HomeMade Tarp

[markie*mark0]

I want to have ago at making my own tarp, something a little different than the usual square or rectangle normal ones.

What material is the best to use? I've seen silnylon, ripstop nylon and cuben fibre..... ? i havnt got a clue what the differences are so im not sure.. Also what thread should i use, im guessing not normal stuff? How do i seal the seems, is tape the best or i've seen the gunk that you paint on, again not used this before so not sure which is better?

With regards to strenghtening tie out points, is it best to just double up the material? or should i use something a little more durable?

Other than that has anyone any tips or advice on making your own tarp... or even better a link to someones thread who has already done it all haha

cheers mark

 

[bilmo-p5]

What do you want to use it for?

Is it going to be a hammock canopy or a ground-pitched tentish sort of thing?

 

[markie*mark0]

is that a trick question

Sleeping under, shelter from rain / wind. The usual tarp use's

 

[bilmo-p5]

Check my edit

 

[markie*mark0]

Check my edit

Ah right now i get you

its gonna be for ground dwelling... well mk1 will be haha

 

[Teepee]

Good on you for wanting a crack at one, its quite satisfying sleeping under a homemade tarp.

Materials;
This comes down to cost more than anything. Cuben is very expansive but much lighter than all the others. Silnylon is very strong but not very waterproof, you will get some misting in heavy rain with a lot of it. Coated nylon or ployester, ripstop or not, is very waterproof and good value. It doesn't work out much heavier than silnylon in the lighter grades.

Seam sealing;
Mcnett silicon for slinylon or mcnett seam seal for coated is great, best I've used.

Tie out points;
Horses for courses really,a s long as its strong enough its good. Most of the top tarp maker will use double thickness material, some then reinforce the edges with grosgrain, others use the hem. I use the rolled hem as its plenty strong enough being triple thickness.
Thread;
Gutterman polyester, normal thickness is fine. Nothing else is worth using.

My advice;
Don't underestimate the time it takes to make a tarp, of all the projects I've made, tarps take by far the longest

FWIW, I like the way the warbonnet tarps are made, very light, strong and reasonably simple to do.

My tarp thread

 

[markie*mark0]

Good on you for wanting a crack at one, its quite satisfying sleeping under a homemade tarp.

Materials;
This comes down to cost more than anything. Cuben is very expansive but much lighter than all the others. Silnylon is very strong but not very waterproof, you will get some misting in heavy rain with a lot of it. Coated nylon or ployester, ripstop or not, is very waterproof and good value. It doesn't work out much heavier than silnylon in the lighter grades.

Seam sealing;
Mcnett silicon for slinylon or mcnett seam seal for coated is great, best I've used.

Tie out points;
Horses for courses really,a s long as its strong enough its good. Most of the top tarp maker will use double thickness material, some then reinforce the edges with grosgrain, others use the hem. I use the rolled hem as its plenty strong enough being triple thickness.
Thread;
Gutterman polyester, normal thickness is fine. Nothing else is worth using.

My advice;
Don't underestimate the time it takes to make a tarp, of all the projects I've made, tarps take by far the longest

FWIW, I like the way the warbonnet tarps are made, very light, strong and reasonably simple to do.

My tarp thread

That looks great fella! I just hope mine looks half as good.

Where did you get your materials from? I dont have that many local places that would stock it that im aware of, so most of the gear will be bought online.

 

[Teepee]

All my stuff comes from online.

Fabrics n stuff is my favourite place, but they dont always have the right grades in.

Point north carry all that you need. They can be a little relaxed on the speed of delivery but get there in the end IME.

I got that stuff from fabricsuk in birmingham, it was £2.50/m coated ripstop nylon and weighs about 1.5 oz/sq yd. I got lucky on that though, the fabric is perfect and very quiet-much prefer it to my DD tarp.

Ebay is another good source, plenty of good stuff on there.

I'd avoid coated breathable pertex, the coating soaks up lots of water and takes an age to dry.

 

[iotarho]

Check out extremtextil and Shelby too for fabrics and patterns (if you decide you want to make other things too...), and the MYOG section of BackpackingLight is worth a peek. Be careful, it gets addictive.

 

[bilmo-p5]

I try to use polyester when I can as I've found that nylon stretches too much for my liking when it gets wet. This isn't so bad on hammock & basha type rigs where bungees can be used to take up the slack, but it's less than ideal in a lot of ground rigs.

If you're making odd shapes, particularly 3D shapes, its worth trying them out in a paper or scrap cloth model to give you some idea if it will work.

 

[Karl82]

use fabsil it makes any material water proof