Interesting... So how does this compare weight-wise with a similarly sized Silnylon tarp? What about price-wise? Compressibility?
I'd like to have something light and cheap to keep as an emergency shelter in my daypack when fishing and hiking, just-in-case. This might be a good solution.
--Matt
It's really light. Cheap and easy to make. I got the roll of bulk shrink wrap from Ace Hardware, 7' x 25' cut it in half. It comes on a cardboard roll tube. It was $12.99. The material is folded in half length wise on the tube. I left it folded and measured down 30" along the "open" side of the folded material, then cut off that triangle up to the fold (ridgeline) and then unfolded, taped along the hems which was a little tricky but not too bad. I cut 6" long pieces of tape for tie outs and put a 3" piece in the middle of those, sticky side to sticky side so there was a nonsticky 3" piece in the middle, stuck those on and reinforced with another piece of tape. I think the next one I make I'm going to leave off the hem tape and just put tie outs on it. The tape for the hems weighs at least as much as the PC material. I don't think the hem tape is necessary and actually is a potential point of failure and doesn't serve much purpose except to let you see where the edge of the tarp is in the dark! Carry some extra tape!
I'm planning to make one of these as soon as I can find a large enough piece of PC (my local Ace doesn't carry the bulk sheet).
Do you think the 'best' approach would be to do cat cuts, leave the edges 'unfinished' and use GG or clear tape for the tie-outs?
Does anybody know if the material shrinks once and that's it, or does it shrink and then expand again, or does it continue to always shrink smaller and smaller?
Potential is nothing without hard work.
I've used this on my windows and it will shrink smaller and smaller until it melts through.
I believe in this usage, however, you would just use it 'unshrunk' and then be careful to keep it away hairdryers and campfires.
I know the OP mentioned a failure with a plastic drop cloth, but what are other potential pros/cons using shrink wrap vs. a plastic drop cloth?
This has been an interesting read. I like how you are thinking out of the box and reinventing as you go! Keep it up. Might stmble on something that will be sturdy!
I made a hex tarp from this stuff, today. My trouble was, I had to join two pieces at the ridgeline. (I found a handful of duck brand starter kits at wallys for 2 bucks each. They didn't have the patio door sized kits). The individual pieces were 17ft x 5ft. So, I had to triple tape a felled seem to get my tarp to be 9ft ridgeline with 5ft on both sides. After assembling the seem, I cut it to a hex-ish shape. The bottom edges are 5ft long. It's really hot out. So, testing will have to be done later. Tarp with some gorrilla tape is weighing in at 8 oz. More tape is necessary for tie outs and reinforcing. I hope to keep it under 11 oz. I'll update as I can.
I will add that this stuff is pretty easy to work with. It's not really static-y, and doesn't cling to itself.
I ordered a roll from Ace Hardware through Amazon as my local store didn't have any. I'm looking forward to hearing about your field tests, Kapang! In this heat, I'd be a worried about it acting like a greenhouse!
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