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  1. #1
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    Silnylon Hex Tarp Leaking - Solutions?

    I have a Hennessey slinylon hex that is leaking through in heavy rain. I have noted there have been a few previous threads on this (not just Hennessy tarps) before.

    I have noticed the issue for a while but have been looking at it being from other causes (e.g. ridgeline seekage, seam leakage, condensation. After another big storm the other night and seaching and tracking of water it is clear the issue is water actually coming through the fly. Enough to keep me awake with drips and significantly wet the inside of the hammock after an hour or so. The hammock and fly is about 1 yr old and only seen light use to date.

    So i need to do something - and i figured to consult the gods of hammockforums for the best solution!

    As i see it my options are:

    1. Treat this as an inherent issue with silnylon and get a different tarp. If so, what is the best solution for my needs? (more below). Cuben, Tyvek, Polyester?;
    2. Perhaps this shouldn't happen (bad batch of silnylon?) - should i contact hennessy to see if it is a warranty issue (i understand they are usually very good on such matters);
    3. The silnylon needs some additional proofing or treatment that would make it adequate.

    For my purposes i live and use the hammock in true tropical conditions. The rain storm that made the problem clear a few days ago was over 2ft of rainfall in an hour though no significant wind. This rain intensity is common where i live and hammock so a i need a solution that will handle it (ie. i cannot treat that sort of event as extreme). The tarp does not seem to leak in lighter rain. I use a tent rather than hammock when if visit colder areas so no need for any considerations as to warmth (accept maybe minimal warmth ), snow etc.

    I backpack or kayak and prefer lighter solutions but i am not prepared to make big sacrifices in useability and durability for small weight savings. For example in colder climates i carry an 8lb four-season tent - as i know it is bombproof and will keep my alive and comfortable if the worst happens (which it was required to do recently through a raging 2-day blizzard in a remote area).

    Any thoughts or ideas much appreciated.

  2. #2
    Senior Member Trooper's Avatar
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    Call Hennessy before anything else. They will likely have the solution or make things right. My past experience with HH has been very good.

  3. #3
    Senior Member zukiguy's Avatar
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    2 feet of rain in an hour...Wow!!! I've always heard that silnylon will "mist" in certain conditions. I'm sure others will chime in but I'd still lean towards condensation. With that much rainfall and little to no breeze I believe the cold rain hitting the top of the tarp would still cause significant moisture to condense. It probably depends on how that rain dropped the air temperature/dewpoint, etc (sorry, not a weather guy).

    If it's a condensation issue I don't think switching materials will help. To deal with the moisture on the underside of the tarp you can pitch it much steeper. Hopefully the droplets will run to the bottom edge before they become big enough to drip.

  4. #4
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    Yeah - i have been wrong before but i really doubt this is condensation. Rate of water infiltration and relationship to the intensity of the rain seemed to rule that out. After maybe 1.5hrs of rain i poured out about a cup of water from between the layers of the bottom (somehow it holds water) plus there would be more through the rest of the hammock"and sleeping bag.

  5. #5
    Senior Member BrianWillan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by hammockNQ View Post
    Yeah - i have been wrong before but i really doubt this is condensation. Rate of water infiltration and relationship to the intensity of the rain seemed to rule that out. After maybe 1.5hrs of rain i poured out about a cup of water from between the layers of the bottom (somehow it holds water) plus there would be more through the rest of the hammock"and sleeping bag.
    Do you have drip rings or drip strips on your hammock suspension and your tarp suspension? With that amount of rain, some of the water in your hammock could possibly be traveling down your suspension lines for either your tarp or your hammock. If you do have the drip rings are they under the edge of your tarp so they can effectively do their job?

    2 feet of rain in an hour is cause for flash flooding of rivers, streams, lakes or any water way. Are you hanging out in a tropical rain forest?

    Remember that silnylon gets it "waterproofness" from breaking the surface tension of the water that hits the fabric. This also requires a tight pitch to facilitate this property. Think of how an umbrella works. Other coated tarps (Polyurethane based ones) all have a waterproof rating based on the number of mm of a column of water a section of the coated fabric will hold back before water starts to penetrate. These ratings vary from 2000mm to over 5000mm for various coated tarps that are commonly available.

    Getting back to your issue, I would contact Hennessy Hammocks with your issue and explain your usage conditions and see what they recommend.

    Cheers

    Brian

  6. #6
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    Thanks Brian,

    Yes - seepage along the suspension was what i initially thought the problem may have been (when it happened previously). I have added drip lines just inside the ends of the tarp. I checked this last night and the suspension inside seemed to be pretty dry.

