Is a sil tarp worth it?

[gunner76]

I have Sil and Cuben and prefer the Cuben due to the weight savings but nothing wrong with a Sil Tarp.

If you can get one at a good price...get it. If it does not work out, keep it as a back up or sale it.

I tend to keep old gear for backup and take to group hangs in case someone wants to check it out or forgets something.

[CrankyOldGuy]

I prefer a silnylon tarps and I have a cuben to compare.

Intuhwesting, vehwey intuhwesting... tell me why, please.

[Moondoggy]

For the the money I would go sil ! The rest of my gear is so light the cost to weight ratio made me sell my Cuben tarp ! With the extra money I bought a lot of cool stuff and a new sil tarp !

[Cannibal]

I know sil in light, but What else is good about it?

Versus what?
It seems like weight isn't high on your list, so comparing to cuben would be the wrong direction. Are you looking for durability? Is your choice between canvas and sil?

For 3-season, I can't think of anything significantly 'wrong' with sil. It is a lightweight material, so needs to be handled accordingly. The 'stretch-factor' will allow some moisture to pass-thru if you press against it, as the weave opens-up slightly. Otherwise, it's a fine material for a tarp. It's shortcomings are easily avoided and compared to other lightweight materials, it is reasonably priced.

[OutandBack]

Intuhwesting, vehwey intuhwesting... tell me why, please.

The only two things cuben has going for it is weight. About half compared to syl and it will hold a tighter pitch requiring no re-adjustment in the rain.

The things I don't like is they are loud in the wind and rain. When you need a tarp the most.
Rain drops sound like little firecrackers.
When I hike with my cuben I always take ear plugs.

As some one who likes to sleep in when hammock camping(I'm retired and never in a hurry to leave) the sun lights my cuben tarp up
like a giant flood light waking me way before I am ready.
This is also a problem with light gray syl tarps but you can buy dark syl

And lastly the jury is still out on the longevity if cuben. I have syl tarps over 10 yrs old that are still in perfect condition.
I've seen one report of cuben delamination from a AT thru hiker posted on HF.

HTH, YMMV



Note the sun glasses. This tarps provide no shade.

[hikerman2000]

I've had mine for over two years and never had a problem. It doesn't seem like a lot of coverage at 10 x 6.5, but I've never gotten wet nor has any of my gear that's been stored under it. Now I've never been in a torrential weather attack to date, but its seen its fair share of rain and thunderstorms. Very nice looking tarp btw, smooth looking, great taught pitch when done properly. I changed my ProFly a bit though. I took off the plastic clips (cannot remember their specific name) that are placed on all 4 tie-outs AND the 2 ridgeline ends. Used mini-biners attached on the V-shaped grossgrain where I removed the RL plastic clips, then just prussik knots on each end to adjust/center my ProFly over/under my tarp ridgeline. Added shockcord self-tensioners to each of the 4 tie-outs b/c the tarp will lose it's taughtness if it gets really wet.

Extremely reliable (a little heavy), but I'm in need of a 4-season tarp that is due to arrive any hour now (Warbonnet Superfly). I just want to be able to be fully enclosed to trap heat for winter hangs, that's all.

[PDA]

Weight:cost ratio is the most important consideration. For a car camper, weight is irrelevant, so a lowish cost PU coated nylon or PE tarp is going to provide the required protection. For a thru hiker, weight is critical, so asym diamond, cuiben or sylnylon is worth the cost and minimal coverage.

[warbonnetguy]

As far as weight and packability are concerned the slight increase in cost of 30d silnylon over 70d pu-coated nylon is worth it for alot of people because the price isn't that much more and you get something that packs about half as small and is 60% lighter. The jump from sil to cuben gives a similar result but for a much higher price increase.

If weight or packability was of concern at all, silnylon would be a good choice over a heavier nylon tarp. If these aren't factors then fabrics like pu-coated 70d nylon will do the job and are cheaper, although they're not avail in as many hammock-specific designs as silnylon and cuben.

[warbonnetguy]

The only 2 downsides that I can think of are
1: it does stretch when it gets wet, so you need shock cord tensioners with your guylines to keep it tight.

You don't have to have tensioners to keep a tight pitch on a sil tarp. If (big if) you have good soil that will hold a stake properly, you can stretch the tarp a good deal during setup (stretching the fabric) and it will still be taut in the morning. You just have to stretch the fabric more than it will loosen during the night. I've waken up plenty of times with a wet sil tarp that wasn't sagging a bit.

[Brute1100]

Are you sure it is sil nylon... My eno profly is polyurethane coated nylon... Big weight difference...

As many quality tarps are sil nylon and most cheaper tarps tend to be poly coated... I would say sil nylon is second best only to cuben... But as mere mortals can only afford sil it should work wonderfully...