"survival" tarp recommendations??

MLD (mountain laurel designs) is one of the leading cottage industry innovators of cuben cloth packs, tents and tarps. This link to their site explains the different lightweight cloth alternatives.

Nice link, interesting info. I personally think some of the ultralight thinking is close to out of control though. One of the fabrics said "user must take care not to scratch it" What? This stuff is made to be use OUTDOORS right?
 
Last edited:
Some of this stuff is cutting edge and made for a very narrow market. In fact, there are not that many pople who are SUL (super-ultra-lite) fastpackers, but for those who are, they need gear that works, is the lightest possible, regardless of durability or cost. I can't believe guys pay thousands of dollars for a bicycle, but they do. In almost every sport, there are people pushing the envelope. Same in backpacking. If you need durability and weight is no hinderance, use something made from heavier materials. Not really out of control, but likely out of your own range of interest. Some of them would think some of us were gonzo for spending thousands on knives that will rarely be used. Or sitting around putting together TEOTWAWKI kits or learning to do primitive skills. It's all good.

Codger :thumbup:
 
Ive just been using a cheap wally wourld tarp. Brown on one side and silver on the other. works great either by itself or I have put it over my tent in really bad storms and it does a wonderful job or keeping heavy rain from seeping through my tent.
 
MLD (mountain laurel designs) is one of the leading cottage industry innovators of cuben cloth packs, tents and tarps. This link to their site explains the different lightweight cloth alternatives.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi...ums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=21198

This is the ultralight quilt to which I was referring. If you scroll down a half dozen posts or so, you'll see the reference to the 0.33 oz/yd Cuben, which is lighter than commercial outfits like Mountain Laurel use. Might not be durable enough for a manufacturer to warrant.

Thanks for the reference table. Interesting stuff!

DancesWithKnives
 
Is there such a thing as a lightweight tarp that is somewhat fire retardant? I realize all tarps will get holes from fire sparks, but some tarps will get a 1" hole from a tiny 1/8" spark. The cheap blue poly tarps seem to fair the best around camp fires, but they are too heavy to carry, and make too much noise in the wind. Is there anything better out there? How do the silnylon stand up around fires? I've never used one before.

Where I live, some sort of shelter fire is almost always required to stave off the cold.

BB
 
silnylon has little to no fire resistance, a DWR coating appears to help out some

http://www.titaniumgoat.com/DWR.html

canvas is fire resistant, but heavy- most of the commercial (including lightweight) tents have some fire resistance, not sure what they use for a coating to help w/ this
 
Silnylon is not flame retardant. Some states do have restrictive codes that prevent manufacturers from making non-flame retardant tents for sale in that state, I think.
 
I used the Campmor coated nylon tarp for many years of Alaska raft trips on which we had fires. Over the years it gradually developed some pinholes from small embers. However, they remained small and could easily be closed with a dab of raft patching glue. Not a big problem. I haven't tested the silnylon under the same circumstances.

DancesWithKnives
 
I used the Campmor coated nylon tarp for many years of Alaska raft trips on which we had fires. Over the years it gradually developed some pinholes from small embers. However, they remained small and could easily be closed with a dab of raft patching glue. Not a big problem. I haven't tested the silnylon under the same circumstances.

DancesWithKnives


Yes, perhaps 'ember hole spreading resistant' would be a better term for tarps than 'flame resistant'. I'm pretty certain any tarp will go up in flame if exposed to direct fire. I'm more interested in how the tarp material handles small red hot embers that land on it. Some materials ends up with a small hole the size of the ember (which is fine), and other types end up with a gargantuan void way out of proportion to the size of the offending ember. These spell the end to the tarp, as they are not usually field repairable.

I need to find some small pieces of silnylon and do some informal testing.

BB
 
:thumbup: Nice find. Now were talking. It's not Sil, but it's also not $100. Just wish they had pretty much any sort of dark color...

Yeah it would have to be white lol. I have thought about picking a few up to go in my dumbass student bag for camping on SCUBA checkout trips. Other then the color it looks like a good piece of kit.
 
Back
Top