What To Put On The Floor Of A Camping Tent?

Camping is an excellent opportunity to escape from the daily humdrum of city life and spend some quality time with nature. However, sleeping on the ground may be uncomfortable for some. So, adding a padded layer between your tent and the ground can solve this problem. Along with increasing comfort, good tent floor padding can keep you warm as well as protect you from the outside elements. 

Setting up a pad inside your tent is essential if you want to sleep comfortably during the night. Besides, tent flooring helps to enhance your tent’s water resistance and also insulate it. Whether you are camping in the summer or winter season, tent flooring can be very beneficial as you never know when the temperature at night may drop. 

When talking about tent camping, the first thing that probably comes to your mind is using a tent footprint. Although a tent footprint is the most affordable option in the market for tent flooring, it certainly doesn’t do a great job of padding the floor of your tent. Thankfully there are other alternatives, which will be better at insulating your tent floor. 

5 Tent Flooring Ideas

Being comfortable while camping can be hard when there are rocks, sticks, and debris beneath your tent. There are plenty of ways to enhance your comfort and enjoy a good night’s sleep in your tent. Here are some of the best tent flooring ideas that you can apply while camping.

Yoga Mats

A yoga mat is one of the most unique ways to add cushioning to your tent floor. But you need to use thick yoga mats if you’re intention is to use them as tent flooring because thicker yoga mats offer better padding. Yoga mats are excellent for cushioning as your body will not sink through the mat, and it’s so comfortable that you will not be able to sense what is underneath.

Yoga mats come in a variety of different shapes and sizes, while some are designed to be extremely compact and small. Hence, yoga mats can be pretty lightweight and easy to carry. Moreover, while buying a yoga mat for tent flooring purposes, make sure you get the right size. It’s always better to pick a larger yoga mat that will cover the whole area of your tent’s floor. Besides, you can always fold or cut your mat to fit into your tent. 

Interlocking Foam Squares Flooring

Interlocking foam tiles are one of the best and most convenient ways to put padding under your tent. It’s the best option for all hikers and backpackers since interlocking foam tiles are extremely lightweight and easy to carry. These interlocking tiles are hassle-free and have a simple setup procedure. All you need to do is, pitch your tent first, then take out the foam tiles and assemble them as you do with puzzles and it’s done.

You can get these tiles in a variety of sizes and thicknesses. If your tiles are too large to properly fit your tent, just chop them up to get the right shape. The Interlocking Foam Squares are quite durable and will not be damaged by sharp or spiky objects on the ground. Foam can easily be cut by scissors or cutters. Interlocking Foam Squares are an excellent addition to any camping trip when you want cushioning beneath your feet.

Regular Tarp

Tarps are usually placed over the tent and used to protect your tent from heavy rainfall and the scorching heat of the sun. However, you can use your tarp to cover your tent floor as well. Using your regular tarp will not only save you money but it’ll save you a lot of space. Before placing the tarp underneath your tent, make sure to clear the area so there’s no rock or debris lying around.

That is because a regular tarp is not padded enough to keep the stray pebbles or sticks from poking you. A tarp may not be the most comfortable option, but it does the job of establishing a barrier between your feet and the ground.

Heavy Foam Rubber

Sometimes just putting a barrier between the base and the tent might not be enough, comfort is a vital factor to consider as well. With this material on the ground, you can easily lie down on your tent floor. Besides, when you pitch your tent over rough or rugged terrain with rocks and sharp objects, a heavy foam rubber would be the perfect option for tent flooring.

After a long day of trekking the trails, you will love laying on such a comfortable and padded tent floor. You won’t be troubled by the pebbles, twigs, gravel, and branches while using heavy foam rubbers. However, as the name suggests, heavy foam rubber is not lightweight and it would be quite difficult to carry around, especially for hikers. 

Blanket Flooring

Placing a blanket under your camping tent is a great option if you don’t want to put in a lot of effort or spend a lot on your tent flooring. Using a soft blanket as flooring can be quite cozy and warm. After pitching the tent, place as many blankets over the tent floor until you feel it’s enough padded and comfortable for you. More blanket means more padding.

All of the blankets work as cushioned floors, making them ideal for lying on them. However, there are a few downsides to using a blanket as your tent flooring. Blankets are not waterproof, so if it rains, they will get wet. Packing up these blankets may eat up a lot of space in your backpack as well. Blankets may not be an ideal option, but it gets the job done on some level.

Things To Consider for Tent Flooring

Whether you are buying new cushioned flooring or making something out of the camping items you already have, there are a few factors to consider when selecting what you should use for tent flooring.

Size 

First, you need to consider how much of the tent’s floor you want to cover. Some people may want to cover a particular portion of the ground, whereas others prefer a comfy floor throughout the tent. Thus, take proper measurements based on the coverage you need.

Thickness 

Another important thing to consider is the thickness of your tent flooring. Because if you want comfortable padding then you need to opt for thicker material for tent flooring. If the material is not thick enough, it may not cover all the bumps and sharp objects in the ground, and will surely not give you the degree of insulation you want.

Durability

Along with comfort, your tent flooring needs to be durable as well. If your tent is pitched on rugged or rocky terrain, you want long-lasting tent flooring, so the material doesn’t snag or shred that easily. 

Ending Thoughts

Placing a simple floor padding underneath your tent is beneficial in more ways than you can think of. There are so many ways you can install tent flooring without spending a lot of money. Hence, you can implement the above-mentioned tent flooring methods to make your next camping trip as comfortable as possible.