below zero at the moment so who wants to walk the dogs and even the basement is too chilly for fooling around with the camp gear-stove collection-goldfish tanks-book sorting pile..you get it.
so i'm locked into the computer at the moment,see my rusty cans post.
what i want to bring your attention to is "billboard tarps"
which i ran across following links about how the UN came up with
the tarps they use in refugee camps.
there are companys that sell the huge sheets of high end plastic that is used on modern billboards.i did a search and found you can get the sizes that would work for shelters at very good prices.they may have part of a smiling face holding up a can of beer but they are said to be much better than the blue tarps we all use at one time or another.
i may buy a big one to use as a cover over my canoes in the winter as the blue ones only last a couple years.

Very cool! Thanks for the tip! Stay warm~!

I used to be a tower worker and hang those billboard tarps. Billboard size comes in a wide range of quality and different types.

I remember the smell of those tarps. We would mount freshly made tarps and you can really smell the off gassing of the plastic and the ink/paint. Not really nice. Also those tarps are heavy duty, but also really heavy and bulky.

Some fabrics are more ripstop like, some will rip out. Some have welded seams which can be very strong, but I have had poorly made ones rip out frequently.

Also pay attention to the edge finishing
- Grommets (for small billboards)
- Sleeves (we would cut holes in them and insert beams in them, then find the holes in the beams and cut the tarp there, so we have a place to mount the hooks too.)
- A thick chord on the edge (which corresponds with a metal rail on beams we used to mount the tarps.)

The gromment ones are good if you use it as a regular tarp, but the other ones not so much.

Durability wise, well billboard space is expensive, so they never hang for that long.

Good idea! Hardcore recycling at its finest.