Friday night at Linville gorge I had the kind of rainstorm that makes the word dry a relative term.
My Superfly leaked at the tyouts, wetting my UQ and making my hammock damp.
I had seam sealed from the inside only according to what I read here on HF. The rain went through the thread on the outside filling the V between the sil and the ribbon. I guess I didn't get the sealer worked in to the thread enough.
If I seal again from the outside, Will this cure the Problem?
I have been considering one of these tarps - Hate to hear they leak.
I seam sealed both sides of mine and never had any leaks so I would say yes. While your at it hit the inside again just to be safe.Originally Posted by GREASEDOC
Warbonnet states on their website that seam sealing is not needed for the ridgeline but is needed for the side panel pulls.
What are you using to seal them?
Also, what configuration did you have the tarp in?
Before I sealed mine, I was in a similar storm, setup in A-frame mode, and even though I got drips thru the pull-outs, they weren't near my UQ.
That's a long way of saying maybe it wasn't the pull-outs that resulted in a damp UQ? I would guess water coming down your ridge line.
Not knocking Warbonnet. Just seeking advice on fixing something I don't know about.
Do both sides. Be sure you're using a sealant meant for silnylon (e.g. silicone).
My SF's tie out points had rather large needle holes- I didn't wait to seal them.
Otherwise, great tarp. No complaints.
Thanks folks. I'll reseal inside and out and test before my next "adventure".
I've got 2 SFs. No sealing & no leaks at ridge line, but was some at tie outs after a couple years. I hung them up, used silicone caulk on the tie outs and liberally sprayed with silicone spray (from auto parts store). Not the cheapest, but certainly easiest. Seems effective having gone through some good gully washers staying bone dry. I figure I'll treat the tarps this way every couple years or so. I've done the silicone caulk & orderless mineral spirits mix on other tarps, but was disappointed with uneven mixing and application - my technique and patience to blame, not the idea. The silicone spray works great. Did it to my rain gear too. Just hang the gear either inside or out, caulk the tie outs, then soak it with the spray and let it hang long enough to dry, probably several days. Love my Superflys!
+1 to that. I can't think of a set-up where leaking tie-outs would get your underquilt wet. For water to go through the tie-outs and onto the underquilt, the tie-outs would need to be in contact with the underquilt or directly above it, so that the water can drip down. I would also assume that your problem is elsewhere. Do you use a CLR under your tarp? This is what got me wet in heavy rain: water running down the CLR and dripping on my hammock and underquilt. Running the CLR over the tarp fixed it for me. I have since switched to a split ridgeline.
FWIW, there is a video out there (sorry, unable to locate it at the moment) that shows the impacts of adding rings, caribeaners of various types and sizes, etc to your lines to prevent water intrusion. The issue with virtually all of them is that the lines can rotate a bit causing the caribeaner or ring to become horizontal and actually transport the rain water down the line and into your tarp / hammock.
The video clearly showed that the best rain block, bar none, was to simply tie a piece of string to your line. No matter how the line twisted, a knotted string stopped virtually all of the rain. Simple, light, easy. And since you are only tying a cord to your guy line, there is no impact to the weight capacity of your line. And, if you want to be even more secure, and really want to go overboard, tie on two strings.
Pete
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