Groundsheets

The main task of a groundsheet is to protect you and your sleeping bags/quilts from moisture. For all variants, the rule is: the higher the water column, the denser the material.

For a groundsheet, a water column of at least 5000mm or higher should be used. If no water column is given for the material, you can improvise with the following test.

  1. Take a wet sponge and place it on the floor.
  2. Place the groundsheet over the sponge
  3. Place a sheet of blotting paper over the groundsheet
  4. Now kneel on this sponge with your full body weight
  5. If the blotting paper does not get wet, the material works as a groundsheet.

PU-nylon groundsheets

PU-coated nylon usually has a higher water column than silicone-coated nylon and is therefore better suited as a groundsheet.

The weight of a groundsheet made of this material (67g/m²) will be around 100g for pad-sized dimensions.

Polycryo groundsheets

This is the most minimalist variant. The weight of a groundsheet made of this material will be around 50g for pad-sized dimensions.

Further thoughts

Depending on who you ask, groundsheets are given more or less sensible additional tasks, such as protecting air-filled sleeping pads from damage by thorns, sharp stones and branches. However, this can also be achieved with a thin layer of a foam pad. For example, windscreen shades for cars or EVA/PE foam pads work well for this. Combining different pads has the unbeatable advantage that the insulation performance of the actual pad is improved. When stacking several pads, their R-values simply add up.

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