Reliable tents out of Billings MT was having their annual sale in February and I bought a 10x10 Teton with 4' walls. The friendly UPS guy dropped it off a few hours ago.

It has a pretty heavy duty floor but I am wanting to make a ground cloth out of poly tarp just to give the floor a little extra protection from rocks. My understanding is that I will need to make the tarp slightly smaller than the footprint of the floor to keep rainfall from getting in between the tent tarp and the tent floor.

I have a friend that is a carpenter and he always tells me, "measure twice and cut once" so please help me not to mess this up. Are there any steps that I am missing? Is there a better way of doing this? Here are the steps I plan to do:


1.) Put up my tent and measure the footprint. It will most likely have a finished size of 2-3 inches smaller than the advertised 10x10.

2.) Buy a 10x12 poly tarp and cut it so that it is 2 inches smaller than the footprint on each side.

3.) Put in some grommets that will be in line with the tent stakes and then tie in a shock cord loop in each grommet so they can be looped around the tent stakes that are being used to stake out the tent. I figure that one in each corner and one in the center of each side should be enough.

OK, first be aware that the 10 by 12 tarp will be a little shorter, too. This might work out better for you, because any edge that you have to cut will unravel over time if you don't treat it. Hopefully you can keep two and possibly three factory edges. I'd recommend that you cut any edges an inch longer then use contact cement to fold back and glue a 1" edge.

Where you need grommets you need to add support. Duct tape works but tends to peel off with use and leaves a gummy residue. If you can get a pack of tent patching material you can cut patches to size then peel and stick.

The next time you are shopping stop by the women's hair products area, and look for those elastic loops that the ladies use for their hair. Pick up a pack of the thick ones. Take one, push a loop thru your grommet, then pull the loop back thru the elastic band. Pull tight and you have a great stake point.

I have a 10'x10' Kodiak Canvas Flex Bow tent. I purchased a heavy-duty coated canvas groundcloth from Springbar tent out of Utah. Springbar makes a great 10'x10' tent, and they have a groundcloth designed for it that is 9'11x9'11". It fits perfectly under my tent.

I was trying to post a link to the groundcloth, but Sprinbar's website doesn't seem to be responding. Here is a link to their website. Maybe you'll have better luck than I did navigating it:

Springbar

Sam,

Using tent patching to reinforce the tarp where I am going to put a grommet is a great idea. I was trying to figure out what I could use to do this.

Can you post a link of the contact cement/glue that you would recommend?

You can pick up a 4 oz. bottle with applicator almost anywhere... hardware stores sell it by the gallon. I don't have a favorite brand. Actually any glue that's compatible with plastic will work as long as it's still flexible after it dries. I actually use Shoe Goo for things like this.

You may want to look into Tyvek. It is super strong, I would guess more puncture resistant than poly, easier to work with, can be sewn, It is lightweight and will fold up very compactly.

Just a thought.

+1 on the Tyvek as a ground cloth.

My only concern with Tyvek for this application is finding a piece large enough for the foot print. Seems like most of the time I have seen it is in rolls that are 4' or maybe 6' wide.

As was stated you can/could sew it to make the correct size.

It is extremely light for its strength and compacts nicely for packing.

I have made several for smaller tents.

You should be able to find 9-foot rolls of Tyvek. There used to be an ebay guy that sold nothing but Tyvek by the foot. I'd go poly tarp over tyvek for that application.

I wouldn't overthink a groundcloth too much. It won't blow away if there is anything in the tent, and if it is too big, fold it under.