Tarp from a bed sheet?

[ForgeCorvus]

My local fabric suppliers does do ripstop but rarely in green, and don't think bright yellow will die well.

Use a strong blue dye, you'll get a green then (but I can't promise which green)

I've got a cataloge somewhere for a company that supplies canvas and the like (they'll even stich up stage cloths at a price), I'll look it out, I know they have a website

 

[xylaria]

Use a strong blue dye, you'll get a green then (but I can't promise which green)

I've got a cataloge somewhere for a company that supplies canvas and the like (they'll even stich up stage cloths at a price), I'll look it out, I know they have a website

I think you mean whaleys of bradford, from what I have researched they are the cheapest supplier of canvas in the uk.

I have attempted to make a tarp out of a ancient ridge tent, that had a pershed rubber ground sheet. The canvas it is made of is very heavy, in fact it is too heavy to lift to tie to tree. To be truthful I can't see what the differance between a tightly weaved cotton and light canvas, toddy maybe able to correct me.

 

[John Fenna]

The name Canvas (which comes frome the Greek "Kannabis" as in "hemp") refers to any strong woven cloth of flax or hemp - "cotton canvas" is a total misnomer and generally refers to any strongly woven cotton, usually in a plain or doubled yarn weave.

 

[rich59]

A thought on single/ double thickness. While I haven't used a sheet for a tarp (yet, but why not?) I have sat under a patio umbrella made of material. In good going rain you get a gentle spattering of fine drops - presumably due to the velocity of big drops dispersing kinetic energy (or some such physics). So, a double layer should solve that problem.

 

[Hoodoo]

I know it's pricey but I think you get what you pay for. If you want a good qualty cotton tarp, I'd seriously consider ventile.

 

[xylaria]

A thought on single/ double thickness. While I haven't used a sheet for a tarp (yet, but why not?) I have sat under a patio umbrella made of material. In good going rain you get a gentle spattering of fine drops - presumably due to the velocity of big drops dispersing kinetic energy (or some such physics). So, a double layer should solve that problem.

Was the umbrella 100% cotton? because polyester is hydrophobic and works to the opposite of hydrophilic cotton. This is where natural fibres need a different understanding to synthetic. Cotton jeans hold water swell up get stiff and stay that way, so are bad to wear in cold or windy conditions, polyester mix trousers don't hold water and don't stiffen so dry while you are wearing them. I like to sleep under canvas as when wet it feels wall like in the way it cuts out wind, it stiffens up the more weather it gets. But it weighs tonnes. The Elmo experiment I did the cotton sheet did not produce spray through, and sheet was considerable lighter than the equivalent canvas.

I think the main problem maybe cotton will rip under tension so the tarp will not be hard wearing. Ventile is just treated cotton isn't? A bed sheet done in nikwax would be slightly cheaper i think.

Thanks for canvas info:You_Rock_ I really didn't know that.

 

[John Fenna]

Ventile is not trated as such - just incredibly tightly woven of the best long staple cotton in the world crop. As it swell as it get damp the cotton closes off any gap between the threads an thereby stops water penetrating. Saying Ventile is just treated cotton is like saying that gold is just varnished brass...

 

[Hoodoo]

Ventile is just treated cotton isn't? A bed sheet done in nikwax would be slightly cheaper i think.

Thanks for canvas info:You_Rock_ I really didn't know that.

I don't think ventile comes treated does it? Or at least not all ventile comes treated. As far as I know Ventile and egyptian cotton are pretty close to the same thing, highest quality, longest stranded cotton available and comes with a high thread count. A standard cotton bed sheet does not compare.

In the old days, they called this kind of cotton balloon silk and it was commonly used for tents and tarps. Real silk was also used.

 

[xylaria]

I have looked this up, the threads ventile are weaved from are not treated, but the finshed cloth is. There maybe some ventiles that are not treated. The research I have read puts ventile with treated fabrics.

It is a reasonably irrelevant point though, bed sheets are not made out of ventile. They are made out of light poly-cotton which is a waterproof as a sieve. The sturdy 100% cotton bed sheet I did a test with did not leak, but to go out into wilds in december with experimental kit would be suicide. I personally dislike the idea that spending large quanties of money can substitue for understanding the function of kit.

 

[John Fenna]

For a detailed description of how Ventile works check out www.ventile.co.uk.
The real weatherproofing comes from its structure.

 

[sandbag47]

hey guys i'm doing a group buy for dd hammocks...but they also do tarps and i can get them aswell...have a look a my group buy thread, and also at
www.ddhammocks.com