Heavy Duty Silver Tarp Quality

octoawesome · Post by **octoawesome** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 9:09 pm

So we all know that heavy duty silver tarps are the way to go out on the playa. I had a pretty nice little 12' x 30' monkey hut last year made out of some free PVC and craiglist tarps.

This year I decided to upgrade the size of my hut so I ordered a 20' x 30' tarp online at tarpaflex.com. First they sent me a 20' x 30' white tarp of the same quality and weight as my silver CL tarps. I called and complained because it was white, so then they sent me a silver "heavy duty" 20' x 30' one which is of a lesser quality than the others. It is mostly opaque give a few pin prick holes and feels a bit thinner than the others. I am 85% sure that it will be fine for monkey hut construction, especially once I throw over the rope ribs.

Sooooo... what I'm wondering is what allllll of you're experiences is with different qualities of heavy duty silver tarps are. Have any of you ever had one (of high quality or lesser quality) fail on you? Is this something I should be legitimately concerned about?

Thanks for any input!

Bend Gal · Post by **Bend Gal** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 5:22 pm

I will let you know how this year goes. With the help of some good friends who are experienced burners, I am cutting my 35' x 40' tarp down to separate panels. We attached the whole thing as a unit and it was just too big to manage. So, now there will be side wall panels with a roof panel, where air can move between the two. Thats all I got for now. Good luck.

oneeyeddick · Post by **oneeyeddick** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 7:15 pm

Cutting slices in the form of a "u" seems to let the air through better, make sure you don't cut it with the seam or it will just rip.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 4:09 am

Tarps vary a lot, even chinese.

If it's chinese and doesn't block light, I wouldn't bother with it.

Their cheapest are good and they offer better.
But there are other choices out there.
http://shelsys.com/

diamondmoth · Post by **diamondmoth** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 5:28 am

does any one know how to patch a tarp?

I have a HUGE super heavy duty one that is so wonderful but it has a tiny hole right where we didn't put a tennis ball on some PVC...

Fire_Moose · Post by **Fire_Moose** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 6:51 am

Yer worried about a tiny hole?

Duct ape

diamondmoth · Post by **diamondmoth** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 6:59 am

Fire_Moose wrote:Yer worried about a tiny hole?

Duct ape

Do you think the duct tape will melt? I heard there is heat resistant tape for car parts and what not...maybe I'll try it.

Token · Post by **Token** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 7:05 am

Gorilla tape is stronger.

Gaffers tape has nicer glue that doesn't melt in heat but is weaker.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 12:27 pm

I've seen tarp tape.
Don't know anything.

There is a thread about gluing billboard vinyl together.
Depends on the material.

oneeyeddick · Post by **oneeyeddick** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 12:36 pm

What token said.

Gorilla tape, 3 layers thick from both sides of the hole.

Works on truckers tarps pretty good also.

And BTW Moth,I graduated HS from Three Forks, MT .

sportsmobile · Post by **sportsmobile** » Fri Jul 23, 2010 8:21 pm

aluminet is where its at. provides excellent shade and the wind can pass thru it

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Fri Jul 23, 2010 8:46 pm

Mesh aluminet also lets sun through.
Great for what it is though.

Solid aluminet or maybe silvicool too are probably the best tarps out there.

At the extreme end, single surface gold mirror will reflect almost all heat, when clean.
I've used it for electronics.
Shows what is possible.

jennytoo · Post by **jennytoo** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 8:53 pm

gyre wrote:Solid aluminet or maybe silvicool too are probably the best tarps out there.

At the extreme end, single surface gold mirror will reflect almost all heat, when clean.
I've used it for electronics.
Shows what is possible.

... yes, but you'll cook while you're continually polishing your shade cover...

*mmmmmmmmmm .... burning man*

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 12:19 am

There was an entire mirrored camp last year.
Seemed pretty effective.

Frankenstipe · Post by **Frankenstipe** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 1:09 pm

What about Aluminet glued onto a Heavy Duty Silver Tarp from ACE? Think that would be adequate shade and dust protection for a tiny 8ft 2V Dome?

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 1:13 pm

I don't know about that particular tarp, but if it blocks light totally, you don't need the aluminet.
Aluminet spaced over a tarp will help though.

The solid aluminet I refer to, seems to be unavailable in the usa, though I have seen it.

Mirrored mylar glued to tarps is what was being used by the mirrored camp.

Frankenstipe · Post by **Frankenstipe** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 1:18 pm

I was thinking something like this:

http://www.shadeclothstore.com/products ... cloth.html

just straight up glued to a silver tarp from ACE or some sh**.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 1:26 pm

The mesh aluminet is stretchy.
I don't think it can be glued to a tarp well.
And it isn't cheap.
Get 80% if you can.
But I don't recommend gluing it to anything.

Solid or 100% aluminet is a tarp, if you can get it.
It is available in other countries.
Silvicool is available in canada and may be the same thing.

griffen · Post by **griffen** » Sat Jul 31, 2010 8:34 am

They are Huge really thick but do they reflect? How effective are they?

