SIL Tarp/Poncho durability

R

Raptor68

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Nov 24, 2000
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I'm updating my "stuff" to alleviate weight, reduce bulk, and improve performance (yes, AGAIN!) and these SIL tarp/ponchos are beckoning. I've done limited research in this and other forums and I'm really wondering about durability. If I understand this material correctly it is very similar to a slightly heavier parachute material but with a coating.

I've used parachute panels in SERE training for shelter (works quite well) and as I recall (this was a LONG time ago) the parachute panel was highly succeptible to fire sparks melting holes in it. As the actual use of SIL would be likely to involve using it near a small fire - how durable is it ? Do the poncho versions hold up well against the tugs, tears, and snags of brush on the trail? How does it compare with ripstop for instance?

Experiences, thoughts, and ideas ?
 
I have a SIL pancho. I like it very much. Very light wieght and works well in keeping out the rain. Although I have not tested it, I am sure that hot sparks from a near by fire will melt holes in it. As for durability, I hiked a lot and have brushed up against trees branches and such but have not had a tear yet. I would venture a guess that it is not as tear resistant as rip stop. The best thing about the SIL panchos is its weight and packed size. It so lite that I almost always have it in my bag during the wet months. I think you'll be pleased with it's performance.

S.
 
I like them. My sil poncho has worked out pretty good for it's extemely light weight. I have taken it backpacking where we hiked in the rain everyday. No problems but the rain was light. We also used one for a ground cloth on one trip where the pine needles poked through it but on the rain trip it was used as a cooking tarp and did not leak. I guess the holes closed up somewhat and the silicon repelled the drops fine. This 5x8 tarp has seen some hard use and works fine for everything. The stuff is a little clamy compared to a breathable fabric but it the poncho covers you as well as your pack so you don't need a heavy pack cover too.
 
Thus far, the lowest price I have found for a silnylon trap (8 x 10) was at Campmor. Is there a better source?
 
Awesome enough!
I am sitting here at college in the computer lab, and I just so happen to have that campmor 8x10 tarp in my back pack. I got it in the mail yesterday and brought it to show some of my camping buddies. they are all amazed by the weight of it. I have not personally used it yet but the size and the apperent strength of the material is amazing. If you look on Backpackgeartest.org there is a review for a Integral Design silnylon tarp and there was a post that I made perhaps about two months ago on this same forum. It contains some good information from peole that have used their tarps. I keep mine in my lumbar BOB. they are definatly worth the investment and campmor has the best price that I know of. Best of Luck
 
Silicone, not silicon. Silicone is a synthetic rubber, where silicon is a nonmetallic element used (among other things) to make semiconductors.

And the nylon is impregnated with it. It's not a layer that can delaminate.

I don't know how tough it has to be to be called tough, but I poked a hole in some with a knife, inserted both index fingers through the hole, and pulled with all my might, and could NOT get the tear to open any further.

I've used it for backpacking tarps for about three years now, and it seems to hold up very well indeed to mechanical wear. Couldn't say about the sparks and fire stuff.

If you get a big tarp, don't make yourself crazy trying to fold it. It's just too darned slippery. Get a stuff sack and just cram it in any whichway.

Bear
 
The Campmor 6' x 8' is 54.99
The Campmor 8' x 10' is 64.99

Made in USA rather than Vietnam.
Gromets and center ties.
 
Thomas Linton said:
The Campmor 6' x 8' is 54.99
The Campmor 8' x 10' is 64.99

Made in USA rather than Vietnam.
Click to expand...

Good on the price.

Hypocritical on the manufacturers origin.

If you are like most at least 3/4 of your lifes belongings are made in foreign lands (not that its right just a fact) including most of your PC's components you are using right now. ;)

Skam
 
You can get 1.3 ounce silicone impregnated ripstop nylon for $10.50 per yard (officially 62 inches wide, in reality about 5.5 or more feet). An uncut piece woks fine as a tarp, but if you want to get fancy, add another few bucks for a grommit kit. Make yourself a huge tarp with a few minutes work for $20-40.

