homemade silnylon idea

**beasty-beast** · 02-19-2012, 13:54

had an idea to make my own sil nylon. Kiwi sells something called Campdry. it is silicon based, does anyone think it would be worth trying?

**pndwind** · 02-19-2012, 14:29

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ead.php?t=2011

This may help on the idea.

**Otter1** · 02-19-2012, 19:57

CampDry doesn't last very long, IMO. Definitely nowhere close to real sil.

**DemostiX** · 02-19-2012, 20:28

Coatings, whether silicone or poly add a minimum of 1/4oz per square yard. More like 1/3 to 1/2 oz. So, for a 6 sq yard tarp, after the solvents have evaporated, there are,say 2oz of solids left behind. And that's with a factory-installed minimum of material to achieve the water-proofing.

That's useful to know when you are looking at a 10oz spray can, only a tiny fraction of which is active ingredient.

I suspect we mislead ourselves because of "Scotchguard (tm)" fabric protection in a spray can. Yes, that stuff will help splashes from spills to bead up at a macro and micro level, so that there is less absorption of water and stains.

But, a spill is not hours of pouring rain.

**olddog** · 02-19-2012, 22:31

Been there, done that and found it to be unsatisfactory in the long run. If you want to do a DIY sil go ahead and get a tube of silicon and a gallon of mineral spirits and mix ,mix and mix. Use a 5 gallon bucket and when well mixed soak the tarp. Using rubber gloves I did squeeze the excess mix out of the fabric and hung the tarp. I then used a sponge to smooth any areas that seemed too thick or heavily coated. Then allow to dry over a few days. My attempts with the sprays was still allowing misting thru after 4 cans. This was my first realization that sometimes DIY may not be cost affective.

**beasty-beast** · 02-19-2012, 22:37

okay, thanks all!

**mmaiolo81** · 02-20-2012, 14:08

Originally Posted by olddog

Been there, done that and found it to be unsatisfactory in the long run. If you want to do a DIY sil go ahead and get a tube of silicon and a gallon of mineral spirits and mix ,mix and mix. Use a 5 gallon bucket and when well mixed soak the tarp. Using rubber gloves I did squeeze the excess mix out of the fabric and hung the tarp. I then used a sponge to smooth any areas that seemed too thick or heavily coated. Then allow to dry over a few days. My attempts with the sprays was still allowing misting thru after 4 cans. This was my first realization that sometimes DIY may not be cost affective.

I was looking to diy a tarp but then I ran the cost the make it right and decided I would be better off just buying one...

**kitesurfer** · 02-22-2012, 16:44

i made one. it works great! it cost me double what a really nice one from the store cost.

**ieye360** · 03-18-2012, 17:01

I just bought 9 yards of ripstop nylon 1.1 (i think, i'll weight it soon, just to be sure) for 4.99 with a 40% discount. That's pretty cheap, alot cheaper than any of the DIY fabric sites listed on HF. How many tubes of clear 100% silicone do you need? How much mineral spirits do you need? And in what ratio? So far i can make a DIY tarp for 70 bucks or more less than the asking price, for the cheapest and smallest tarp at all of the hammock sites i've looked at so far.

**DemostiX** · 03-18-2012, 19:21

You will find a very long thread here on DIY silnylon. Every post is worth reading. Every one. The quality doesn't wane.

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...54&postcount=1

will get you started.

And then, of course, there are youtube videos.