I never had any problems with my silnylon tarps, and I prefer the touch and noise level over that of the silpoly. Seeing that polyester is weaker than nylon (my guess is, that this is because polyester doesn't stretch as much - while nylon can still stretch, polyester rips), I'll stick with silnylon.
Originally Posted by OneClick
"Twin siblings" in our current environment of neutrality
I've had some pretty windy nights under my diy silpoly tarp and it took the abuse without any problem. It has side pull outs with round patches; they worked perfectly as well. No rips or bigger needle holes.
I was very amazed by the silpoly fabric when I accidentilly sewed two layers together when sewing on side pull outs (lesson learned). I took off the side pull out patch and examined the damage; there where dozens of tiny needle holes. When I tried to tear the fabric (Strengthwise: I'm between Hulk and Steve Rogers before the lab scene where he became Cap America. Ok, on the Steve Rogers side) I couldn't even make the sewing holes any bigger. very pleased with silpoly.
About waterrepellentness; when you wake up with a wet tarp you just shake it from all corners and the water just beads off leaving you with an dry-ish tarp. It'll dry in an hour in the wind or sun.
My first tarp is a jacks R better 10x10 silnylon tarp and it still works well after 10 years. The silnylon does soak up water leaving me with a heavy and wet tarp.
Last edited by kershaw; 11-14-2018 at 07:26.
I just backpacked with my SilPoly SimplyLightDesigns winter Haven on an exposed ridge line 3 weeks ago where we had sustained winds between 20-30 mph with higher gusts. When I crawled into the hammock it was 54° at 10PM it was 32° and dropping fast. I was in my Ridgerunner and my pole bumpers have all cracked and fallen off. I worried most of the night about the poles poking a hole in the tarp as it was pressed against the hammock and bug net all night long. I finally just had to let that worry go and get some sleep. Woke up the next morning and there wasn't even a mark on the hammock. It was so windy that even with my doors closed on my tarp the double layer of my Ridgerunner had leaves between the double layer. That was a first for me and never again do I want to go though another night like this one. Lesson learned. SilPoly is tough and doesn't absorb water like a sponge.
I hope it's tough enough 'cause I just pulled the trigger on one! I do know from experience that Xenon packs down MUCH better than sylnylon.I'm hoping that silpoly will.I bot one because Warbonnet does not offer the Superfly in Xenon as far as I know.......
I have tarps made out of each material. They both are good but I am actually one of the odd people who prefer SilNylon. Yes, it does stretch a little but not to any serious detriment. I have a SilNylon Wilderness Logics Big Daddy Tarp that I love.
I also have a Dutchware Xenon tarp. The xenon tarp is a bit lighter and stays more taught but it feels more fragile to me. I vote SilNylon.
Noob question. What do sil* fabrics offer over regular fabrics? I camp under an REI tarp, which appears to be just regular fabric and it seems to keep the rain off ok.
The "sil" stands for silicone, the material is impregnated with silicone to make it Waterproof.
Siliconized fabrics are lighter and - in my experience - more durable than PU coated fabrics. If you don't mind the weight, a PU coated tarp will keep you as dry as a silicone coated tarp.
So the REI tarps are PU coated? I looked on their website and it just says 75-denier polyester
https://www.rei.com/product/893999/r...p-camp-tarp-12
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