Outdoor Mats

booster

Senior Member
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Minnesota
Marko Edit: I split this off from another topic to make a new topic.
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Don't mean to hi-jack or change subject, but Marco has mentioned outdoor mats a couple of times, and fitting in a small space like a tube and having a good outdoor mat is not easy. Here is a link to some pics of the mat we use. It folds very small, is 3X5', porous so water goes through and no condensation under it. Woven and looks like angle hair spaghetti. Feel free to move this if you think it doesn't belong here.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/roadtrek/ ... 5/pic/list
 
markopolo said:
Like this: http://www.floormatsystems.com/floor-ma ... r-mat.html

That looks like a good mat for RV use. Using it as an occupied site sign is clever.
Was the first one stolen from your site?

You're probably right about it being problematic rolling up a mat and putting it in a tube now that I think about it. The mat would have to be small.

Yep, that is the mat, available on a few different sites at widely varying prices, get it without the backing so it will breathe and is easy to hose clean. We had tried a lot of mats and all had similar problems. To big when folded. Condensation and the generated mud on the backside always making a mess just when you want to pack up and go, hard to clean and dry. Our 3X5' on rolls up to about 30" long and 6" diameter, which is about 1/3 the size of anything else that will hold dirt off the surface, at least that we found. As you see in the pics, it fits on the running board behind the second side door very easily. Putting in a tube would be kind of like pushing cooked spaghetti up a straw!

Our first one was stolen, in Sleeping Giant provincial park, while we were gone for no more than an hour, with sites on both sides occupied. Second day of the trip, so we had to get a quick substitute. That is why we painted this one with our name, so we can have the painted side up when we are gone, marking the site (whoever took it would just say they thought we forgot it), and identifying it. When we are there, we use the clear side.
 
Davydd said:
I use the fake looking bristle grass type mat I picked up at an Ace Hardware store. It rolls up easily. Does a good job of scraping off the bottom of your shoes. Before I put it away I turn it over and slam it down on a picnic table and most all the sand, dirt and debris falls out.

http://www.acehardware.com/product/inde ... Id=1275667

That is what we used to use, and it worked pretty well, except it got lots of condensation on the underside which held all kinds of dirt. We always seem to be leaving in the morning when it was very wet and would have to dry the bottom with paper towels before we could stow it. The new one stays mostly dry, and we can store or 3X5 in the space of the 1.5X2 grass mat.
 
Davydd said:
I use the fake looking bristle grass type mat I picked up at an Ace Hardware store. It rolls up easily. Does a good job of scraping off the bottom of your shoes. Before I put it away I turn it over and slam it down on a picnic table and most all the sand, dirt and debris falls out.

http://www.acehardware.com/product/inde ... Id=1275667

That's the one we use. It seems to do the trick. We put it inside the door, however, and shake out the dirt when we leave.

Muddy feet seem to be the bane of a small motorhome.

.........Rocky
 
Old topic but I wanted to mention that I saw the green PVC spaghetti mats with no backing in a local shop today. I bought one for use outside the van approx 2' x 3' for $13. It's approx 1/2" thick and rolls up nice & compact.
 
Last edited:
Old topic but I wanted to mention that I saw the green PVC spaghetti mats with no backing in a local shop today. I bought one for use outside the van approx 2' x 3' for $13. It's approx 1/2" thick and rolls up nice & compact.

That is a very good deal!
 

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