TYVEK DIY'ers speak up

[GaHammockGuy]

Calling DIYers that are familiar with Tyvek. I am asking you to share your knowledge here.

I am having some work done on my house and have acquired quite a bit of some leftover Tyvek. If you search my posts or
YouTube vids, you will see that I made a rainfly out of Tyvek and for the tie-outs, I sewed in the a loop on each area. Well, the sewing of the Tyvek, which perforated the material caused a weak point and when I pulled on the tab to tie down the rainfly, it ripped easier than opening a letter.

so I pose this question here:

What adhesive do you use to attach tabs, or to Make your channels for draw strings?
I want to make some water-proof sacks for the few items of gear I use stuff sack with as well as a water-proof food and snack bag.

I would imagine that Elmer's glue would not work, but what about Gorilla Glue, Supper Glue, PVC Glue..... what do you use?

[craige]

I sewed a little bag for my stakes and hammock and tarp suspensions and it has held fine so far.

I have seen people saying that carpet tape works great, you can buy tyvek tape too, but it is expensive. Sorry I can't remember the thread it was in.

[Texas-grrl]

I use Tyvek as a footprint under one of my (gasp!) tents. I reinforced each corner with duct tape and then used a standard hole puncher to snap holes from each corner. All of this was done in order to thread a loop of paracord in to use to anchor the footprint to the spikes.

[Trambo]

I would use gorilla tape.

[SilvrSurfr]

Tyvek tape? It's expensive, like $12.00 a roll, but it's darn near indestructible. I made some Tyvek Grizz beaks and used tape to make tie-outs with Zing-It.

Here's the thread where I show how I made the tie-outs:

https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...ighlight=tyvek

[ggreaves]

For tie-outs, use a sheet bend. No tape or sewing required. Look at the thread on the UGLY tarp. For the ridge line tie-outs, I taped a loop of tyvek using "tuck tape", red sheathing tape. However, you should leave the tape on for 72 hours before putting tension on it or it will peel and the tyvek can delaminate. I've got it up in some pretty severe wind and it's held perfectly.

[natefoo]

Here is some info in tyvek:

http://www.polymernotes.org/resources/tyvekdupont.htm

The trick with sewing tyvek, is to use a very long stitch, around 4 per inch.

Also, 3M super 77 glue works great with tyvek.

[timdgsr]

I've used Tyvek tape for my tie outs on ground sheets/footprints. I've never made a Tyvek tarp though.

[GaHammockGuy]

Here is my video for my field test on a Tyvek rainfly, where the Tyvek failed around the area where I sewed in the tieouts.

the first part of the video demonstrates the fail and the rest of the video is our setup and how I tried to resolve the fail.



The suggestions you guys put forth here, will help me with my next few projects. I will use the glue, or tape and make some stuff sacks for my food. I need the stuff sack to be waterproof for when we hang our food.

I have had some work done on my house and have ended up with a large Qty of TYVEK left over so DIY projects, here I come.... WOOOOO WHOOOOOO!!!!!

[funkwrench]

The other day I was in Lowes and I noticed that their "home wrap" product appears stronger than Tyvek. The fiber is like fiberglass mat, in a regular square grain. Tyvek, I think, is produced using a random-fiber process. The Lowes product - if lighter or the same weight - looks like it might be superior to Tyvek for our purposes. Anyone tried it?

https://www.hammockforums.net/galler...hp?i=21713&c=4

First, based on my limited experience with Tyvek and seeing the video, above, on the Tyvek "fail", I have a few comments/suggestions:

Never sew Tyvek. Taping, while expensive, heavy and prone to its own brand of failure, is far superior. I use gorilla tape for all connection points. It works fine and is very strong. Tape only once. Never remove the tape once applied.

There is a great video someplace that shows the taping technique to use. The guy is using a space blanket as a tarp but it is the same idea: wrap a tape loop around both sides of the tarp, then pinch the sticky exposed part of the tape together to form a non-sticky loop.

When taped tyvek fails, it fails in an unexpected way. The slick finish of the tyvek comes off the fabric, leaving a weird paper/cloth hybrid fabric behind. This residue fabric is basically useless. I suggest NOT re-taping here. Just cut that part away and re-tape to a virgin area.

My take on Tyvek tarps? OK! mine works fine and it has been absolutely waterproof in a wrath-of-god style thunderstorm. It weighs one pound exactly. Drawbacks? Bulky. Takes up too much room in my pack. There may be a work-around for this but I have not figured it out. Snakeskins, maybe? I have absolutely NO ISSUES with Tyvek noise. Mine is every bit as quiet as a silnylon tarp.

I sorted through my links and here are examples of the things I mentioned:

Taping theory here. This is a space-blanket tarp video but his taping system is excellent. I used the gorilla tape fill-width:
http://youtu.be/PktX1SxDTQs
Taping stuff begins about 6 minutes in.

Tyvek adhesive strength test. DAP water-based glue comes out on top.
https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...ad.php?t=20463
I used full-width Tyvek. No need to tape a seam.

Definitive Tyvek Article, pt 1
https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...read.php?t=525

Part 2
https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...ead.php?p=6320

Good luck!
Joe