Patent ID: 7637698

Claim:
A method for reducing exposure of a ground engagable floor of a tent to dirt, abrasion, and moisture comprising: (a) providing a single layer ground cloth comprising: one and not more than one flexible sheet of generally non-porous material of substantially constant thickness and configured for use between the floor and supporting ground; the flexible sheet including a plurality of drain holes through the material and effective for draining to the ground moisture from between the floor and the sheet; wherein the areas of the individual drain holes have values in the range given by the areas of circular holes having diameters in the range of from 0.1 mm to 3.0 mm; and the drain holes in that portion of the flexible sheet engaged by the ground engagable floor are of sufficient number and distributed such that greater than 75% of the area of said portion lies within 25 mm of a drain hole; and the total area of the drain holes in that portion of the flexible sheet engaged by the ground engagable floor is not more than 10 percent of the corresponding area of the flexible sheet to maintain protection from engagement with the ground of at least 90 percent of a corresponding portion of the floor engaged by the flexible sheet; (b) disposing the single layer ground cloth between the ground engagable floor and supporting ground; whereby water that enters the space between the single layer ground cloth and the ground engagable floor is drained away while at least 90 percent of the ground engagable floor engaged with the single layer ground cloth is protected from engagement with the ground.