Camping with a carpet!

It sounds ridiculous, who on earth would go camping and use a carpet? Well, the answer is everyone, in fact, a lot of campsites won’t even let you put your tent or awning up without a breathable groundsheet or a carpet as some companies call it.

What’s Wrong With My Old Groundsheet?

There’s nothing wrong with it. It stops the water coming up from the ground in your awing or tent, it’s probably made from some type of plastic. The fact it is made from plastic is a good reason to make it last as long as possible. This will prevent more damage to our valuable planet. There’s only one thing your old groundsheet doesn’t do while you’re camping, and that is allow the grass to breathe. It may also limit the places you can go camping with some sites insisting on breathable groundsheets.

Perhaps you could repurpose your old tarp or groundsheet to cover the barbeque!

What is a Breathable Groundsheet or Carpet?

The grass under your traditional groundsheet will lose its colour and die, the longer it is covered by your nonbreathable groundsheet. This is because it is made from a material that just won’t allow it to breathe. There are so many times I move the chair my wife has left on the lawn, to find a dead patch of grass underneath it. My garden chair isn’t made from a breathable material.

Modern awning carpets and groundsheets allow a little light and air to pass through the fabric to encourage the grass to continue to grow.

The Bitter End

Imagine arriving at the campsite, unfolding your old nonbreathable groundsheet, only to reveal a fatal error! You forgot to hose it down last time you used it. Normally, a little dried mud wouldn’t be a problem. The real problem was the fact that the children had dropped quantities of breakfast on it. This had resulted in thousands of maggots! How I didn’t smell this when I packed it I will never know.

Cheap as Chips

I hunted around for a tarp of a similar footprint to my awning, thinking a tarp would be the cheapest option. How wrong I was! I ended up buying the OLPRO Oltex Breathable Awning Groundsheet to replace my maggot-infested old groundsheet. The price was much cheaper than I imagined it would be. I paid £23 with free post and packaging.

I thought this was really cheap and didn’t honestly expect much. When it arrived, I was really impressed. The thick, zipped storage bag and the quality of the carpet fabric made me feel like I’d found gold!

closeup of fabric on a breathable groundsheet

Carpet, Oh How the Other Half Live!

tent camping with a breathable groundsheet

I step out of the campervan and although it’s not like real carpet in your living room. It’s so much softer than a tarp or traditional groundsheet. It’s more like stepping out onto soft grass with that springy feel. It has a woven texture which became useful when one of my children managed to drop his glass of water on it. I watched in amazement as it just soaked through and disappeared!

Never Go Back

I am just talking about a groundsheet here but, breathable groundsheets are a great leap forward in terms of luxury, kindness to the grass and gentle on the pocket. I won’t make the maggot mistake again but somehow I am glad I did!.

Have a look next, at how I fitted solar to the campervan.