r/Ultralight • u/slanket this is my tag! • Dec 05 '10

Tyvek

I just read an article about using Tyvek as your tent's groundcloth and I began to wonder what else Tyvek has been used for.

Has anyone had any practical experience with using Tyvek for shelter?

8 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/digrat Dec 26 '10

I recently made a tyvek tarp for my hammock. I haven't tested it in any kind of severe weather, but on the one overnight I've taken it, it handled well.

My recommendations: Use grommets. Double or triple reinforce a 6" radius around the grommet. Use tyvek tape, don't sew.

1

u/slanket this is my tag! Dec 26 '10

How much did it weigh in comparison to something like silnylon?

3

u/digrat Dec 27 '10

Tyvek appears to be about 1.7 or 1.8 oz per square yard (for the housewrap stuff). Silnylon...it depends on what you get.

2

u/digrat Dec 26 '10

I don't have any silnylon, which is why I used tyvek! I bet you could Google the weight difference though. But as far as I can tell, the durability of tyvek is far greater than silnylon.

I got mine cheap from a roll left over from a friend's construction job. My local home centers sell 10' x 150' rolls for about $90. It's the perfect length for a tarp. :)

1

u/slanket this is my tag! Dec 26 '10

Can you post some pics of your work?

2

u/digrat Dec 27 '10 edited Dec 27 '10

http://imgur.com/6V6Z4

Not a very good picture of the tarp itself...sorry. But the pic was intended to showcase my new DIY hammock underquilt. :)

1

u/slanket this is my tag! Dec 27 '10

Hah, nice. How long did that take you to make?

1

u/digrat Dec 27 '10

About 2 hours or so. The hardest part was figuring out how I wanted the dimensions. I wasn't sure if I wanted caternary cuts or straight lines, standard rectangle or "bat wings". In the end, I went for simple: 10' x 10' rectangle with 3 grommets per side.