TITLE & OVERVIEW:
Compare the qualties of 9 different adhesives available in the US on Tyvek Homewrap with the intention of using the products to create lightweight camping gear.
ABSTRACT:
Although new to the forum, I have been looking for ways to backpack lighter since I was in scouts in anticipation of my son becoming a scout. The idea of making gear out of tyvek home wrap is very appealing for price, performance and weight. I wanted to use an adhesive rather than tape or sewing yet the only testing I could find was in scattered articles and a fantastic comparison on backpackinglight forum by Tegyn Angel. The challenge I had was my local home improvement stores didn't stock those products tested by Tegyn.
So, I bought a 150'X9' roll of home wrap tyvek from an orange and tan store, bought a couple of new adhesives, used some adhesives I had around my shop and attempted to run some tests similar to those already done elsewhere in the world.
MATERIALS: US dollar amounts are approximate.
1.Tyvek Homewrap (150ftX9ft). $149
This was cut into 13 inch X1 inch strips and overlapped 1 inch each for 1 square inch of glued surface for each adhesive.
2.Adhesives;
a. DAP Water soluable contact cement $16
b. Black PVC pipe cement. $6
c. PL polyurethane premium construction adhesive $5
d. Loctite All-purpose power grab. $3
e. Aleene's Tacky Glue $4
f. Gorilla Glue $10
g. Gorilla Glue for wood $5
h. Elmers school glue $1
i. Elmers wood glue $2
TOOLS:
The tools used will be a 50 pound bucket and some 3/8 inch poly rope.
METHOD:
I already intended on using the tyvek for the construction material so the plan is to allow the bucket to gradually yet quickly sheer load each test piece beyond what tyvek will hold to determine if the glue or the tyvek will fail first. Each test piece will be tied using a sheet bend top and bottom to the poly rope loops; the upper being tied to a rafter and the lower to a bucket. If the glue does not fail, I will then pull the joint apart to determine flexibility and if the glue fails or the tyvek delaminates. I'll also subjectively rate the glues on ease of application, cost and worthiness of use on outdoor equipment. I anticipate the PL polyurethane premium construction adhesive to be the winner as this matched the Dupont's best results recommendation.
TEST RESULTS:
See attached spreadsheet.
Boy were the results unexpected; the single component polyurethane adhesive, recommended to be the best performance, was the most difficult to apply and was the worst performer followed closely Gorilla glue. The water based contact cement was the clear winner. ADDED NOTE: See reply #14 / page 2 for picture of product.
CONCLUSION:
I will use the water based contact cement as my Tyvek adhesive. I am posting this in hammock forums in the hopes that if someone else wants to make/glue their own gear out of tyvek home wrap in the United States that they wouldn't need to duplicate the testing I did to find the same results.
FUTURE:
Since starting this article I have made a few tarp / rain flys for our new Trek Light hammocks included in the attached pictures. The fly has no support line, only guy lines at the corners. I left one up for 4 days and nights of wind and rain and sun. My son and I spent a rainy / windy night under the tarp (2 hammocks / 1 tarp and were totally dry (if we'd spent it in a tent, we would have been damp.) The only issue I saw with the tarp was some minor scuffing where my 9 year old was swinging in the hammock and catching it between the hanging straps and the apricot tree bark. Since the 9'X9' tarp cost less than $7 to make, I'm OK with that. No issue at all with the cement.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by TiredFeet
) standard house rap is in the 2+ oz per yard range so a bit over sil. To the feel I would say it is close--if not slightly heavier than 70D/1.9 oz fabrics but not quite as heavy as 1.9 PU coated.
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