[beavis]

My son and I are signed up for an appleseed in a month.

I would like to make us some DIY shooting mats that will work reasonably well for a number of practice sessions and for the appleseed.

I know the appleseed store carries mats that aren't too expensive but if there is something that we can put together a bit cheaper, that would be nice because I'm not sure how much we would use them once that weekend is over.

We did do an appleseed a few years ago and just used some generic closed-cell foam sleeping pads from Walmart, but they really weren't wide enough and most of the time we were laying off to the side of them in the wet grass anyway.

Does anyone have any mats that you made yourself that work well at a reasonable price?

 

[Rock N TN]

Go to Walmart and get an inexpensive exercise mat. Works well for a shooting mat, sleeping mat, or exercise. The one I got is 75” x 23” and cost $14.95.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[mmsb27]

******* Convent Shooters Mat Padded Roll Up Mat, 1/2in Pad - Hunting, Precision Shooting, Long Range Shooting Accessories
4.7 out of 5 stars 495
$38.99$38.99

 

[mmsb27]

These don’t look too bad for the money

 

[mmsb27]

******* Convent Shooters Mat Padded Roll Up Mat, 1/2in Pad - Hunting, Precision Shooting, Long Range Shooting Accessories That’s on Amazon. I don’t know how to paste the link

 

[rwadley]

A moving blanket works reasonably well in a pinch.

 

[mals9]

I used a carpet remnant for few years. worked fine.

Mals

 

[cyphertext]

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/101517278?pid=169107

I would recommend just ordering a couple of these from Midway. They are inexpensive at $26 on sale. If you are worried about them not providing enough padding, get a cheap yoga mat from Walmart or Amazon to place under it.

 

[WFO62]

A second vote for the cheap Walmart yoga mat... I put it on the ground first... then my shooting mat... helps a lot.

 

[beavis]

Thank you everyone for the ideas and suggestions.

As a follow up, I did end up making some mats out of a couple big exercise mats and some outdoor patio carpeting.

I cut the mats to roughly 74" x 40" and then used about a quart of Guerilla Glue to glue the carpeting onto the smooth side of the mat.

They actually worked pretty well for a weekend AS and it was nice having them be a bit oversized some you could really sprawl out prone and the carpeting was pretty high friction so was quite stable and not sliding around at all (but really abrasive on the elbows after a few hours)

However I don't think they will hold up long term at all. The glue and the carpeting are probably not going to last and the mats were kind of a beotch to roll up and carry around.

We have another AS coming up in a couple weeks as I am still a few points off for my patch and my son wants to go for Distinguished. He is also going to be doing some Know Distance clinics in the future.

Yesterday I saw that Midway was having a sale on their "Pro" mat for $35 so I went ahead and ordered one and will let my son have that. I'm sure my DIY mat will hold up for another weekend so I will use that again.

 

[Lawyerman]

Seen lots of folks use USGI sleeping mats. $6 at the local surplus store.

 

[Kfxguy]

Cabinet liner from walmart might be an option. Comes 18" wide.

 

[Skeeve]

Carpet remnants. Free, if you know where to look.

 

[milkroute]

under $6
I used a Harbor freight moving blanket for years, it is a very good sponge in the rain!

I wouldnt get a black one becaus e of sunny days!
https://www.harborfreight.com/home/moving/moving-blankets/40-in-x-72-in-moving-blanket-58327.html