Best material for winter tarp

[canoetrip]

What's the better material for a winter tarp, nylon or poly?

[michigandave]

Pretty open ended question, since there's lots of variables. My primary winter tarp is a 12 foot SLD 1.6oz silnylon w/doors. Weight really isn't an issue, since I use a pulk for winter trips. If I'm carrying a pack or snowshoeing, I'll go with my my CF tarp with doors. Silnylon has been around a while and I'd go with the heaviest weight possible.

[MattK]

Like Dave said, pretty open ended.

Sil-Nylon is tried and true and works well: Nice and slippery, sheds snow well (This is what my pyramid shelter uses, and it has stood up to feet of snow fall overnight). Sil Nylon will sag some in the cold and wet conditions. Sil Poly has less stretch and sag, should still shed snow pretty well. It stretches less, which means it punctures easier (though it is still pretty tough).

Personally, I plan on using Xenon Wide from Dutch to make a winter tarp. The extra width means extra coverage and less wind/snow to deal with.

Hopefully that helps!

[OneClick]

My 30D Silnylon Superfly has been thru a lot. Feels bulletproof sometimes. And I wouldn't call it a heavy tarp by any measure; just a good all around material.

And a fun video to go with

[JmBoh]

I have used a silnylon super fly for the last couple years and recently got a UGQ WD in poly. 1st impressions over this winter is the poly carries weight a little better. Only one night in the snow with the poly tarp and there wasn't a lot of accumulation, but the poly tarp doesn't seem to stretch as much, if at all. Even in the rain, I've noticed the silnylon will sag a bit after a while in steady rains and the poly doesn't. I don't know how much of this is the fabrics or the design differences in the tarps though.