Tyvek tarp beaks?

[storm1]

i'm going to make two sets of tarp beaks out of tyvek. i do not want to sew anything so i plan to tape or glue everything.

since i am making them out of large pieces of tyvek, i will not have to attach them together at the ridgeline...each set will be one piece of fabric.

for those who may have done this before or have made tyvek tarps, what do you suggest for anchor points? should i use grommets on reinforced glued areas or should i fashion loops in the tyvek reinforced with tape?

white tyvek tape is not avaialble in my area...red TUCK tape is used on tyvek here. anyone have any experience using this type of tape on tyvek tarps?

i am also considering using either clear duck tape or gorilla tape

do i need to hem the edges? if so, can i do it with double sided tape?

[kobold]

i only made a tyvek jerry chair using 'spinnaker tape' (sail repair), that after lots of abuse still holds well, so it should work. i would go with sewn loops vs grommets, only because i don't like metal in my gear... also i don't think you'll have to hem the edges on tyvek. good luck & hope others will chime in too!

[medic22]

I recently made a tarp from tyvek house wrap...10' x 12'. I slept through a very harsh thunderstorm (4+ hours with winds around 15-20 mph and rain for a day and a half. Overall I was very pleased. I did get a few small leaks on the ridgeline after about 5 hours of serious rain. I am not sure if this was from the ridge line wicking water under tarp (I had drip lines on both ends of the ridge line)....or maybe the tarp itself leaked because I had softened the tyvek quite a bit and it was a little bit fuzzy at the ridgeline. Overall I was still very pleased. Leaking was not serious considering conditions and I felt that I would have been bone dry under lesser conditions.

Grommets- I made grommets from nylon washers(3/8") and tyvek tape at the corners, midlines, and quaterlines. Then I heated up a nail with a torch and melted through the tyvek tape and tyvek in the hole of each grommet. then I used black elastic cords that women use to hold hair up in a ponytail. The hair bands can be bought at cvs or dollar store and come in packs of about eight. They are like shock cord welded end-to-end. Pretty cheap and work well.

any thoughts or experiences with tyvek to improve my experience would be appreciated.

I have been using a homemade Tyvek Bivy sack/Hammock sock for 3-4 years with much success. I consider it essential equipment now.

[USMCStang]

The Tyvek doors I made for my BMJ aren't technically "beaks", since they do not cover the end of the tarp RL. The BMJ comes with pre-installed attachment rings for thier door kit, so I used them and #0 s-biners for the attachments.



Here's a link to my "build" thread. I sewed the edges, but it appears tape works just as well.

[SilvrSurfr]

I can't imagine how you will make Tyvek Grizz Beaks without joining each "door" at the ridgeline. Can't wait to see pics.

Here's a thread on how I made my Tyvek Grizz Beaks. I used Tyvek tape. Me and USMCStang made ours about the same time.

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ighlight=tyvek

There's a description of how I created tie outs using Tyvek tape and Zing-It. The Grizz Beaks clipped to the tarp ridgeline using Zing-It tie outs and a mini S-Biner.

In my opinion, no hem is required. It would just add weight, whether taped or sewn.

[oldgringo]

I'm not a fan of tape, if it can be avoided. It makes that section of your project stiff and unyielding. I prefer stitching in low stress areas.

There's a guy on ebay that sells Tyvek by the foot. He also has some adhesive tie outs that sandwich the Ty. I'll look for a link.

[oldgringo]

Here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Adhesive-Tie...item2eb734eb91

[SilvrSurfr]

Here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Adhesive-Tie...item2eb734eb91

Well who knew. Those are cool.

I agree that tape makes the Tyvek bulky in the areas it's applied. Even if I sewed the Grizz Beak at the ridgeline, I'd probably still tape it. It is a high stress area.

GLP sewed some Tyvek rain mitts that came out nice. He seam-sealed them and they came out much better than my attempt to tape a pair of rain mitts.