silnylon vs. tyvek

“considering its pretty easy for anyone to get a 10'x10' sheet of tyvek for free -

is silnylon really that much better than tyvek for a tarp?”

“haven't weighed tyvek, but sil nylon is prolly a little lighter, but we're talking portions of ounces here.”

“i think tyvek weighs 1.5 oz / yd”

“Tyvek is a lot noisier, like a potato chip bag.”

“Silnylon is about 1.3oz/yd, but costs a lot more. A 10x10 silnylon tarp would probably run around $80 or so.

Silnylon benefits:

Light
Compresses well
Absolutely waterproof
Tear-resistant
Can be tailored

Silnylon drawbacks:

Expensive
If you screw it up it's a Big Deal

Tyvek benefits:

Light
Cheap
Water-resistant (I don't think it's waterproof)
If you screw it up, no big deal

Tyvek drawbacks:

Not 100% waterproof
Tears more easily
Cannot be tailored, you must tape it, if you get a narrow sheet

Old Russian Proverb: "Best" is the enemy of "Good Enough".”

“starts out noisy, but after it gets wet a few times (or you can throw it in the washing machine)

it becomes soft and quiet.”

“tyvek must be pretty darn close to 100% waterproof - or a lot of houses would be rotting to the ground by now.

i do agree on the tailor thing.”

“It's primarily a vapor barrier. From what I've read (no direct experience, mind you) you can eventually soak tyvek, but you have to work at it.”

“Tyvek™ maps are awesome”

“Correct, tyvek is just a water barrier, it is not the waterproof medium on a house. On a brick house there actually isn't a waterproof membrane at all.

I use tyvek as a groundsheet and it wets through every time. I need to get a mylar space blanket as a substitute.

HPM uses a tyvek tarp with good results.”

“So, tyvek makes a great tarp but a lousy groundsheet?

I think StoveStomper uses a tyvek groundsheet, doesn't he?”

“I should add that I got my tyvek from intothewind.com. This might not quite be the same thickness tyvek that is used on homes. The place I got it from is a kite retailer. The variety they sale is specifically for kite construction.

It was $2.50/yd for a 60" width.”

“Yep, and mine has never wet through. It has been used on snow and mud.
There are different types of tyvek. Some more water resistant than others. It will wear out and allow water in after much use. Then it's time to replace it.”

“That's your problem right there dayhiker, you have the thinner kite tyvek. Get some house wrap grade.”

“You'd think as much time as I spend on construction sites that I'd pick up some of the good stuff. I'll give it a try. About all that happens is that my thermarest will get mildly damp. One day I'm going to have to set up camp after it raining all day and then I'll have a different feeling about the light stuff.”

“I was gonna say, given your profession, one would think you'd have managed to scam some real tyvek by now...”

“My tent floor is waterproof. The Tyvek's function is to reduce wear and prevent damage to the tent floor.”

“Your using it to lounge around on in camp rather than a pad might be a factor too.”

“Usually by the time that part of the sequencing happens I'm not having to make jobsite visits anymore.

Part of it is wanting to avoid the conversation of explaining that I'd like a piece of it so that I can sleep on it in the woods. The folks I would get it from think that the woods are only for hunting and fishing.”

“i got mine from a friend in construction. it's the regular house stuff.

ive prolly used it 50 nites or so.

it's still holding up well.

even if it starts crapping out this year - 2 years aint bad for free.

i guess if i was thru-hiking for 150 days straight i might switch to silnylon.”

“I have a scrap piece that's about 2x3 that I use for lounging around camp. I don't use my real groundsheet for that.”

“I have been using tyvek for the last year, same sheet. still going strong. i like it!
light
easy
cheap”

“Can we think of any other criticisms of dayhiker's misuse or inability to get real tyvek? lol....”

“Tyvek is a great ground sheet but I prefer silnylon for tarps. It packs up smaller and is less noisey. I like that I can get a huge tarp w/out having to piece it together and worry about my seams.”

