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  1. #1
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    2nd DIY tarp/Reinforcement patch tip

    During a couple recent runs to joann fabrics where I skulked the red-tag fabrics I found a bolt of polyurethane coated polyester. At $6 per yard I was thrown off 'till I saw an add for the "firefly frenzy" with an additional 50% off red-tag fabric. I figured it had to be waterproof and would give me some nice DIY practice on tarps.

    I decided on a 5' by 10' tarp with 10 tieouts, and for my work I think it came out pretty well. The tieouts are 1" GG-webbing reinforced with light camo polyester.

    What I learned--
    Having been frustrated to no end by the reinforcements on my first DIY tarp, I sought alternatives to the "pull on one piece and kind of the other, hope it comes out ok " method outlined on Blackbishop's Blackcat tarp guide (not to insult the guide--it helped a TON on my first DIY tarp).

    Before I attached each reinforcement patch, I rather generously applied "Liquid Stitch" to hold the patch in place. When I took it to the machine, running lines of stitching was a cake walk without fumbling to keep each piece in line and taut against each other.

    I'm just about sure you could do something similar with silnylon using a diluted silicone caulk or a seam sealer as glue.

    Might be a noobie tip or have been brought up before, but maybe it'll help someone


    P.S.--Has anybody used PU coated polyester for a tarp that could comment on durability/quality?..
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  2. #2
    Senior Member JohnSawyer's Avatar
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    Nice looking tarp!
    "Do or do not, there is no try." -- Yoda


  3. #3
    Senior Member MAD777's Avatar
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    Great tarp! You are well into the DIY spiral
    Your idea of "gluing" the tie-out reinforcements is a good one.

    With silnylon, I use silicone seam sealer diluted about 4:1 (water to silicone). I paint a thin layer of the mixture on the pieces, lay them together and then put a weight (like a stack of books) on top. HOWEVER, it is important to only coat the interior of the patch - don't let the silicone spread to the edge where you will sew. Trying to sew through sticky glued areas turns out to be a real mess.

    Also, I have seen others do destructive testing on tie-out configurations with the following results. If the grosgrain loop is sewed up into the tarp, the forces are transferred & concentrated up to the end of the grosgrain and the tarp material will fail there first. It is better to sew the grosgrain loops only to the edge seam of the tarp, which transfers the stress along the stronger edge seam and distributes the load throughout the reinforced patch.
    Mike
    "Life is a Project!"

  4. #4
    Senior Member turnerminator's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DoorofTime View Post
    P.S.--Has anybody used PU coated polyester for a tarp that could comment on durability/quality?..
    DD tarps are pu coated polyester. I got good wear out of it, prolly did over 100 nights in total. It still coated and waterproof but the poly coating is starting to peel on the hardest wearing points near the tie out attachments.
    DD hammocks are made from the same fabric and is still not showing much wear after very heavy use.

    Don't store it wet and it should give good service.

    Congrats on the tarp , I've just finished my first tarp made from PU coated fabric as a replacement to the old DD.

  5. #5
    Senior Member Pipsissewa's Avatar
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    Great looking tarp, DOT! I likey a lot!
    "Pips"
    Mountains have a dreamy way
    Of folding up a noisy day
    In quiet covers, cool and gray.

    ---Leigh Buckner Hanes

    Surely, God could have made a better way to sleep.

    Surely, God never did.

  6. #6
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    Thanks a lot all for the comments. My first tarp (10x10 silnylon) came out alright, but it's tough to get a tight pitch with it. I'm really happy with how this one came out, though I think part of the reason it was better was because there was no felled seam for me to butcher

    @MAD
    I wasn't sure how I wanted to go about attaching the grosgrain to the tieouts. From experience on the first one, I thought attaching the webbing primarily to the hem made it harder to actually pull out on the fabric (though I have a feeling that's because trying to work with silnylon is like sewing tissue paper but more slippery)

    For this one I put down a 6" triangle of reinforcement fabric, hemmed it, then put 8" of grosgrain sandwiching the tarp. I basically did the opposite thing you said, though... I stitched the webbing ONLY on the the body, and didn't really attach it to the hem. I'll attach a picture of the ridge tieout, thoughts?
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  7. #7
    Senior Member JerryW's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MAD777 View Post
    With silnylon, I use silicone seam sealer diluted about 4:1 (water to silicone).
    Do you really mean water? I would think mineral spirits.


    Jerry
    The "Search" function is your friend!

  8. #8
    Senior Member MAD777's Avatar
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    Here is a pic of my tie-out with corner reinforcement. Note how the stresses are somewhat evenly distributed to the single layer of tarp fabric in all directions.
    http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...p?i=11963&c=15
    Mike
    "Life is a Project!"

  9. #9
    Senior Member MAD777's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JerryW View Post
    Do you really mean water? I would think mineral spirits.


    Jerry
    Good catch, Jerry! Definitely mineral spirits!!
    That's what I get for posting before drinking enough coffee (at least, I think it was coffee)!
    Mike
    "Life is a Project!"

  10. #10
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    The tieouts on yours certainly do look nice... I did the same thing on both of my tarps, the first with 3/4" nylon webbing and this one with GG. I had the tarp up yesterday as a storm skirted all sides of us (no rain, but enough wind to knock down tree branches). The tarp didn't flap at all and didn't get damaged, but it was windy enough to make me nervous about something failing.
    Do you think I should change it at all, ex. run a line or stitching down the hem on the tieout? It seemed pretty stable, but the last thing I need is a big hole in my tarp where the ridge tieout is supposed to be

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