Tyvek for outdoor use?

Does anybody have direct experience using it for shelters and so on.
If you have tried it how was it?

What advantages does it have besides cost, and what problems does it have?

How does a person join it together if the need to make a seam in it?

What hints can you offer?

A guy I used to know said he used it as protection against wind and rain, but it was useless for warmth retention.

The flammability warning on it: 'Warnings: 1.) Tyvek®, ProShield®, and Tychem® fabrics are not flame resistant and
should not be used around heat, flame, sparks, or in potentially
flammable or explosive environments.'

I wouldn't want to be wrapped in it beside an open fire.

There's a woman who sews it to make kites. I don't think most adhesives work on it well enough to endure much stress.

Sue

Our scout troop uses it for ground clothes, both under and inside the tent. The inside cloth helps protect the tent floor from the Scouts. Wash it in a front loading washer for 10 minutes without soap in your washer to soften it up. Hang outside to dry. This makes it easier to stow. Cut it a little bigger than your footprint as the wrinkles from washing will shrink the dimention. (It doesn't shrink the material, the wringles pull the edges in towards the center a few inches.) I've always put the printed side down as I recall reading somewhere that the exterior side is better at blocking moisture.

ScoutGear sells precut ground cloths (http://www.scoutgear.com/as709997.html)

AntiGravityGear sells it by the foot for ultra-light backpackers. )
http://www.antigravitygear.com/proddetail.php?prod=TYVEK)

I've used a piece, about 4x8, for years as a ground cloth, improvised shelter for rain/sun and to package SAR patients acting as a barrier to precipitation.

You can find sections for sale on eBay now.

I have raingear made out of it, amazing stuff. FroggToggs. They used to be relatively cheap, and EXTREMRLY lightweight. However, their popularity caused a price increase...the wind/waterproofness of these are great though. I spent about 2 hours hiking in it, kept me dry (except for sweat, they DONT vent)and are virtually windproof. I think they would make a great shelter cloth. I have heard people say this stuff tears easily; I havent had mine tear yet, but, thats what duct tape is for!

Harry Shires is reportedly working on a Tarptent version: http://www.freewebs.com/bigfoot2pictures/index.htm

There is a small thread on it at WhiteBlaze: http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=36154

It seems to me it would be really noisy unless you worked the fabric a bit (but then how would it weather).

Very nice article on making your own tyvek tarps.

It can be dyed after you wash it. There is someone on fleaBay who was making tyvek tarps and dying it. The effect was very cool, with the green it was a sorta-kinda camo that looked like it would blend in nicely, while the yellow was almost painful to look at.

Not having found a source for it locally, I have no first hand.

Around here, you can only buy it in $60 and $90 rolls.

There are other brands, though, which you may find locally.

Sue

Head back to this thread and look at the link for thermal wrap. It is a TyVek product that is also reflective. It is for use as a radiant barrier as well as a vapor permeable air barrier for construction. Turn the shinny side in, and you have a tarp/tent/blanket that is water "proof" and reflects heat back.

Contact an insulation contractor to see if you can get a remnant roll. I think the rolls come as long a 12 feet.

Back at Hanford we had enviro suits made from Tyvek, I believe we were allowed to used them as level B. Anyways, one of the procurement dudes found a huge lot that were a pastel yellow color for cheap. We found out why when we started using them in warmer weather, and the local apiary residents decided we needed a good pollinating. Apparently the color and intensity were a pavlovian trigger for the bees, as well as hornets, wasps, yellowjackets and a bunch of other critters. Needless to say, we opted to use them only during the dormant 1/3 of the year, and got the regular white ones at the higher price. Nothing like fighting off a gaggle of stingers while you are trying to run the probe down the glowing tank hole...

Something else anecdotal about the white suits; when we used them along with SCBA, they didn't always vent so well, and we nicknamed them the "Michelin Man" suits as they would inflate like Violet Beauregard after chewing the Wonka meal gum. Good laughs then.

I can attest that wearing the tyvek suits did provide an effective means of staying warm in bitter cold winds in December. On one training session, we transited a field in 20 mph average winds at 27 degrees. Under the suit I was wearing a tee shirt and jeans (and SCBA) and still managed to break a sweat before reaching the training station. On the way back to the changing factilty, we had doffed the SCBA and opened the Tyvek envelope, and that cold north wind fairly froze us for certain.

Tyvek is effective weather barrier, it is lightweight, and it is cheap. That makes it good survival provisions I would reckon.

Backpack

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/...thread_id=18758