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  1. #1
    Senior Member litetrek's Avatar
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    Glued vs stitched tarp tie-out reinforcements?

    I recently bought a hammock tarp from a very reputable seller. I got what I consider to be some really lightweight reinforcement on the ridgeline and tie-outs, I was surprized by it and don't particularly like it. Seam sealer is used as the adhesive and, of course, seam sealer sticks to itself to some degree even after its cured. I had to unstick a bunch of places when I was unpacking the tarp to look at it.

    This was an on-sale deal and the regular priced tarps have heavier stitched reinforcements. The workmanship is excellent and the tie-outs are well done for what they are. Maybe its a reasonable comprimise for cost and weight since the material for the tarp is lightweight sil-poly.

    What are your thoughts about the durability of that sort of tie-out detail?

    I'm considering sending it back since it hasn't been used. Although, if this is the new standard I guess I can learn to like it. I haven't bought a new tarp in about 5 years so I'm not sure about it.
    Last edited by litetrek; 08-30-2022 at 19:30.

  2. #2
    Senior Member Twistytee's Avatar
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    I haven’t purchased a new tarp recently but have picked-up a couple of second-hand silpoly offerings made by vendors present on the Forums. Your description doesn’t mirror mine - both my summer and winter tarps have sturdy sewn ridgelines with grosgrain ribbon and re-enforcements at the tie-out points. I haven’t had to seam seal the ridgeline on either and have experienced no leaks. I did seam seal the side pull-outs on the winter tarp. Based on your description, I would prefer to return it and go with either a bonded tarp or a sewn/grosgrain ribbon option.

  3. #3
    Senior Member litetrek's Avatar
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    You may have misunderstood my comments. It is reinforced, just not like I'm used to. The reinforcement is a triangular piece of the same lightweight silpoly material which is glued (laminated) to the tarp at the tie out attach points. The reinfocement is stitched into the edge seams where they coincide. The reinforcement IS NOT a heavier piece of fabric which is what I'm more familiar with.

    I would say its not as robust as I'm used to seeing on anything but DCF.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Twistytee's Avatar
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    Ok. I think I understood your description, and I preface this with not knowing your specific tarp or the intent of its maker, but I don’t think that method is the new standard for silpoly tarps. They may have made it that way to save weight, but both of mine use sewn grosgrain re-enforcements at both the ridgeline and the tie-out points. And both of mine are the current versions still sold by these vendors. I know Dutch is now offering a bonded xenon offering that eliminates the need for sewing the ridgeline, but I haven’t seen in-person how he finishes the tie-outs on those offerings.

  5. #5
    PopcornFool's Avatar
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    There's a valid reason for bonding reinforcements rather than sewing, particularly for very thin fabrics. This blog post on RSBTR from about 6 years ago might be enlightening:
    https://ripstopbytheroll.com/blogs/t...s-and-shelters

    I followed this approach when I made a tarp from ultralight .9 oz MEMBRANE SilPoly and it has worked out very well for me. I had my doubts too, but my tarp has stood up to some pretty heavy rain and winds and the bonded (not sewn) reinforcement points have held up just fine.
    ~ All I want is affordable, simple, ultralight luxury. That’s not asking too much is it?

  6. #6
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    I bought material from RSBTR for a tarp including some 300D but after reading that linked article went with bonding using seam seal. This was with 1.1 oz silpoly for both main material and reinforcing patches. Not been out in a hurricane in it but it's stood up to 20mph winds with 30mph gusts. Note that it's just the patches that are bonded, the grosgrain tie-outs are still stitched onto the tarp/patch. I did a post in the DIY sub-forum with photos showing what I did - https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...3912-Asym-tarp.

    In construction it takes a little longer since you have to let the seam sealer cure rather than just run the patch through the sewing machine but you can do a few at once.
    Last edited by Bob-W; 08-31-2022 at 03:27. Reason: Added link to post
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  7. #7
    Senior Member cmoulder's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by litetrek View Post
    I recently bought a hammock tarp from a very reputable seller. I got what I consider to be some really lightweight reinforcement on the ridgeline and tie-outs, I was surprized by it and don't particularly like it. Seam sealer is used as the adhesive and, of course, seam sealer sticks to itself to some degree even after its cured. I had to unstick a bunch of places when I was unpacking the tarp to look at it.

    This was an on-sale deal and the regular priced tarps have heavier stitched reinforcements. The workmanship is excellent and the tie-outs are well done for what they are. Maybe its a reasonable comprimise for cost and weight since the material for the tarp is lightweight sil-poly.

    What are your thoughts about the durability of that sort of tie-out detail?

    I'm considering sending it back since it hasn't been used. Although, if this is the new standard I guess I can learn to like it. I haven't bought a new tarp in about 5 years so I'm not sure about it.
    I have a Dutch 1.1 Xenon silpoly bonded and if that's the one in question I wouldn't worry about it. I concur with PopcornFool that bonded is actually better... it spreads out the forces more evenly and there are no stitch holes that weaken the material.
    Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
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  8. #8
    Senior Member litetrek's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cmoulder View Post
    bonded is actually better... it spreads out the forces more evenly and there are no stitch holes that weaken the material.
    Thanks. I know that bonded is better for stress. No stitches means no stress concentrations. What I don't like about it is that sil-net sticks to itself and eventually starts to peel. That's why I asked about durability.

  9. #9
    Senior Member cmoulder's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by litetrek View Post
    Thanks. I know that bonded is better for stress. No stitches means no stress concentrations. What I don't like about it is that sil-net sticks to itself and eventually starts to peel. That's why I asked about durability.
    For the sticky part, use some talcum powder.
    Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
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  10. #10
    Senior Member litetrek's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cmoulder View Post
    For the sticky part, use some talcum powder.
    Talcum powder keeps it from sticking for a while but it doesn't do anything to keep the reinforcement from peeling off eventually. I guess its standard practice now on sil-poly tarps now.

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