Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Tyvek - the best ground cloth?

During last month JMT trip, I was using just a plastic sheet (drop cloth from HomeDepot) which was providing some moisture barrier but not good enough for rain soaked ground and sharp sierra pebbles.

Several thru hikers were using Tyvek sheets for ground cloth, due to its light weight, complete moisture/ water barrier and toughness.

Q. where do you get a piece of Tyvek (about 10ft by 8 ft which I plan to cut to my BA tent size). Home depot sells this by rolls costing around $100/- for builders.

a quick search found this supplier:
tyvek by the foot

or try your local contractors. you might find one that has some lying around that they'll give you.

wisdom is to run it through the washer twice - no detergent or soap - to soften it a bit and lessen its noise - it's crinkly. seemed to shrink a bit when i did that but no noise.

The contractor grade Tyvek is hard and noisy. There is a softer version of it which is just as water-proof as the construction version, and lighter weight:
http://www2.dupont.com/Tyvek_Graphics/en_US/products/americas/prod_na_soft.html

I tried the hard version as a ground cloth for one back-country trip, but the crinkling noise kept me awake.

I bought a Tyvek sheet (the stiff stuff) on ebay 2 seasons ago. It is getting softer and softer, works well, super light. It was cheaper to just get it in the size I needed on ebay than to have the local Home Depot order it. If you can find it in a home improvement shop and have it cut to size it may be cheaper.

just search Tyvek Ground Sheet on ebay and you'll find a number of sellers, usually under $2 per foot of a 9 foot wide sheet. There is at least one seller with "Soft" Tyvek as well.

I love the way Tyvek performs, but I hate carrying anything that is not dual purpose, especially a big sheet of white plastic. I have a cheap but UL packable poncho from EMS that weighs as little as the Tyvek, but triples as my footprint, pack cover and a dining/auxiliary fly (until bed time). It was hugely useful for setting up in the rain several days in a row on the JMT in August, allowed me to use the stove outside the tent, kept my pack dry and accessible on the trail. I know, the waterproofing will wear, but its easily renewable with a little spray urethane, and the poncho was about 12 bucks.

Salty, do you happen to have a picture of that rain fly setup? I'd like to see it. Did you actually use it as a ground cloth too??

Here's a ZPacks.com link for Tyvek ground sheets:
Tyvek Ground Sheet

Tyvek is a bit on the heavy side compared to the garbage bag split in two that I use. I use a new one every trip, throw it away at the end. I'd need something stronger, like the Tyvek, if I were on a longer trip.

Don't think I got a picture of the poncho as rain-fly, but it works several different ways: hiking poles at opposite corners, poles at adjacent corners and trees at the other two, trees at all four corners and a pole in the hood: get your Colin Fletcher on.

I used to have one with an extra long back, that also made a tent vestibule floor and covered the pask when wearing

And yes, I used the same poncho as rain fly, pack cover, tent footprint and cowboy ground sheet. You can even wear it as a poncho, of all things, and the snaps turn it into a decent cagoule. The US army says there's a way to make a PFD out of it, too, but I have never been able to get that to work.

Oh and forget the parachute cord: way overkill. I have some cord thats like what Big Agnes uses for tent lines. Super strong and hundreds of feet are smaller and lighter coil than 25 feet of para cord

Golite sells an ultrasil poncho that doubles as a tarp shelter. Has strategically placed loops. Using their recommended setup, I got it set up pretty easily with hiking poles & a few tent pegs.

I'm sticking with my Big Agnes tent for multiday trips for now, but this does intrigue me. For weight, bug comfort, and rain/storm protection, IMHO it is hard to beat the BA Fly Creek ... if you fit it.

Fly Creek is my choice as well: the poncho makes a great addition

I love my BA FC which I am using these past 2 yrs. The operating word is you need to fit in. With my med frame I can sit and make a full turn. I shove my empty pack to the small end of the tent and keep my feet elevated too! I do keep my blinking bike lamp on the top of the tent whenever I step out in the middle of the night so that I can find it easily amidst tent city BA FCs (now every one got one!) or the white boulders of Guitar lake!

I use REI backpackers poncho as poncho, as a ground cover/moisture cover for my shoes under the rain fly in the night, as a place to keep all the stuff packs before packing up each morning. But the ground cloth is always the dirty, last to pack item which needs to be dried in the middle of the day when it is sunny to get rid of the daily sierra sand/dirt it carries.

I havent got my Tyvek yet but thanks to all the advice!

Check out intothewind.com, a kite making retailer. They sell Type 1443R Tyvek which is slightly thinner and more cloth-like then the home wrap version sold by Z-packs, Home Depot, etc. I've tried both versions, and the 1443R so far has worked just as well without the crinkling and stiffness of the home wrap version.

At intothewind.com they sell 60" wide pieces in 1 yard increments.

Thanks, Jim. So the ZPacks tyvek is 4.6 oz for 3' x 7.5' and the intothewind Tyvek is 40 g per yard, so 3.5 oz for the same 3' x 7.5'.

I need to weigh my plastic trash bag piece.