Trailstar homemade groundsheet

[Kingjonesy]

Hi,

I've got a small project on the go to make a groundsheet for my Trailstar. I have the design sorted and I think I've found the fabric for the job, but can anyone give me any advice on breathability, waterproofness, material type etc

This is the fabric I've found: http://www.pennineoutdoor.co.uk/fabrics/lightweight-breathable-and-water-resistant-fabrics/p32-breathable-microfibre

What do you think?

Cheers

Rich

[suggy]

I reckon that's water repellent and not waterproof, What I've got for my Trailstar is a piece of polycro. It's sold as window insulation film in Wickes apparently ( I got mine from Lidl ). Its pretty strong stuff considering it looks like cling-film.

11077

This is the floor plan for the oookworks nest, designed for the Trailstar

[suggy]

11078

Or a least this is

[Kingjonesy]

Thanks Suggy, yes my design is using the same bathtub style as the Oookstar but I'm going with rectangular as its just easier. I was a little confused about the waterproofness of the fabric, but I found this from MSR:

From the MSR FAQ

For an MSR tent, waterproof means that all external fabric has been coated with our exceptional polyurethane coatings and the seams have been factory-taped, making that area of the tent impermeable to water. "mm” refers to millimeters and is paired with a number to represent a standardized measurement of how waterproof a coating is. For instance, a 1500mm coating will withstand a 1500mm (5') column of water for more than one minute before a single drop might appear through the fabric. That's strong enough to prevent rain from leaking into a tent in a hurricane-force storm.

[GlenM]

Hi Rich,

Try these guy's

http://bearpawwd.com/ You have to import it from the U.S but they have all the lightweight fabrics for very good prices.

I bought some 30d Sinylon off them to make a lightweight groundsheet, great quality.

Glen

[jus_young]

A 3000 head is probably the minimum you would want to go for a ground sheet. A lot of tents will use a 10,000 head as the groundsheet has to put up with being compressed onto the wet ground for long periods as opposed to having any falling moisture just running off. There are some expensive brands out there that use a 3000 material for their groundsheets but they know their materials and have obviously tested them before releasing the products onto the market.

Given the price of the material you are looking at, I would cheat by getting a known product such as one of the groundsheets available on Backpackinglight for a similar value, and then alter it to suit the job. Have a look at some of the ones here - http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/shelter-accessories/page/0/