    Seepage along the seam of the tarp is also still a possibility. All of the seem on the inside was wet. However i was getting drips all over myself and the hammock (well down the sides of the tarp - which was pitched at a steep angle). I guess it is possible that seepage was running along the inside seams, down the tarp and dripping at various points but again the volume of water and the drippings broad distribution seems to me to seepage likely the only cause.

    Pitch was tight 'but as happens loosened a bit when it got wet. I was not going out there to tighten back up!

    Actually i got my rainfall calc. wrong in my head (not used to imperial measurements!) - it was a little under a foot over an hour though this area has recorded two foot falls. Yes, tropical rainforest country. As everything was already wet flash flooding (roads cut etc) did occur with that fall. Just a week ago (I'm sounding like a Bear Gyrlls commentary!) a teenager was killed swimming in this area in a creek that rose quickly ( http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1225970525992 ). And that was not even a really big rainfall.

    Looks like i'll contact hennessy and see what they have to say.

  7. #7
    Senior Member Shewie's Avatar
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    I'd be tempted to try a Nikwax wash first and see if that helps at all, I'm not sure Hennessy will be able to do anything now but it's worth contacting them for sure.

  8. #8
    Senior Member BrianWillan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by hammockNQ View Post

    Pitch was tight 'but as happens loosened a bit when it got wet. I was not going out there to tighten back up!


    Looks like i'll contact hennessy and see what they have to say.
    Do you have self tensioning lines for your tarp tie out points? This will help with keeping your tarp pitched tight when it gets wet. These can be attached to your tarp with a prussic loop at the tie out point so that they can be adjusted from under the tarp when it's raining.

    I would also make your tarp ridgeline and guy lines out of something like Zing-It or Lash-It. A single braid dyneema line (1.75mm or 2.2mm). These lines don't stretch, don't absorb water, float and are quite strong for their size.

    If you get to the point of needing a new tarp, I would consider a GargoyleGear Ogee tarp. It has no seam along the ridgeline. It is a full 65 inch width of silnylon panel with 2 triangles attached to the edges of this main panel to make it's full width. With the only 2 seams much lower down on the tarp, any leaks through the seams will drip away from your hammock. I have one and it is great. It's been rain tested, but not to the biblical proportions that you get in your rain forest.

    When you speak to Hennessey, let us know the outcome.

    Cheers

    Brian

  9. #9
    Senior Member BrianWillan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shewie View Post
    I'd be tempted to try a Nikwax wash first and see if that helps at all, I'm not sure Hennessy will be able to do anything now but it's worth contacting them for sure.
    Or you could do the DIY silnylon treatment again and see if that does the job.

    Cheers

    Brian

  10. #10
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    Since I've yet to experience this sort of "misting" and I've seen many threads on many forums with a lot of arguing about the waterproofness of sil with many examples of silnylon being adequate protection against rain, I think it's more likely that not all silnylon is created equal, not all tarps are made of the same silnylon from the same source, and YMMV.

    I have had bad condensation a grand total of once with a silnylon tarp - it wasn't raining, we camped in a river valley and absolutely everyone - tarp user, hammock user, and three tents - had their stuff drenched by condensation. Every other time I have used the tarp, I've been the dry one. Pitching in the rain and spending the night in the rain left the ground sleepers wet while I stayed dry - except for the hammock suspension. Some water ran down the whoopies and wet the ends of the hammock.

    A word about alternatives... If you are out in sustained heavy rain Tyvek will eventually wet through and you will be wet. This material is merely water resistant, vapor permeable, it handles condensation like magic but in real rain it soaks up water and gets really heavy, then starts to leak through. I base this on my own experience with a tyvek tarp tent - I bailed out of the tent after three hours of rain when it started to drip on me, and in the morning (a mere five hours after I bailed) I dumped GALLONS of water out of the bathtub floor.

    Cuben is waterproof, as are straight plastics. Some of the heavier PU coated tarps will be waterproof until the PU starts to break down. Spinnaker is light and pretty good stuff.

    I would do some testing, in your situation. I'd be out in the rain with a PU coated tarp, a regular blue plastic tarp from the hardware store, and the tarp you have now with a new coat of silicone properly applied and cured/dried, to see if I could replicate the situation with different materials. But I'm a geek that way... I would be wanting to rule out the condensation factor. And then I'd make a decision on what kind of tarp I wanted to carry based on what works in that area.

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