Go to http://www.seattlefabrics.com/nylons.html#1.3 oz RS

--Mike
 
Funny this thread should start... I am looking to buy a new tarp, and am trying to decide if it is worth paying more for the lighter weight (SIL one). It is if the SIL ones are as durable as the regular nylon ones. (I was comparing the MEC ones, the have both the regular and SIL tarps). But just reading Bear's post on silicone 'impregnated' versus 'coated' I noticed that MEC say theirs is silicone coated, and Integral Design say theirs is silicone impreganted. Hmmm, I wonder if I am on to something here.

As far as I was concerned, in the 8x10, the MEC is cheeper than the Integral Designs,otherwise the two appear to be the same. They feel the same at least. Typically MEC copy other manufactures (and do a good job) and offer the same thing at a lower price. (of course they don't have the R&D to worry about.) As for being made in Vietnam - who cares? It isn't a Chinese knock-off or anything. We are talking about $80 vs. $125 - just for a "Made in the USA" label. Unless of course they cut a major corner by coating instead of impregnating it. But that could just be a misunderstadfning in the description.
 
skammer said:
Good on the price.

Hypocritical on the manufacturers origin.

If you are like most at least 3/4 of your lifes belongings are made in foreign lands (not that its right just a fact) including most of your PC's components you are using right now. ;)

Skam
Click to expand...

"Skammer," county of origin is an issue for some. As for me, you know nothing about what I think about buying goods made outside the U.S. or, for example, what knives I own or buy.

Nor do you apparently know the meaning of the word "hypocritical." Apparently it's a substitute for "bad" in your vocabulary.

The link led me to a roughly 6 x 9 tarp for $60 (54 sq. ft). That does not seem to be a better deal than Campmor's 8 x 10 for $64.00 (80 sq. ft.), unless the quality is higher, which I cannot determine from an advertisement. Both have grommets on the edge and provision for suspending from the center.

My research found many references to the difficulty in sewing silnylon due to the low friction of the surface of the material.
 
"My research found many references to the difficulty in sewing silnylon due to the low friction of the surface of the material."

Actually, I found the opposite to be true. It's the easiest outdoor-gear fabric to work with that I ever have worked with. Easy to trace a pattern onto, easy to cut precisely, easy to sew, and easy to seam seal.

--Mike
 
Evolute said:
Actually, I found the opposite to be true. It's the easiest outdoor-gear fabric to work with that I ever have worked with. Easy to trace a pattern onto, easy to cut precisely, easy to sew, and easy to seam seal.

--Mike
Click to expand...

Man, I'm interested by your experience. I always have red that Silnylon was so slippery that it was a hell to sew. I'm thinking about buying some. Did you pin the piece together before sewing or did you tapped them ? Did you use a tarp seam or seam taped with a specific "glue" or similar ?

Thanks !

fabsah
 
Fabsah,

I've sewn silicone impregnated nylon on several occasions. In some it was pinned together, in others, it was glued together with seam seal. I have also tried just seam sealing the fabric together with no sewing; so far, that has held up fine, though I don't know whether it will ultimately be as durable.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Thomas, I used some Singer sewing machine from the early 1900s, which I inherited from my Pa'sMa. I don't know the model. I don't think that brand and model matter much; it's real easy material to work with.

--Mike
 
Sil nylon is great stuff but to ansewr original post, YES it is highly flammable, most makers have warnings not to set it up too close to a flame etc.
I also find it highly resistent to abrasion, brushing up on brnaches and sliding over rocky soil, althou maybe partly this is attributible to its "slipperyness " quality therefore it does not snag or catch like many other materials do.
It is very easy to seam seal but I do find it difficult to secure if you have no grommets or corner sinches.
Martin
 
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