Tarp press studs and eyelets (grommets)

mutineer

Full Member
Apr 30, 2013
80
1
Hampshire
Hi all. Hope this is the right section.
I'm looking to do some tarp mods and I would like to attach some metal grommets and eyelets of a similar standard to the 58 pattern poncho. Does anyone have any ideas?
Knowing where to get some canvas and webbing straps (up to 1 inch thick) will undoubtedly be my next question.
Any help appreciated.
Cheers all
 

wicca

Native
Oct 19, 2008
1,065
34
South Coast
I note you give your location as Hampshire. If you're anywhere near the coast or even inland where there is a yacht chandlery, you'll find all those items are usually in stock, although real canvas (cotton) may only be found in the chandleries stocking gear for more traditional boats. Or as suggested above, Ebay the great stockist in the sky...;)
 

IC_Rafe

Forager
Feb 15, 2016
247
2
EU
Don't use grommets or anything which just punches through the material. Without reinforcements all around those will very easily tear out when used and since you're basically making a big hole inside the tarp/poncho/whatever, you still weaken the thing as a whole. A better option is to sew on loops. You'll also have to reinforce the attachment places, but they don't just fall out and leave a hole in the case where it'd fail. For how to reinforce, look to the loops on the DD tarp. That's the most common way to reinforce so the forces get distributed better.
 

Jaeger

Full Member
Dec 3, 2014
670
24
United Kingdom
Aye Up mutineer,

+ 1 re tape loops as opposed to eyelets.

Also - be aware that you might have to look hard to find decent quality items from ebabe - I recently ordered some snap fasteners for a couple of leather projects and they have proven to be almost useless - very weak fastening (no doubt made in China).

I'd follow wicca's advice and check out a chandlers if possible. :)
 
Feb 28, 2017
5
0
Norfolk
I have a caterham as another Toy and there is a good place we use called "Softbits for sevens" for weatherproofing stuff like hoods and tonneau covers etc.
They have all the poppers you could ever want and if they hold my Tonneau and half doors in place at 120MPH on track, they will handle a Tarp for a shelter etc

www.softbitsshop.co.uk
 

Robson Valley

On a new journey
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,669
McBride, BC
Three places here to shop for horse & saddle kit.
They have horse-proof snaps, grommets, rivets and nylon webbing in many colors and widths.
The Speedy Stitcher Awl takes a little practice for a respectable job.
 

RAPPLEBY2000

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Dec 2, 2003
3,195
14
51
England
Hi I re-fitted poppers on several bits of kit including ponchos and tarps, and Canvas and Cordura Army webbing pouches, the only downside is they are only 1 sideded (military poncho poppers work both sides).
however the poppers I bought were from a standard haberdashery(sewing shop), and fit perfectly with any military version.

Grometts are fairly easy to find but make sure you do them propperly with some fair effort. if you misalign or don't hit hard enough the gromet can squash sideways it will look bad and will not work as you wanted.

It's worth mentioning you can get different coloured poppers, Silver, gold and a dark copper colour, if you can't get the right colour you can paint them with black or brown nailvarnish which will help them merge with the rest of the work.

Finally...and this is from experience...:sigh:
Are the poppers facing the right way (i.e. up/down)
I fitted around 20 poppers to a few tarps so they would fit together to make a longer tarp, it works fine, but only in one configuration, with one tarp upside down, this was origananly so it would fit to a particular tent frame, but now it's just annoying. It's an easy mistake to make, check and double check before you permanantly attach things! :banghead:
 

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