us.

I was thinking about saving some plastic coffee containers or plastic milk containers and cutting them in half to place the bottoms under the various legs to spread the weight hoping to protect the tent floor. I have even considered fitting a thin piece of aluminum or maybe additional pieces of plastic into the container for additional protection.

Do any of you more experienced campers put anything under the legs of various items for floor protection? Am I being overly cautious or is this something that is common?

[MacGyver]

Re: Protecting Tent Floors

No - it's not being overly cautious at all and there are plenty of options for saving the floor. I've used or seen any number of things. Carpet squares, furniture pads, wool blankets, wood with edges routed round, foam tiles, pipe insulation foam... I know people have used the commercially available booties but they never appealed to me because 1. they're pretty expensive compared to alternatives and 2. they're really nothing more than thick nylon and do very little to disperse the weight of the legs.

You could try your coffee can idea but you might run into some sliding if your tent isn't on close to level ground. I ruled out using those little furniture moving sliders for the same reason.

[terasec]

Re: Protecting Tent Floors

spreading the weight helps,
but what you really want to do is cushion them,
even when weight is spread out over 4 inch disc, its still considerable weight on each disc,
i would focus on foam/rubber cushions, this way anything underneath is not poking up against a hard surface,
can play with surface area all you want, but its still rocks/pebbles/twigs underneath, rubbing against the hard surface,

[actad]

Re: Protecting Tent Floors

Good question! I just picked up a 20"x72" Ozark Trail camping mat for $7 to put under my cot legs. It really isn't needed since the cot has the rounded type of legs, but it is a good shock absorber and draft stopper, as well as a nice and dry place to store gear.

I want to use an existing metal legged camp table when I bring my bigger tent. It has little nibs that all the weight sits on at the bottom of each leg. Dollar Tree has some 2 packs of tennis balls meant for dogs so I will try that this year. Cut an X in the ball and slip on the bottom of the leg.

[NYCgrrl]

Re: Protecting Tent Floors

For car camping I use a foldeable plastic rug. My tent is around 12*10 and it covers almost the entire floor. You can buy them from QVC/HSN, Target's,Walmart, etc for $20.00 to over 100.00. Once I put it down no more sweeping the floor until we go. Yesssssss, LOL.

I use tuna or tomato paste cans under the legs of my camp kitchen to keep ants off of it. Lil water in the cans and I'm good to go.

[JoeN]

Re: Protecting Tent Floors

Glad to know I am not alone in trying to protect the tent floor. I may get some of the non-skid material you put under area rugs and then try some kind of thick mats on top of that. Maybe that combination will keep things from sliding. I do appreciate all the help.

[actad]

Re: Protecting Tent Floors

Glad to know I am not alone in trying to protect the tent floor. I may get some of the non-skid material you put under area rugs and then try some kind of thick mats on top of that. Maybe that combination will keep things from sliding. I do appreciate all the help.

Dollar Tree has packets of the non-skid under rug stuff. It has a bigger waffle weave than a shelf liner. Never thought about tent use, but it does make sense for a bigger area and I have a couple of unused packets around here. I cut them to use behind my ukuleles without strap buttons to keep them in place when I play.

[Happy Joe]

Re: Protecting Tent Floors

I haven't had any problems but the tent floors have on occasion become dimpled/stretched in places (seems to go away between trips).
I use a heavy silver tarp underneath the floors to give some additional support on soft surfaces and help prevent rock/root punctures.
Our larger 12 x12 tent had an interior floor liner available when I first purchased it (it amounted to only a fitted light weight tarp inside the tent).
I tried a roll of heavy foam rubber for tent floor protection and insulation but it was so heavy that it never made a second trip.


Each time that I walk buy the anti-fatigue mats in the local Harbor Freight store I am tempted but so far I have managed to resist...(there is too much camping stuff to fit already).
http://www.harborfreight.com/anti-fa...-pc-61607.html


Enjoy!

[Irate Mormon]

Re: Protecting Tent Floors

Hmm. I never thought about it. Other than when I'm sleeping I don't spend any time inside my tent, so I don't have "furniture" and stuff inside to worry about.

The big tent I am currently using for extended car camping has a screen room without a floor, which is good for when it rains or something.

[JoeN]

Re: Protecting Tent Floors

I was watching a YouTube video related to camping under a tarp and the individual was using Harbor Freight moving blankets to make his sleeping pad. Has anyone used moving blankets for flooring? They are 72"x80" so 2 of them would go a long way toward covering a 10x10 tent floor and the blankets are around $10 each. I can see where they would offer considerable padding but probably they would collect a lot of dirt and if they got wet it might take forever for them to dry. I am just thinking out loud and considering options.

[MacGyver]

Re: Protecting Tent Floors

Has anyone used moving blankets for flooring?

Yep - they're what I called furniture pads in my post above
They'll collect the same amount of dirt as anything else you put down on the floor but I guess I'm no neat freak because I never worry too much about how dirty they get. I only use 'em for camping so I just shake 'em out at the end of the trip and put 'em back in the shed when I get home. But, because I always drop my boots outside, they never get muddy or so wet that it becomes a problem.

[ArizonaSportsman]

Re: Protecting Tent Floors

+1 for moving blankets for a floor rug in a tent. They provide a little cushion, are easy to clean and are typically sized well for tent floors. Big fan for use in my family-sized tents.

[a65hoosier]

Re: Protecting Tent Floors

I sleep on a pad and really don't keep any furniture in my tent. Like Irate Mormon, my time in the tent is usually for sleeping.

But...I still try to protect the tent floor from damage (occasionally I'll bring in a small folding chair into the tent depending on how cruddy the weather becomes).

For a tent floor "rug", I use surplus (circa 1951) Italian Army 100% wool blankets. Thick and durable, they weigh in at almost 6 lbs apiece. They make an excellent "rugs": both protecting the tent floor and providing a nice surface to the touch. They really help insulate the tent floor from the ground. I do a lot of winter camping now and it is nice not to feel the cold ground when standing/kneeling on the tent floor. They feel nice on the bare feet in the summer too. A simple brushing usually removes any dirt as the fibers keep it on the surface (although shoes/boots are never worn in the tent so the blankets really don't get very dirty).

If the night time temps drop lower than I expected, I have easy access to these blankets to throw over me for a bit of insulating "boost" (of course in that situation, I lose one of my "rugs"-lol).

We use them around the house as regular blankets during the colder months.

[Happy Joe]

Re: Protecting Tent Floors

Never considered moving pads for flooring, used them for years under the sleeping bag.
I recently picked up a chunk of carpet on sale (~$20) for the Standing Room tent.
Like others I try to spend as little time inside the tent as possible.
However when the rain (sometimes several days worth) or summer snow storms hit its nice to have livable inside space.


Enjoy!

[TNONMYMIND]

Re: Protecting Tent Floors

we have a 6x8 rug and assorted rubber backed throw rugs for the metal rack and plastic shelving we use in the tent.
for the camp chair with feet we use tennis balls that have been split just enough to slide over the tips/feet. we also used the tennis balls on the feet of the big cot we had.