What do you use for an outdoor ground cover?

[obiwancanoli]

Early on, with a new RV, I bought two 6X9 mat's to set chairs, etc. on, and sight unseen, they turned out to be plastic, and unappealing.

I've seen others, which appear to be some kind of heavy duty cloth, others that were artificial grass, and though I want to change out what I have, am not sure where to go, or what to consider/choose

I'm sure everyone with an RV has something, and I'm curious what you use, and why it's good or bad. On the advice of a friend, I purchased two that I could lay side by side, as that size would be easier to manage, weigh less, and perhaps store more conveniently.

Please chime in with your contribution, as I'm actively looking to make a change... thanks!

[mdcamping]

coolmom42 wrote:
Definitely get a plastic woven mat that lets water pass through. Otherwise it will weigh a ton when it's wet and be impossible to roll up for transport.

Yup we like those woven plastic outdoor rugs. Just returned home from a spring trip with lots of snow & rain. The plastic rug was almost completly dry but our outdoor welcome mat was like a wet sponge, the plastic rugs fold easy too.

Mike

[coolmom42]

Definitely get a plastic woven mat that lets water pass through. Otherwise it will weigh a ton when it's wet and be impossible to roll up for transport.

[2oldman]

doxiemom11 wrote:
We have outdoor rugs that are a heavy weave and come in various sizes.

One thing I make sure to do to keep my carpet healthy is to smooth out the ground underneath. As few rocks as possible attempting to tear holes in it!

[doxiemom11]

We have outdoor rugs that are a heavy weave and come in various sizes. We purchased them at Lowe's. They are not cheap but we have had ours 10 years now and they are starting to show some wear. They are heavy and do not blow away. We put them out only when we are going to sit for a month if it's permitted. Some places don't allow rugs/mats. They travel rolled up in our pass thru storage compartment on the motorhome. They are each approx 10'X12' so cover the entire area under our main awning.

[dedmiston]

derouen6 wrote:
Well said dedmiston. I’m sure your words will have an immediate impact.
I wish!

Thanks derouen6.

Who knows what the impact will be. I guess that shouldn't stop us from trying though.

And thanks everyone for the kind PMs.

[derouen6]

Well said dedmiston. I’m sure your words will have an immediate impact.
I wish!

[dedmiston]

fj12ryder wrote:

dedmiston wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
"I feel bad for the OP, lectures instead of helpful advice."

The OP asked for opinions and preferences, and he got them. Some people don't agree with your opinion or mine, and spoke up. No harm, no foul. When you ask a relatively diverse group of people for their thoughts, you may not get only ones that you find agreeable.

I disagree. This isn't what the OP asked for.

This is why so many new members don't stick around.

Everyone, please keep the rest of your responses on topic. I deleted a few of the snarkiest/unhelpful responses.

I'm sorry, I thought the OP posted this:

"Please chime in with your contribution, as I'm actively looking to make a change... thanks!"

Apologies if it seems like I was singling you out. I wasn't.

But...

There's no rational interpretation of the OP's question that justifies the responses he got.

It seems to me like a year of COVID lockdowns and a contentious election cycle have trained many of you to toss your manners aside and treat each other with disrespect. It's a horrible habit to get into, and an even worse knee-jerk response.

My advice is for many of you to snap out of it and behave as if your mother were reading your posts. I think a lot of you would get whacked with a wooden spoon for treating others the way you do. I guess I'm too old to spank, but my mom would still give me an earful if I carried on that way.

Why do we come here anyway? It's supposed to be a fun community where we can safely exchange ideas, learn a thing or two, and have a good time. Instead, it's turning into a sandbox for narcissistic bullies where everyone believes they're right and everyone else is wrong. But maybe that arrow of wrongness is actually pointing back at some of you.

Like I've said to some of you recently via PM, you don't need to get the last word and you don't need to respond to every post. If you aren't confident enough in your written skills to respectfully present an alternative viewpoint, it's OK to keep scrolling.