“DH - dont tell'em what its for.

just say youre building a little shed or something.”

“DH, tell 'em its for a kinky sex thing. They'll understand.”

“I was just trolling a bit there. Most folks know I hike. Yall were actually kind to me. I expected to get blasted for that comment.

I've probabably used this sheet for 6 trips or so. It's time to replace it anyway. The current piece I use weighs 4 oz.”

“oh yeah, i use mine as a ground cloth. sorry”

“tyvek maps? where do you find these at....”

“tyvek maps would be nice. I totally missed that reference up top.”

“i wonder if i could feed some tyvek into my fancy plotter at work...”

“If I only new how to post a JPEG, Id post an asbestos abatement worker in a tyvek suit, but that mwould lead you utralightpackers in wearing your tarp & sleeping bag(all-in-one tyvek suit)on the trail. Scary, Very Scary”

“I've gotten several maps made from Tyvek. Great maps.

When I use my peice of tyvek under a silnylon floor the vapor permability of the tyvek will show and there will be condensed water between the silnylon floor and tyvek. When I just use the tyvek I never notice any condensation on the floor (the vapor permeability doesn't rear it's ugly head w/o the vapor barrier on top). I prefer silnylon for tarps, lighter and less noisy and packs down MUCH smaller. Groundcloth the Tyvek is da bomb.”

“(all-in-one tyvek suit)on the trail. Scary, Very Scary"
more like Sweaty, Very Sweaty.”

“Don't you talk bad about Tango! ;-)”

“Going to Neels Gap soon, SS?”

“Huh?”

“Don't talk bad about Tango! ;-)

bit - Yea, I was looking at Neels Gap for maybe May. I still need to do Neels to Unico Gaps and Dicks Creek northward.”

“Neels to Unicoi is a sweet, easy hike, except for one rocky section going up Blue Mountain.”

“I hope you plan on starting at the Byron Reese parking area ;)”

“Anyone have any problems using silnylon by itself (no Tyvek under it) as a ground cloth? More to the point, how does it hold up in puncture resistance?”

“Hey, somebody round up some tyvek and I'll pay for the postage to mail it too me. Down here in S. Fl everything is concrete block construction and they don't seem to use the stuff - don't even seem to sell it at Lowes or Home Depot.

any ideas? I'd love to have a couple of roughly 5 x 8 pieces (or enough to make that)”

“stand corrected, lowes sells it - by the roll 9 x 150 feet. that's a little more than i need. It is used but not much. I'll ask around locally.”

“I bought some from this guy:

http://goodling_outdoor.tripod.com/”

“Thanks!”

“That guy has good prices on the paracord and the tyvek.”

“I have a silnylon tarp that CindyLu made. It's great. She bought silnylon seconds, functionally the same, but with cosmetic flaws, which are invisible to me. Seconds cost a lot less.”

“What le Subtil said. I use a tyvek groundcloth mostly to protect the bottom of my tent. Works great. Very light and has not been noisy as far as I am concerned.

I bought some from someone on a website plus several TTers have sent me some for free.”

“I'm thinking of getting some tyvek instead of a footprint for the new tent. Someone expound a little more on the mylar space blanket idea. Sounds interesting. What are its drawbacks/advantages?”

“Before I got rid of all my bpking stuff, i used tyvek as my "footprint" for my tent. worked great! I "washed" it in my washing machine first, ...easier to fold and work with, and no more noise! i was able to get 2 sheets by going to a construction site, wandering thru their dumpster, and finding those 2 good sized sheets... and paid NOTHING! so, IMHO, tyvek is better: cheaper, once you've washed it, no more noise, and it's extremely lite weight. sure, tailoring it to fit as your ground cover might be a small challange, but who cares? oh, one last thing: as far as I could tell, it WAS 100% waterproof for me. so there's my 2 cents.”