Mat slippage

Tartanferret

Tartanferret

Thru Hiker
I've heard of people adding dots or stripes of silicone to reduce the chance of mats slipping on the tent floor.

What's the best stuff to use? Silnet or just blobs of bathroom sealant?

Neat or thinned down?

Dots or stripes?

Floor or mat?

Silicone tape off ebay?

I need to do both silnyon and Cuben if I'm doing the floors.

What worked for you and what did not?

Alternatively, I'm considering making a "slip"
/ partial mattress cover. About 2' long made with a Merino (or lycra)) top for comfort and Tyvek or Cuben base i could add the silicone dots to.
Seems a feasible little project that i can transfer between mats and shelters.

Your thoughts?
 
Charlie83

Charlie83

Thru Hiker
I added long lines of the "straight" seam sealing stuff tarptent send out to the floors of my shelters, i think it works, but it doesn't stop me waking up on the floor of the tent and the mat pushed against the inner half the time
 
JKM

JKM

Thru Hiker
Tartanferret said:
Alternatively, I'm considering making a "slip"
/ partial mattress cover. About 2' long made with a Merino (or lycra)) top for comfort and Tyvek or Cuben base i could add the silicone dots to.
Click to expand...

£1.99 decathlon basic fleece jumper (round neck, not zipped) cut the sleeves off, slip it over your mat, slide your pillow up inside it.
Fits perfectly on my exped mat and I won't camp without it now.

No more games of chase the pillow and it's nice and soft against your face.
Makes an extra emergency clothing layer if needed.

C100g but we'll worth it IMHO
 
Taz38

Taz38

Thru Hiker
@JKM Nice one, was thinking along similar lines .

I put seam sealant dots (we are decorating :biggrin: ) all over the mat. Works fine but some of them have come off. The trick is to put it on thin. I used my finger on the second mat I did. Slippage ain't funny!

The first time I used my Stealth with its super slippy nylon floor I put my mat inside my sleeping bag liner (micro fleece), which worked fine but the liner is too heavy to be used for just that.
 
el manana

el manana

Thru Hiker
el manana said:
pillow, buff and length of elastic with sewn on cord lock....

-inflate pillow in buff
-thread elastic through buff
-put pillow in hood and thread elastic around sleeping mat
-tighten using cord lock

Doesnt budge, much better nights sleep. Dont tell walking compatriot for fear of derision....

View attachment 7602 View attachment 7603
Click to expand...

For pillows

Interestingly, the grey 40D groundsheet fabric that Trekkertent use is not at all slippy, I don't move unless a significant slope.
 
Teepee

Teepee

Thru Hiker
Silicone dots work. High Modulus silicone has the firmness to not squash (sanitary, or general purpose silicone; with any DWR cleaned off so it sticks)

Finding a nice body shaped flat area works best though.... and if it's a bit of a slanty pitch, I wedge all sorts under the mat edges to form a trough. TBH, I try not to sleep on anything slippy...my PU coated grounsheets have a lot more stick than my sil ones and they are tied to the ground with the tent stakes. Bathtub groundsheets with proper anchors have been a godsend, I'll 'Eel' my way out of a slanted piece of Carbonite without some help on a slope.
 
WilliamC

WilliamC

Thru Hiker
el manana said:
For pillows

Interestingly, the grey 40D groundsheet fabric that Trekkertent use is not at all slippy, I don't move unless a significant slope.
Click to expand...
Trekkertent used to - and perhaps still do - add an extra coating of silicone to the groundsheet to make it less slippy. I know this because he rang me to ask me if I minded him delaying the shipping of our Stealth 2 inner over the weekend because the silicone was still a little tacky.
 
EM-Chiseller

EM-Chiseller

Thru Hiker
I eliminated slippage. My new exped hl LW fits sweet in my bivi... What's all this tent floor business lol do you mean on your ground sheet or inner you use with the trailstar?
 
Jon jons

Jon jons

Ultralighter
Teepee said:
Silicone dots work. High Modulus silicone has the firmness to not squash (sanitary, or general purpose silicone; with any DWR cleaned off so it sticks)

Finding a nice body shaped flat area works best though.... and if it's a bit of a slanty pitch, I wedge all sorts under the mat edges to form a trough. TBH, I try not to sleep on anything slippy...my PU coated grounsheets have a lot more stick than my sil ones and they are tied to the ground with the tent stakes. Bathtub groundsheets with proper anchors have been a godsend, I'll 'Eel' my way out of a slanted piece of Carbonite without some help on a slope.
Click to expand...
I woke up once confused in my bivi bag and realised I was 5 metres down the hill from my tarp rig. That was slippage...
 
Shewie

Shewie

Chief Slackpacker
Staff member
Foxster said:
Slippy mats.

I got fed up with mine and ending up at the bottom tent. I got an Exped Downmat because of it's anti-slip surface. Yup it weighs a little more but at least I spend the night on it.
Click to expand...

Is that a new thing? I don’t think my downmats have had that
 
Shewie

Shewie

Chief Slackpacker
Staff member
Chiseller said:
My new HL has anti slip but it's on the top not the bottom ?
Click to expand...

All these years I’ve been telling folk that they have their downmats upside down, the black side with the honeycomb pattern isn’t reflective after all, it’s just anti-slip.

A long time ago when I bought my first downmat I was told the honeycomb was like the Reflectatherm fabric that some companies use in their arctic gear, now I’m not so sure
 
Teepee

Teepee

Thru Hiker
Shewie said:
All these years I’ve been telling folk that they have their downmats upside down, the black side with the honeycomb pattern isn’t reflective after all, it’s just anti-slip.

A long time ago when I bought my first downmat I was told the honeycomb was like the Reflectatherm fabric that some companies use in their arctic gear, now I’m not so sure
Click to expand...

It's definetely warmer on the black side. I've noticed a marked difference between the black side and the grey. I'm not sure if it's because of any reflective layer either, but it works.
Even if you were wrong, you were right in my book.
 
EM-Chiseller

EM-Chiseller

Thru Hiker
My HL honeycomb is definitely sticky and on the blue side it does have an element of silver to it but I'm thinking now that it should go to the bottom..
 
EM-Chiseller

EM-Chiseller

Thru Hiker
Chiseller said:
My HL honeycomb is definitely sticky and on the blue side it does have an element of silver to it but I'm thinking now that it should go to the bottom..
Click to expand...
No... The sticky blue side is the top. Designed to help stop slippage with UL bags that have a slick surface...
The lightest and most comfortable sleeping mat in its category - and super packable!

Next-to-skin comfort and anti-slip GripSkin honeycomb-pattern coating. Laminate is air tight and impervious to hydrolysis.
As for the downmats... Looks like from exped... Grey side up and shows with the higher side tubes to help prevent roll...
 
Foxster

Foxster

Section Hiker
Honeycomb (lighter) side up works for me with my Downmat UL Winter to reduce slidey-arse-syndrome. It's also how it is shown in Exped's piccies.
 
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