I needed to shoot a pic of my sheets for reference so the timing of your enquiry was perfect! (I'll be referring newbie friends to this thread so forgive me if I go on...)
My Aussie sheet is a 47x year old Vietnam veteran still going strong! Over the years, building natural wood fires underneath it during rain has given it a permanent, satisfying smokey smell - surely from the resins in the wood being burnt.
A couple or so very small holes but otherwise still reliable: I carry a short length of duct tape in the field as part of a general purpose repair kit and this has worked very well to patch any holes as they occur. Patch both sides of the hole.
I've been using the Brit sheet when going out with friends who don't have much in the way of kit. It easily covers 2x people with their rucksacks placed to their outer sides (to act as a wind break for the torso).
MEASUREMENTS:
Brit Army Sheet: 253cm Length; 218cm width.
Aussie Army Sheet: 250cm Length; 174cm Width.
The Aussie sheet fits into a '58 Waterbottle Pouch and I normally keep the Brit one in a US Alice Pack side pouch.
EYELETS:
Brit Army Sheet: 5x along width. (Total = 10x)
Aussie Army Sheet: 1x in each corner, 2x small on each width. (Total = 8x)
LOOPS:
Brit Army Sheet: along "ridge", at corners and on all sides.
Aussie Army Sheet: along "ridge", at corners and on all sides.
EXTRAS:
Brit Army Sheet: 3x grab handles along each side (Length) to improvise stretcher.
Aussie Army Sheet: overlapped snap fasteners to turn sheet into a tube (For use as an open-ended one-man hoop tent) or to join several together.
PICTURES:
The drinks can is a standard 330ml, included for scale. The pic is misleading 'cause, when the sheets are out of their pouches, they puff up a little.
The white rulers are folded out to 2x and 1x metre along the length and width (respectively).
Both of my sheets have also been used to make flotation bundles during river crossings. Wind breaks for fires. Kept clean, they can (and have) each be used to catch rain water for drinking. It sounds daft but the Brit one has been used to carry bulky material (bracken, leafed branches) for natural shelter making - I didn't realise the irony at the time...
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Sometimes starting out with a very limited, cheap option (eg: builders' tarp, as suggested by Ged) makes the best sense, at this stage. You'll see for yourself what you can get by without, what you do need and what options are valued/unnecessary for the way that YOU work.
Afterwards, the tarp isn't fully redundant, especially if you have some DIY projects! Also useful if you one day go out in a group with newbies (you lend them the bulky tarp!).
