Bushwalk Australia

I have seen many people wanting tyvek on this forum. I think it was the house wrap stuff. Am I correct?

What I would like to know is what everyone used their purchases for. I am guessing most used it for ground sheets/ footprints for tents?

How tough is it really? Does anyone have any negatives about tyvek?

Did anyone use it for anything else? Or was was the this stuff really only suitable for ground use? Has anyone used different grades of tyvek to the stuff sold here? I know I have to wear wrist bands made from tyvek so there must be different grades or weights out there. Also does anyone know where to get it from on the mainland esp the west? Not the house wrap stuff. (This tyvek is printed and am I correct it is relatively "thick").

Now onto how you stitched/ attached it to itself. Can you stitch it, glue it? Can it be made airtight ie like sealed bag?

Lots of questions, hope it makes sense.
Ro

I made 2 tyvek bivys as a home project. I sewed one, and for the other one, I used tyvek tape bought from alpacka. The one with sewing started ripping at the seams, but the taped one has held up very well. They get dirty very easily but still manage to keep condensation off my bag well enough.

Loads of info here :
http://www.teamgunnparker.com/software/ ... rticle.pdf
and here :
http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=524

BTW, bonds very well with PVA...

Franco

thanks Franco,
I'll see if I can get hold Team Gunparker, I am on another group with him and chat about tyvek.

it can be noisy when new.... can crunch it up hard and it reduces the noise.... i have also made shelters before with the tape and also groundsheets.... attempted to make a corricle boat once but while i think it would be possible i was making it using willowbark twine and screwed up a crucial knot and sank miserably (and rather comically i am told) in our dam

Soft Tyvek is not noisy at all.

To verify just check the label of your pillows. A lot of them are made from soft Tyvek.
That is the type used by Tarptent for the Sublite. Not all that waterproof (a bit like Epic) but breathes very well and it is very cool in the sun.
As you go from the thickest (more "plasticky" type) to the softest , you progressively lose tensile strength and waterproofing.
Again there are 12 different types not just one...
http://www2.dupont.com/Tyvek/en_US/prod ... _type.html
Franco

rogo wrote:
How tough is it really? Does anyone have any negatives about tyvek?

Did anyone use it for anything else? Or was was the this stuff really only suitable for ground use? Has anyone used different grades of tyvek to the stuff sold here? I know I have to wear wrist bands made from tyvek so there must be different grades or weights out there. Also does anyone know where to get it from on the mainland esp the west? Not the house wrap stuff. (This tyvek is printed and am I correct it is relatively "thick").

Now onto how you stitched/ attached it to itself. Can you stitch it, glue it? Can it be made airtight ie like sealed bag?

Lots of questions, hope it makes sense.
Ro

Tyvek is pretty tough for its weight and construction. The biggest negative I have about the stuff I use is that it gets dirty and picks up small stuff. Since I use it for tarps thats not a huge problem.


As said I use it for tarps. I have an old proto type that I still use. It can be seen in some of my youtube videos as well as a couple pictures on my website .http://www.youtube.com/user/terrarosage ... ijYYJmv2J4

The Tyvek I'm referring to is 1443R TYVEK. I recall it being about 1.3 oz per square yard. It is a non- woven polyethylene. It is not waterproof but highly water resistant which makes it very good outdoor use. Its not what I consider a noisy material (chip bag)

It cannot be made airtight easily(would need a full coating over all surface area) as its breaths extremely well.

It can be stitched, glued and taped. I stitch it and have had no problems with the integrity of the material as some people think is compromised after stitching (postage stamp effect) I also like using a combo of stitching and taping but don't offer that on the website as I'm still messing about with it.

Hope that helped.

Cheers,
Evan

fair enough- i was reffering to the "home wrap" hard structure type commonly found and talked about by DIYers....

thanks everyone. Can you wash tyvek to keep it clean? Not sure if I would but just interested.

So Franco, tyvek is the stuff holding cheap pillows together and doonas together. Great I have a couple of old quilts I can get the tyvek from that to play with. Thanks a heap that has saved me a lot of time.

Ro

Rogo
I think that what you have in mind is polypropylene.
I was referring to the label only, the bit that tells you the product number and has the washing instructions..
Yes Tyvek can be washed. Some put the HomeWrap through a few washes to get rid of the laminate feel. Of course that also takes some of the water protection away.
An easy way to reduce the initial crinkly sound is just to roll it up and scrunch it.

This may help you :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyvek
Franco