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It seems like grosgrain has moved from tarp edges to the ridgeline since I made my tarp a couple years ago. Is this the case or am I just reading too much into some posts I've seen recently? I guess the main thing I'm wondering is if anyone has seen a failure from using a rolled seam without grosgrain on the edges?
No failures here. I think the grosgrain is popular for both the look and the ease of installation. It's probably faster to bind the edge than do a rolled hem for the production folks...thats my take on it.
I'm going to make a couple of tarps and I'm going to use grosgrain on the RL only. As red said it's going to be faster/easier and I think less likely to leak.
I only use grosgrain for my tieouts. I use a rolled hem all the way around.
I also cut 1 panel in half and flat felled seamed them to each side of the full panel. That gives me a ridgeline with no sewing(except end tieouts) and no leaking. If the seam does leak, it will be 2/3 down the tarp and away from me.
I just made one about a week ago with grosgrain for the ridgeline. This past weekend we had up to 40 mph winds and pouring rain(we are on the outer edge of the storm that produced the tornados in the midwest over the weekend) for two days straight. i slept out in it both nights half expecting the thing to be shredded by morning. I wanted to be able to see where it failed when it did so the next tarp would be better. It held up with zero problems. The only thing I noticed is that I needed to add a small piece of grosgrain right at the ridgeline on the bottom side edge because my whoopies rub right there and it will eventually wear. It was super easy and no seam sealing and no leaks!