1. Any thoughts on Tyvek hooded coveralls (loose-fitted size) as emergency outerwear? They're inexpensive, lightweight, and vacuum-pack well. Very wind-resistent and fairly water resistent (DuPont says garment-type Tyvek holds up "about an hour" in a downpour). (I know, I railed against synthetic outerwear - but this is sorta a different topic)<br><br>2. Any thoughts on Tyvek building wrap as emergency tarps? Residential wrap is 1.8 oz/yard, Commercial is 2.4 oz /yard IIRC, and stucco wrap is in between (I think it would be slightly better as a ground cloth than either of the the other two). I "thought it up" myself and then discovered that the ultra-light backpackers have been fooling around with it for at least 4 years - mostly with good results. One drawback is the base color (white), although one CAN do something about that, it's not worth the time and expense to do it well.<br><br>There seem to be a few intelligent folks and a lot of naiive, even luddite folks in the ultra-light backpacking community - I got some good info after reading through a lot of... stuff... that was a waste of bandwidth.<br><br>One of my abiding interests is as a Scouter, and one of the things I drill and drill and drill into the kids heads is to ALWAYS have what I call their "Be Prepared" day/fanny pack with them. ALWAYS. Trying to instill habits... our 4 kids know first hand that it can truly be important (we have strange recreation habits, I suppose), and I try to pass that habit on to the other kids in Scouts/Venturing.<br><br>One small gripe I have with the BSA "Outdoor Essentials" list is that it is, in my experince, incomplete, especially for a temperate climate. One of the items I'd like to require our kids to include is that versitile item called "a tarp" - it could be a "Space blanket", an Army Poncho, a sheet of visqueen, a coated nylon tarp ($$$), a poly tarp (bulky), or... hmmm, maybe a 10'x10' piece of Tyvek. Big enough, and if they are buddy-systeming like we require, a pair of Scouts could do a LOT with 200 square feet of it. Cutting it into other sizes has no effect on the sheet integrity.<br><br>Surely someone here has experiences with Tyvek? I intend to trial it through the winter and spring and come to a definite conclusion by late spring, but welcome all thoughts/experiences, ideas, etc. I'm eager to learn, so fire away!<br><br>(I am VERY aware of the pyhsical properties of "hard" Tyvek as it comes off the roll, and can share what I've already discovered about that w.r.t. these uses. It's not something I regard as a drawback at all, and it can be remedied if it bugs someone.)<br><br>In receive mode now, waiting to hear your thoughts...<br><br>Tom Ayers

Hi Tom!<br>A few years ago I bought a TYVEK-fabrik, aluminized, Emergency-Bag here in Germany. The Bag was build for the use in Liferafts. I guess it is SOLAS-approved. I didn`t test it in the field, but I would prefer a normal Emergency Bag like Coghlans Brand. It`s more ligthweigth and cheaper, without doubt, the TYVEK-Bag ist more durable.<br><br>By<br>Chris<br>

I keep Tyvek coveralls in my bugout kit. I include some duct tape so I can cut the sleeves/legs to length and seal with duct tape. I can also make a belt from duct tape. Between these adjustments, I figure I can get a coverall to fit most people by carrying a single size. I could only find L and XL anyway.<br><br>I figured that they have good wind resistence and could be stuffed with newspaper or dry leaves, etc to make than insulated. Kind of a build your own down suit on site. In theory you could cut the suit in half and make a jacket and pants. The biggest problem would be ruining the zipper. More duct tape.<br><br>I also bought a few sets of the polypro painters coveralls. About half the cost of tyvek, not waterproof, and not particuarly durable. I was hoping they would provide cheap outer wear protection to help keep primary clothing cleaner and provide at least some (mininal) protection. They could be also be insulated and modified as described above.<br><br>As you mentioned, they are lightweight, low cost, easy to shrink via vacumn sealing, and fit a large variety of body sizes.

Thanks - sounds like you've thought along the same lines I have w.r.t. the coveralls. I've taken to including one in my "Be Prepared" pack (hey, I'm a Scouter, I dunno what else to call it) but have not had occasion to use one. Guess I'll fiddle around with it a bit on a scheduled outing in December.<br><br>I'm going to experiment around with the Tyvek Tarp and ground cloth ideas as well.<br><br>Thanks,<br><br>Tom Ayers