High Sierra Topix

A, B and D, depending on the tent and trip.

I usually use tyvek with my REI Half Dome 2+. I thought it would be protective for car camping in the desert (it is). I also like that it holds a crease so is easy to shake out and fold up. It can be a little crinkley, though (I didn't wash it as some suggest). The tyvek is a little heavy (but so it the tent!) so sometimes it gets left home for backpacking.

I use polycryo (from Gossamer Gear) for my cuben fiber Zpacks Duplex and my Marmot Tungsten. I cut it a little smaller than the floor. It seems to provide some abrasion resistance and keep the bottom of the tent cleanish. Much tougher than it looks, and very light, but blows around in the wind until the tent is setup and stuff put inside. I've used one of them for maybe 60 nights and the corners are a little chewed up, but it's otherwise in good shape. Gossamer Gears sells two sizes/thicknesses. I've used the thinner one more, and it's tough stuff, but a little harder to handle than the thicker one.

A.) Factory. It was on sale and fairly cheap.

I use polycro, cut slightly smaller than the tent footprint.

C, always make my own from polycryo or tyvek. Reasons: 1. lower weight and 2. I can customize the footprint shape to have better vestibule coverage and a more useful shape for the nights I don't set up the tent.

A) After a year or so of backpacking without one, I was becoming aware of the damage the floor of my tent (REI Dash 2) would take when camping in less than ideal circumstances. On a trip to REI around that time, I noticed that they had discontinued the production of the Dash 2 and so I was able to pick up a leftover footprint at a pretty solid discount.

Tyvek footprints for me. Light, cheap, easy to customize, and useful as signal flags being bright white. I used it once to cover my pack when climbing Black Giant - could see it from the summit, so no chance to miss it on the way down.

Even with Tyvek footprints, for additional protection of my inflatable pad or basic comfort while sitting in the tent without the pad, I also bring a super thin roll of closed cell foam. I think it's 1/8" thick and meant for some furniture jobs, but it has lasted for several full summer trips now and weighs virtually nothing. My tent floor has been waterproof and undamaged since 2010, with almost 20 weeks of Sierra use in that time frame.

I found out that my DIY cuben fiber ground sheet floats. Don't ask me how I found that out. Three days of rain, hail, and lightning.

Visqueen, 3.5 mil, making them tonight with the fellas.