RBTR SilPoly Initial impressions

[hk2001]

2 hours into the test, and zero leaking, zero stretch

I'm actually a little worried, because the entire thing is being held up by a sheet bend knot using the SilPoly and 2.4mm Lawson glowire.. The entire thing, including the weight of the line and buff weighs in at a little over 5lbs.. That's a lot of stress on a small area of delicate material.. Tomorrow morning I'll take final measurements of height off the floor and weight.. I'll then throw the portion of material in contact with the line on the light table and look for any damage.

I used the Lawson glowire intentionally, and odds are everything will be alright. But I have a tendancy to stress about stuff like this to much.

[Redoleary]

RBTR has some exciting stuff going on over there. Thanks for the report on this. Well done.

[Megss]

I totally dig the color! When I am ready to make a tarp I think I will definitely be checking this out!

[hk2001]

Alright, I am really busy this morning, so I've not had a chance to take pics yet.

However, there was no signs of any leaking or sweating of water on the silpoly this morning. And no stretch (it's height off the floor is the exact same as when I setup the test, measured to a millimeter)

I'm going to let it keep hanging until this afternoon, but if there was any change, I suspect it would have happened by now.

[BrianWillan]

Alright, I am really busy this morning, so I've not had a chance to take pics yet.

However, there was no signs of any leaking or sweating of water on the silpoly this morning. And no stretch (it's height off the floor is the exact same as when I setup the test, measured to a millimeter)

I'm going to let it keep hanging until this afternoon, but if there was any change, I suspect it would have happened by now.

That is great news on the water test of this fabric. Thanks for taking the time to do that.

Cheers

Brian

[ripstopbytheroll]

Thanks for doing this HK. Look forward to seeing the tarp and getting your feedback soon.

[hk2001]

After 20 hours..

Zero leaking, and the height off the floor remains the same.. So I took it down, and it weighed the same it did before it went up (accurate to the gram)

I 've got the fabric hanging in the gear room now to dry. I'll get it on the light table and look for damage from the cord in the morning.. Then the sewing begins

[IRONFISH45]

Great job of testing, saves some worries. Thank you. Oh, love the color, picking a color is going to be a problem for a lot of folks. LOL

[hk2001]

I got the RL done today using the double french seam with grosgrain binding that SirMarkos was telling me about in another post. I did this for a few reasons: I've gotten pretty good at flat-felled/french seam hybrid so I wanted to try something new.. being a first for me also made it more likely I'd mess up (which happened!) So there's 2 spots my sewing got away from me while I was talking to my daugther. Some seam ripping, and a little extra seam sealer, and it'll be good as new.


In terms of working with this.. I love it. ZERO Stretch while working with it!! Not being as slick as sil nylon, there was no problems with the bottom layer feeding to fast. I highly recommend this fabric to anyone wanting to make their first tarp. I've made a few dozen tarps in recent months, and honestly, I can't see myself swapping back to silnylon.

Here's how the tarp is coming along as of now. RL done, and about 1/2 way hemmed. I'm contemplating binding all the edges.. but I'll jump off that bridge when I come to it. I'll finish hemming, and set it up for photos tomorrow before taking it downstairs for a seamseal.

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[hk2001]

Some other stuff came up yesterday, so I didn't get to finish the tarp then.. But I hit the ground running this morning and got the hemming finished and the 4 corner tie outs on. It's suppose to be decently nice here for the next 2 days (60 tomorrow ) so I'm going to hit it up with some seam sealer and leave it to cure outside. Then there's a chance of rain Wens, and a chance of snow Friday So how about I leave it sitting right where it is for the next 5 days straight, and lets see how it fares? As long as the seam seal has a good chance to cure, I'm confident it'll be alright.


Like I said, only 4 tie outs atm.. I intend on adding more later but that's not high on my priority list for the next 5 days.

Finished Dimensions: 12'8" long by 9'10" wide. Weight will come after the seam sealing.

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and yes.. for those overly observant people.. I did add another pole to my bipod, because the tarp is so big I couldn't pitch it on the 4.5' tall bipod.

I'd also like to thank Kyle for providing me with the materials for testing. I'd also like to thank him for ordering some more natural colors. http://ripstopbytheroll.com/collections/silpoly