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This past year as a friends suggestion, I have been using a plastic shower curtain liner as a ground tarp for my tent, bedroll etc. It is very compact, easy to fold, quite inexpensive (less than $ 4.00), waterproof and also comes in a wide variety of colors. I have also installed gromets and have used it as a fly tarp.

I have read about using a shower curtain liner before. When deciding on a ground cloth for the tent I went with getting one of those cheap nylon ponchos. It is light weight and multipurpose.

That sounds like a "pack epiphany".
Come to think of it, you could probably buy nylon material, like they make those nylon ponchos out of, for dollars a yard.
Give it an occasional spray of water-proof and you're set.
Light weight ponchos and tarps for cheap.

I guess I'm off to Fabric World tomorrow.

GTG

I actually found a ground tarp with gromets and everything made of the same material as a shower curtain years ago. Sierra Designs (and North Face I think) makes custom ground covers for their tents out of the same stuff as well. Very lightweight and exceptionally effective.

I personally prefer to sleep outside a tent using just a groundcover - but sometimes when I'm going into an area I know has lots of bugs, I just have to bite the bullet and break out the tent.

Much better than those lousy Blue Tarp things don't you think?

I like the "Space Blanket" Reflective on on side to return body heat when it's cold and red or blue on the other to absorb body heat when it's hot.

I've got a space blanket/Tarp I use. Blue tarp on one side, space blanket on the other. It works great and keeps the cold ground beneath from seeping into my sleepingbag

evenstarx3 wrote:I like the "Space Blanket" Reflective on on side to return body heat when it's cold and red or blue on the other to absorb body heat when it's hot.

That sounds like a great idea--any notion how much yours weighs?

About 9 oz. Plus or minus 1

If I'm expecting rain I put the ground tarp inside the tent, making sure it comes up several inches on all sides. That way I make sure my bag and gear stays dry. I also like the space blanket, easy to fold up, cheap, and waterproof.

I used shower curtains on my screen gazebo this last camping trip. I attached the shower curtains with snap hooks to the frame of the gazebo and I had additional shade and privacy