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#197539 - 01/29/17 05:57 PM can you buy polyro at home depot or lowes?
toddfw2003 Offline
member

Registered: 01/08/16
Posts: 369
Loc: Texas
and what do they call it

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#197540 - 01/29/17 10:31 PM Re: can you buy polyro at home depot or lowes? [Re: toddfw2003]
OregonMouse Online   content
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Registered: 02/03/06
Posts: 6799
Loc: Gateway to Columbia Gorge
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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey

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#197541 - 01/29/17 10:40 PM Re: can you buy polyro at home depot or lowes? [Re: OregonMouse]
toddfw2003 Offline
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Registered: 01/08/16
Posts: 369
Loc: Texas
awesome!! thanks

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#197542 - 01/30/17 01:10 AM Re: can you buy polyro at home depot or lowes? [Re: toddfw2003]
4evrplan Offline
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Registered: 01/16/13
Posts: 913
Loc: Nacogdoches, TX, USA
If you're building a tarp, let us know what you think. I haven't evaluated mine yet. I still have to rig the tie-outs.
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The journey is more important than the destination.

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#197553 - 01/30/17 05:35 PM Re: can you buy polyro at home depot or lowes? [Re: 4evrplan]
toddfw2003 Offline
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Registered: 01/08/16
Posts: 369
Loc: Texas
Dang, you read my mind. Actually I was going to replace my tyvek floor on my tarp with polycro to save a few ounces but then I thought I might be able to make my own tarp thats 8oz. Ditch my sleeping pad for reflectix. Get a Zpack arc blast. Bamm!! Then my base weight would be around 4lbs. Ok, back to reality, not buying a Zpacks arc blast. Just bought a Osprey exo 38. Happy with a 6 pound base but I am really thinking about making my own tarp out of polycro

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#197554 - 01/30/17 05:37 PM Re: can you buy polyro at home depot or lowes? [Re: 4evrplan]
toddfw2003 Offline
member

Registered: 01/08/16
Posts: 369
Loc: Texas
Originally Posted By 4evrplan
If you're building a tarp, let us know what you think. I haven't evaluated mine yet. I still have to rig the tie-outs.



I saw where I guy you some stuff kinda like duct tape where the tape hangs out a few inches. He put a plastic washer in the middle and poked a hole for his guylines. The other way with out a washer or grommet the tape would tear

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#197590 - 02/04/17 03:46 PM Re: can you buy polyro at home depot or lowes? [Re: toddfw2003]
41253 Offline
member

Registered: 12/28/14
Posts: 105
I used a piece of the Ace Hardware version (I think) as a ground cloth and it tore easily the first time I tried to drag it with stuff piled on top just a few feet. A tiny puncture became a full-length rip instantly. Others have said that the material is pretty tough so I might have been unlucky or used the wrong brand. If you make something I'd rough it up a little in your backyard before counting on it on a trip.


Edited by 41253 (02/04/17 03:47 PM)

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#198051 - 03/31/17 05:49 PM Re: can you buy polyro at home depot or lowes? [Re: OregonMouse]
BarryP Offline
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Registered: 03/04/04
Posts: 1574
Loc: Eastern Idaho
For a ground cloth, I use the ‘indoor’ polycro. It’s easily ½ the weight of the ‘outdoor’ polycro. And they last me easily 100 nights. But for a tarp, the ‘outdoor’ version looks tough; though I’ve never tried it tarping. A tip of the trade: let it sit out in the sun before you cut it to shape. You don’t want a perfectly cut ground cloth shrink on you while backpacking (because of sun or hot backpack).

-Barry

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#198058 - 04/04/17 09:15 PM Re: can you buy polyro at home depot or lowes? [Re: toddfw2003]
topshot Offline
member

Registered: 04/28/09
Posts: 242
Loc: Midwest
Originally Posted By toddfw2003
I saw where I guy you some stuff kinda like duct tape where the tape hangs out a few inches. He put a plastic washer in the middle and poked a hole for his guylines. The other way with out a washer or grommet the tape would tear


Could have been me. I've documented most of my experimenting at BPL. Anyway, if you make a loop of tape, it will hold pretty well. Otherwise, using a plastic grommet (preferably with a flat side toward the outside) is the ideal it seems. Don't poke a hole through the tape unless using a grommet or something to prevent the line from tearing through the end.

Originally Posted By BarryP
For a ground cloth, I use the ‘indoor’ polycro. It’s easily ½ the weight of the ‘outdoor’ polycro. And they last me easily 100 nights. But for a tarp, the ‘outdoor’ version looks tough; though I’ve never tried it tarping. A tip of the trade: let it sit out in the sun before you cut it to shape. You don’t want a perfectly cut ground cloth shrink on you while backpacking (because of sun or hot backpack).


Indoor and Outdoor are usually the same thickness 0.7-75 mil though the density may be different. There are a few kits specifically labeled "heavy duty" that are 1.5 mil.

It won't shrink if set up in the sun or in a backpack. It may deform if you leave it compacted in the sun where the little air pockets hold much more heat! My son sort of ruined my tarp that way so he could mow the lawn. I still used it for 6 nights in the Wind Rivers since I didn't have time to make a new one.

I normally have gotten my kits from Walmart (on clearance or online). There was one kit (wish I could recall which one) I'd gotten somewhere that was useless for even a groundcloth.


Edited by topshot (04/04/17 09:19 PM)

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