[cummins2014]

fj12ryder wrote:

dedmiston wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
"I feel bad for the OP, lectures instead of helpful advice."

The OP asked for opinions and preferences, and he got them. Some people don't agree with your opinion or mine, and spoke up. No harm, no foul. When you ask a relatively diverse group of people for their thoughts, you may not get only ones that you find agreeable.

I disagree. This isn't what the OP asked for.

This is why so many new members don't stick around.

Everyone, please keep the rest of your responses on topic. I deleted a few of the snarkiest/unhelpful responses.

I'm sorry, I thought the OP posted this:

"Please chime in with your contribution, as I'm actively looking to make a change... thanks!"

He did, and you may be confused. I read it as he has some sort of mats , and he’s looking for something different . Never did read where he asked for criticism on the use of mats .:h

As far as mats , Amazon has an endless supply and selection.

[fj12ryder]

dedmiston wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
"I feel bad for the OP, lectures instead of helpful advice."

The OP asked for opinions and preferences, and he got them. Some people don't agree with your opinion or mine, and spoke up. No harm, no foul. When you ask a relatively diverse group of people for their thoughts, you may not get only ones that you find agreeable.

I disagree. This isn't what the OP asked for.

This is why so many new members don't stick around.

Everyone, please keep the rest of your responses on topic. I deleted a few of the snarkiest/unhelpful responses.

I'm sorry, I thought the OP posted this:

"Please chime in with your contribution, as I'm actively looking to make a change... thanks!"

[Boomerweps]

astroturf from a salvage type store, Ollies.
Placed over gravel, sand, bare dirt, & blacktop pads.
The open weave plastic mats are easier to spray off.

[2oldman]

I use a regular old indoor house carpet. Heavy, expensive, but does the job. I got tired of replacing those 'Rv mats' that just disintegrate every year.

[dedmiston]

You can go to Amazon and search for "RV Patio Mats" to find tons of different options.

We mostly boondock, so we use our mat all the time to keep our heathen dogs (and kids & friends, etc.) from tracking in so much grit.

Securing them against the wind is a big problem and the ground is too rough to pound in stakes in most of our camps. About ten years ago I bought a bunch of "saddlebag" style photography sand bags as weights to hold down our mat. I've got five or six for the mat and one each for the bottoms of our collapsable trash/recycle cans.

Last year for Christmas, one of my camp buddies gave me "a pair of nickels". These things are polished metal plates about the size of dinner plates and they probably weigh more than I do. I started using these to hold down the front corners of the mat because they aren't as bulky as the sand bags but they're so much heavier.

When we stay in RV parks, we keep that mat stowed, because most parks down allow them.

Keep in mind as you shop for a mat that "bigger" means "bulkier". A large folded up mat will take up a lot of space in your cargo hold.

[dedmiston]

fj12ryder wrote:
"I feel bad for the OP, lectures instead of helpful advice."

The OP asked for opinions and preferences, and he got them. Some people don't agree with your opinion or mine, and spoke up. No harm, no foul. When you ask a relatively diverse group of people for their thoughts, you may not get only ones that you find agreeable.

I disagree. This isn't what the OP asked for.

This is why so many new members don't stick around.

Everyone, please keep the rest of your responses on topic. I deleted a few of the snarkiest/unhelpful responses.

[way2roll]

QCMan wrote:
Maybe you need to get a camper with a built in deck so you don't get too close to the ground at campsites. Must be hell going from the tv to the camper.

What joy do you get posting a completely unhelpful and critical reply in response to a legitimate question? What's missing in your life that you feel the need to play keyboard cowboy?

To the OP, we use a cheap outdoor mat from Lowes. After a season or two they get pretty beat up and we replace so we don't spend a lot of money. They are in the outdoor patio section. As others have said we don't put them on grass, but a lot of state parks we visit have very fine gravel and stone dust and this easily gets tracked into the RV. A mat sure does help. Helps a great deal in sand as well.