Hi Everyone,
I can't say enough good things on the knowledge sharing that goes on here. It's been the primary source of information that enabled me to build both my hammock and tarp....and also my source of blame for my new hammock and DIY addiction.
I recently took both on their inaugural voyage on a 6 night wilderness trip and while it went so well I'm now a life long hanger. Unfortunately though I did have one small hitch...I found out during a monster storm on day 5 that my DIY Sil tarp is not waterproof. While a large amount of water beaded off the tarp as expected, water also penetrated the fabric all over getting everything underneath wet. Making matters worse, I forgot my back-up poly tarp and I was forced to the ground in my buddy's tent.
The waterproofing method I used was the soak in a bucket method with mineral spirits and silicone as detailed in the "make your own sil" thread. As such, I think the source of the leak may be due to the ratio of mineral spirits to silicone as I think I ended up with a 6:1 ratio when I was targeting 3:1. Possibly adding to the issue, I'm pretty sure the fabric I used was polyester garment liner ($1.00 Walmart fabric of "undetermined origin")...made for an extremely comfortable hammock, but maybe not such a great tarp...not sure?
A couple of questions for those of you who have experience in the "make your own sil" department is:
1. Has anyone had any luck recoating DIY sil when the initial coat was not sufficient? If so, what method did you use to recoat and what ratio mineral spirits to silicone?
2. Would using polyester vs. nylon cause any problems in waterproofing with silicone?
Any additional insight is welcomed as well.
Oh, and for those that are interested, here's my completed DIY setup on a test run on Independance Day at the in-laws.
Attachment 55196
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