Camping can be an extremely uncomfortable experience if you don’t think ahead. Set up the tent in a rocky spot with no padding on the floor, and you’re gonna endure a sleepless night. Setting up flooring inside your tent is essential if you want a comfortable sleeping experience. Tent flooring will improve the water-resistance of your tent, protect it from rocks underneath, and increase the insulation of your tent. Although there are many tent footprints available on the market, they often don’t do a good job of padding the floor of your tent. Even though they are quite cheap, you don’t want to invest money in something you don’t require. Thankfully, there are numerous alternatives to tent footprints.
Read on further to learn more about some creative and useful tent flooring ideas you didn’t think about!
1) Interlocking Foam Tiles
If you are looking for the most convenient tent floor idea, there is nothing better than the interlocking foam tiles. This tent flooring solution is the best for backpackers, as the foam tiles are remarkably lightweight and easy to put in your backpack.
Keep in mind that there are different types of interlocking foam tiles on the market. If you want to have a comfortable time inside your tent, make sure that the tiles are at least thicker than 0,5″ (1,27 cm). Also, one big benefit of using these as tent flooring is that they are quite easy to set up. You just pitch your tent first, take out the foam tiles, and connect them like puzzles, simple as that!
If you are having difficulties with fitting the tiles in your tent, don’t worry! As they are made of foam, they are quite easy to cut, so do that if you need to adjust the size of the tent flooring.
Why are the interlocking foam tiles one of the best tent floor padding ideas? They are easy to use, lightweight, convenient, and more importantly – very cheap! You can find durable interlocking foam tiles on Amazon in the price range between $20 and $25, which is dirt-cheap for the comfort you get!
2) Soft Blankets
Looking for a cozy and warm experience in your tent? Soft blankets are a way to go. If you want to make the most of this tent floor idea, make sure to pack a few soft blankets with you. When you set up your camping tent, just stack all the blankets you have until you feel comfortable in your tent. You will have a cushioned tent floor in no time!
Note: Before placing the blankets in your tent, make sure that it’s clean (no stick, rocks, or dirt inside) so that it’s comfortable to lay down on them.
Blankets are a great way to improve the insulation of your camping tent. While they may be all cozy and warm, there is one big disadvantage with this tent flooring idea, but only if you are a backpacker. One blanket won’t be enough for a comfortable tent floor, so you will need to bring a few of them. A few blankets will be hard to put in a backpack and will load you up with weight. So, we recommend this tent floor padding idea if you are going on a camping trip with your car!
3) Thick Yoga Mats
One of the most creative ideas to put padding on your tent floor is a yoga mat. Yes, you’ve heard that right, some certain yoga mats feature lots of padding to become a suitable, alternative tent flooring. No, there are thousands of different yoga mats, and not all of them will have padding suitable for a camping tent.
When looking for a yoga mat that will replace tent floor mats, make sure that it is extra thick. The minimum thickness that you should look out for is at least 8mm (0,31″). Thicker yoga mats usually feature more padding and are denser, which provides balance for doing various yoga poses. Well, these features are awesome for the tent flooring, as your body won’t sink through the mat, and you won’t even feel what is underneath.
What is even better, some certain thick yoga mats are also very lightweight. We enjoy using Gaiam Essentials yoga mat as an alternative for floor mats, as it weighs only 3,11 lbs (1,41 kg) and is 10mm (0,4″) thick! It is easy to fold and carry around, even if you are backpacking!
When looking for a yoga mat that will replace a tent floor mat, make sure that you consider its size. Of course, if you get a yoga mat that is larger than your tent’s floor, you can always cut it to fit inside your tent.
4) Carpets
Carpets are everywhere. We have them in every room of our house, even in front of our house sometimes. They are the best DIY tent flooring idea, as they are widely available and very cheap. Depending on the carpet type, you can get them for as cheap as $2, so make sure to stack them up if they are not thick! Of course, if you want a thicker or more quality carpet, expect to pay more. In our experience, it is best to stack up on a few easily foldable carpets.
When you stack up a few carpets in your tent, the tent flooring will be very cozy and you won’t feel any sticks and stones underneath your tent. When you move to the next camping spot, it will be good to know that carpets are very easy to roll and carry around. If you have a smaller tent, some carpets may even fit in your backpack! Also, if you get your carpet full of dirt and debris, you can just shake it outside your tent to get rid of that.
Conclusion
These are just a few out of a dozen tent flooring ideas. Nevertheless, the ones that we mention are most cost-effective and very easy to realize. Before you decide what kind of tent floor do you need, ask yourself a few things. Are you packing light? Will you go camping in your car or on foot? How important is the convenience factor for you?
When you find the answers to the three questions above, one of the four mentioned tent floor ideas will be ideal for you! Don’t forget about the importance of the comfort inside your tent, as it can make or break your camping experience!
We hope that you find this post full of useful information. Wish you good luck on your next camping adventure. Remember, stay cozy!