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Sat Jul 31, 2010 1:13 pm

I saw a dome on the playa that I think was aluminet tarps.
It looks like silver lame, very tough.
Not a full mirror, but very shiny.
I think it's the same aluminized in a tougher material.

epic_elite · Post by **epic_elite** » Sat Jul 31, 2010 2:15 pm

im not a big fan of the silver tarps.

a camp mate bought into the silver tarp craze and roofed his puma den with a 30x20 silver tarp that was black on the reverse side. people say to black out the shelter to block the uvb rays as well and reduce the amout of sun that passes through for maximum cooling.

what we noticed, if you stick your hands within 3 inches of teh wall, is the extreme amount of heat the tarp was holding and radiating onto teh backs of our chairs.

if you have a massive shelter, then this would be fine because your not up close to teh wall of the shelter.

but guess what. i went asthetics over function and got the bright orange truckers tarp of the net. it let through quite a bit of light still, but it didn't retain the same heat as he silver and black tarp. it was significantly cooler under my monkey hut, than his puma den.

kinda defeats the whole concepts of blacking out the shelter.

this year i ordered two of teh same orange tarps to cover both large and small shelters.

we'll see how it breaks down this year

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Sat Jul 31, 2010 7:02 pm

Silver or grey tarp?

White is superior to grey, IF it has an opaque backing.

Naturally a tarp will absorb all heat not reflected or passed through.
That's the reason for an air space between the top layer and others.
And black is a superior radiator.
If it was containing heat, you wouldn't be feeling it.
Poor choice for a back unless....

Might even work better with the black on top, if that's the choice.

horsecut · Post by **horsecut** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 5:13 pm

I bought a shade structure from this company built it and tested it last week, it worked great!!!

You can buy just the tarps at a steel, they are reinforced with grommets, I don't see myself ripping this thing for quite sometime. Check em out!

http://shelsys.com/catalog/tops.html

P.S. the website sucks, but they are really nice, they almost look like duct tape to be honest, I wouldn't steer you in the wrong direction!

junglesmacks · Post by **junglesmacks** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 5:17 pm

Just an FYI, Harbor Freight has 19' x 19' HD silver tarps on sale for $23 right now. I picked up 2 today online to tie together to make a 19 x 38.. for under $50

capjbadger · Post by **capjbadger** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 5:23 pm

junglesmacks wrote:Just an FYI, Harbor Freight has 19' x 19' HD silver tarps on sale for $23 right now. I picked up 2 today online to tie together to make a 19 x 38.. for under $50

I'd take a close look at them... Don't get me wrong, I love HF for some things, but a lot of what they sell is total junk. I'm betting those tarps are really thin and will tear the grommets out in the first stiff breeze. Tarps are really one of those things where you get what you pay for.

-Badger

junglesmacks · Post by **junglesmacks** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 5:32 pm

capjbadger wrote:
junglesmacks wrote:Just an FYI, Harbor Freight has 19' x 19' HD silver tarps on sale for $23 right now. I picked up 2 today online to tie together to make a 19 x 38.. for under $50
I'd take a close look at them... Don't get me wrong, I love HF for some things, but a lot of what they sell is total junk. I'm betting those tarps are really thin and will tear the grommets out in the first stiff breeze. Tarps are really one of those things where you get what you pay for.

-Badger

Agreed.. HF isn't known for quality, more like getting the job done for cheap. FWIW, here are the specs:

Made of 14 x 14 mesh of 1000 denier nylon threads (compared to 1200 denier for more expensive tarps)
Four double stitched hemmed edges
Thickness: 11 mil

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 5:36 pm

horsecut wrote:I bought a shade structure from this company built it and tested it last week, it worked great!!!

You can buy just the tarps at a steel, they are reinforced with grommets, I don't see myself ripping this thing for quite sometime. Check em out!

http://shelsys.com/catalog/tops.html

P.S. the website sucks, but they are really nice, they almost look like duct tape to be honest, I wouldn't steer you in the wrong direction!

At least they have more than one page on their site now.
More stuff in their catalog.

capjbadger · Post by **capjbadger** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 5:40 pm

junglesmacks wrote:
capjbadger wrote:
junglesmacks wrote:Just an FYI, Harbor Freight has 19' x 19' HD silver tarps on sale for $23 right now. I picked up 2 today online to tie together to make a 19 x 38.. for under $50
I'd take a close look at them... Don't get me wrong, I love HF for some things, but a lot of what they sell is total junk. I'm betting those tarps are really thin and will tear the grommets out in the first stiff breeze. Tarps are really one of those things where you get what you pay for.

-Badger
Agreed.. HF isn't known for quality, more like getting the job done for cheap. FWIW, here are the specs:

Made of 14 x 14 mesh of 1000 denier nylon threads
Four double stitched hemmed edges
Thickness: 11 mil

Hmmm... those spec don't actually look too bad. I'd still add grommets to spread out the wind load.

-Badger

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 6:16 pm

Nylon?

So it lasts five minutes in sun?

junglesmacks · Post by **junglesmacks** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 6:20 pm

gyre wrote:Nylon?

So it lasts five minutes in sun?

That's what all plastic tarps are made out of.. plastic nylon weave.

Heavy Duty Silver Tarp Quality

Heavy Duty Silver Tarp Quality

Costco blue and green silver backed tarps?