Patio Mat Recommendations

[WA_Airstream]

Does anyone have any suggestions on patio mats they have used external to their campers? Thanks!

[Lara Me]

On advice of the forum, I ordered the CGear sand mat on Amazon. Available in many colors and sizes and much less bulky than the version I had earlier from Camping World. I love the mat, it filters dirt and sand much better, and folds more compactly. Colors are more vibrant than usual mats.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003N...RfL&ref=plSrch

[Mattirs]

Surprisingly the ones you get in Wal-Mart in the RV section are pretty good.

[joeeagle66]

What do you do with the mat when you pack up? What about the dirt on the bottom side?

[Mollysdad]

I got mine on e-bay for about $32.
There's a lot of sellers.
Pro: Dirt falls through, and it doesn't retain water. Give it a shake and fold it up. It's made of polypropylene so it doesn't absorb anything. It's more of a mat than rug.
It also has loops in the corners for stakes.
Cons: Because it lives in the truck folded up, it doesn't lay flat unless you tie it down. It's easy to trip on.

I'd almost want one smaller (mine is 6' x 9') so that I could roll it up and chuck in the truck.

[InterBlog]

+1 on CGear Sand Free, with a caveat: I chopped mine in half, re-edged, and made two of them, due to the bulk issues and the fact that I don't want to carry both of them to certain destinations where I really have to watch my packing space.

Here's one half of that pair in a photo I had staged to show my DIY suspended sideboard:

[Lily&Me]

I also like the cGear SandFree mat, and shaking/brushing it off works very well to clean it.

If you were in mud, that would be a different issue, but dry dirt and sand come off very easily.

I have a handled tots bag from an old outdoor mat from years ago, and put mine in that, but one of those super large Ziploc bags would also work.

Maggie

[FCloud9]

We love our CGear Mat for most campsite ground conditions. Nice & compact for easy storage. Rarely have we needed to toss in 13 gallon trash bag if wet or muddy but it's small enough if found in that those situation. Even if it rains overnight just before early morning departure, just flip it onto a picnic table and it will dry as you pack up. Only caution, if you place it outside your trailer on course stones or even a few scattered stones, barefeet will feel those stones. We purchased a small collapsible rake to easily prep for those type surfaces. But I love these mats so much I could easily sell them for CGear! Well worth the price and will last many years.

[Protagonist]

I also use the CGear mats in the 10×10 size.* I have two of them that I stake down side-by-side— provided I'm not on asphalt or concrete. They tend to blow in the wind unless they're staked down, or weighted down at the corners with more ballast than I want to tote in my Airstream. Besides, if you're camped on a hard surface, why would you need mats? A doormat to wipe your feet is enough in that case.

I also don't put down my mats if the grass cover under my awning is lush and well-tended like a lawn, because it seems a shame to go camping to get close to nature and then cover up the nature with a mat. But if it's patchy grass, weeds, dirt, or gravel that's not attractive, then the mats are a must.

*Why two 10×10 mats instead of something smaller? Because my awning is 8×13, and that means the mats side-by-side extend past the edges of he awning, so that if there's rain but not enough wind for me to take in the awning, the rainwater that runs off the awning lands on the mat and not in the dirt where it could spatter mud everywhere.

[SewStream]

If you have the budget and can afford this mat, I recommend the Easy Turf Go Mat. We actually have two mats, the Easy Turf and a mat that we can put down over grass. The mat we use on grass doesn’t kill the grass, and it keeps the area under the awning neat, and bits and bobs out of the Airstream. Both mats are easy to clean/sweep, or shake out.

The “grass friendly” mat folds up compact and lives in the truck bed while traveling. The Easy Turf mat rolls nicely and lives in the Thule box on the truck cap.

https://store.airstream.com/product/easy-turf-go-mat/

[SewStream]

One more thing about the Easy Turf Go Mat. We have never needed to weight it down, even in high winds. It stays put. Winds gusting up to 30MPH once flipped one small corner of the mat out of place. We refer to the Easy Turf as out front yard since we are full-timers. [emoji4]