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How to Make a Lightweight & Cheap Tent Footprint

Backcountry Advice Home > How to Make a Lightweight & Cheap Tent Footprint

What is a Tent Footprint and why do you need it? For anyone who has ever bought a tent and read the instructions, they probably all recommend using the tent with a 'footprint' and then proceed to tell you where to go buy the 'recommended' one. Well, as the owner of who knows how many tents in the past 10 years, I'd like to share with everyone the way I do it.

What is a Tent Footprint and why do you need it?

A tent 'footprint' is basically just that -- something that goes underneath your tent that is the same size as the tent. The reason manufacturers recommend particular footprints for their tents' is because you want the footprint to be slightly smaller than the exact size of the tent. This is because you do not want the water running down the side of the tent onto the footprint, then running back underneath the tent. You want to make sure any water runoff goes directly onto the ground.

Step 1.

Go to Walmart or Kmart to the paint section and buy some plastic drop cloth. I buy the thinnest stuff I can find, and its usually just a couple bux for enough to do a bazillion tents with.

Step 2.

Lay the plastic out in the yard or wherever you have space. Put some rocks or something on the ends to pull it kind of taught and keep it from blowing around like crazy.

Be sure to have your tent put together and ready.

Lay plastic on grass, soon to be your footprint

Step 3.

With your tent on top of the plastic, use a Sharpie or other magic marker to mark the outside of your tent on the plastic.

Once you make it all the way around, remove the tent and cut about 6" roughly inside of the mark you just made.

This will give you an ULTRA-light tent footprint that works wonderfully to keep all the moisture from the ground coming up into your tent! It will also easily scrunch up and fit in your tent stuff sac.

Usually when I am done camping, I leave mine out to dry for a while as the bottom will be quite moist (depending on where you camp, of course).

That's it! You now have a couple dollar footprint that works great. If it starts to get beat up and crappy looking, simply cut another one!