[philmont] Innies vs Outies

Excellent post. It is a particularly good idea to actually try
whatever system you have in mind in the rain. If rain isn't available
use a garden hose attached to a sprinkler.

Another approach to keeping dry is to put the sleeping bag inside an
oversized garbage bag which keeps the water away. Or two garbage
bags, one slipped over each end, with one slit so your head is able
to see daylight and you can breathe. :-)

As to the weight in double coverage there are very lightweight plastic
materials available so I don't see this as a major issue. An outside
ground cloth
will likely get the job done but in a heavy rain water can funnel into
the tent. An inside ground cloth can be rigged as a "boat" and keep
you dry but the bottom of a tent with a floor will be wet. This then
can become a weight issue when you pack up for hiking the next day.
So I lean to the system of both an inside and outside ground cloth.

Remember to use a foam pad under the sleeping bag - the best insurance
that you will keep warm by the insulation from the ground a foam pad
provides.

As the saying goes, "Your step may vary". Whatever system you go for
try it out on a shakedown before Philmont.

Joe Jansen
JAJansenJr@gmail.com
Philmont 1965; 1978
(aka "he who likes to keep warm and dry" - wonder how that is said in
Leni Lenape)

On 6/5/07, John LeBlanc <philmontjohn@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Ground cloths.
>
> Open says me, the proverbial can of worms.
>
> Being that I was a Scout in the days before tents had sewn in bottoms, we
> used ground cloths extensively.
>
> At Philmont in 1959 as a Scout, I used my official BSA poncho as my ground
> cloth under my sleeping bag. What did I use for rain protection after the
> tent was set up and before retiring? Of course, the poncho. We set the
> bedrolls on a layer of crossed sticks built like a log cabin fire lay to
> keep them up off the damp ground until we crawled inside the tent and
> carefully spread out the poncho and unrolled the bedroll. Attention to
> detail kept us dry then and will keep you dry today.
>
> OK. there are two schools of thought on a ground cloth used with tents with
> sewn in floors.
>
> Innies and Outies.
>
> Inside
> Both have advantages over the other but the purpose of it is to keep one's
> bedding dry and for that duty, the choice location of it is INSIDE the tent.
> This is contrary to convential wisdon, but it works and works well.
>
> Inside, it is protected from sharp sticks and rocks by the tent floor and
> you don't have to worry about dripping water on the top of the edge running
> on top of the ground cloth and under your tent floor and soaking through to
> wet your sleeping bag as surely as a bad dream does.
>
> During one of those frequent monsonnal downpours that occur on occasion in
> the mountains of Philmont, you can pull the edges of the inside sheet of
> plastic up into the shape of a boat and remain nice and dry even though
> water is seeping in the bottom of the tent which it WILL DO.
>
> Outies
> The only thing a ground cloth does better outside under the tent floor is to
> keep the tent floor clean. That is not the purpose of it, but if your
> vanity insists you do this, then by all means do so, but be aware that at
> some time in the future in the middle of the night when you wake up in a wet
> bed, just remember that I told you so.
>
> When the ground cloth needs repositioning, which they all will, if its
> OUTSIDE, then guess what, you got OUTSIDE in the rain to fix it. Not a
> smart idea is it?
>
> This outie thing probably got started by a mother admonishing her son to
> "keep your tent tidy and clean sonny!". For Petes sake, tents are washable!
>
> Tyvek or Plastic
> Many prefer Tyvek, but heavy plastic will do very well indeed. The choice
> is yours.
>
> Double coverage
> Some choose both innies adn outies. This is quite similar to using two
> forms of birth control and if it's that's important to you or fear of
> wetness is scary and the thought will ruin your day/night, then by all means
> consider carrying the extra but unnecessary weight of double protection.
>
> Don't go just on my word, give them both a try in a real rain, vanity not
> withstanding, and tell me which works best.
>
> John LeBlanc
> Philmont crew 1959 and 2002
>
> ________________________________
> Be a better Globetrotter. Get better travel answers from someone who knows.
> Yahoo! Answers - Check it out.
>
>

-------------------------------------------------------
Scouting E-mail Discussion Lists @ usscouts.org
Listserv Commands at http://usscouts.org/lists/lc.asp
-------------------------------------------------------
Send listserv commands to: listserv@troop47.com
Send postings to: philmont@troop47.com
List FAQ found at: http://usscouts.org/lists/faq.asp
List Administrator: philmont_owner@troop47.com
-------------------------------------------------------
To Unsubscribe send text email to:

     To: listserv@troop47.com
     Subject: unsubscribe
     Body: unsubscribe philmont@troop47.com
-------------------------------------------------------

As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
-------------------------------------------------------

 
Received on Tue Jun 5 23:32:41 2007