Newbie (hi.) ? re. using sealant as "tent glue"...

[Johnnyjohn]

Hi. I will intro myself on another page, but I have been backpacking for years now and have started to move toward making some of my own gear.

I have gotten into stealth camping. However, while there are some nice 1 person camo tents, and some nice 3 person camo tents, I backpack with my wife and we need a 2 person.

I haven't seen a good-quality camo 2p tent.

I currently have a walrus 2 person that is a great tent. However, the rainfly is bright yellow.

What I have opted for is using one of the 9x9' camo tarps (thanks neo) as a rainfly. I simply set up the tent facing a tree and put the tarp over it diamond style. Works pretty well, although I may have some minor cutting and sewing to do to make it fit tight.

Anyhow, there are a couple places on the tent corners that show from under the tarp. It is no big deal and there is coverage there for rain, but I want the set up to be invisible.

My options are to:
1. Use some of the "simply spray" camo fabric spray I just ordered to camo up the visible places on the tent. When the paint gets here, I will try. However, if the paint doesn't adhere, I am looking at a 2nd option:

2. Cutting pieces of my old army poncho to fit the exposed portions of the tent to camy them up.

My question is: I guess I will have to sew them in place if I have to go with this option, right? There isn't any glue or sealer that could be expected to hold two pieces of nylon together like this is there? If I have to sew, I will just sew along the present seams and re-seal them with silicon.

It really won't add much weight and it is worth it to me to make it invisible.

Thanks.

Also, if anyone out there ever sees a decent quality backpackable 2 person camo tent, please let me know.

[ShakeyLeggs]

I don't know of any way to glue two pieces of nylon together. About the only option that I know of is to sew them on. As for the paint I would be extremely hesitant to do that. The chemicals in the paint might melt the nylon. And to Whiteblaze

[Fiddler]

Check here for something that might stick it together. It works good on some nylons, not so good on others.

[LIhikers]

I once made a set of curtains for our van and did it without sewing. If you go to a fabric store or craft shop you will find a "tape" that is meant to hold fabric together. You put it in place between two layers of fabric and then heat it with an iron. The heat melts the glue on the tape and it sticks to both sides. It's lasted for years on those curtains but I have no idea how it'd work on nylon.

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

Welcome to WB. You should get more responses as the people who attended the ALDHA gathering start getting home. The seam tape mentioned works well on normal fabrics, but doesn't work at all on sil-nylon (nothing sticks to silcone except silcone) and not well on coated nylon (tends to dissolve the coating into a gooey mess).

For camo tents - look at places that primarily sell to hunters, fishermen and at military surplus type sites - they tend to carry camo more. Most backpackers choose a color that blends in (gray, brown, olive drab) to remain stealthy rather than using camo.

If you decide to make your own, you can get camo polyurethane coated nylon from Outdoor Wilderness Fabrics in 1.1 or 1.9 weight ripstop nylon (what the tarp Neo recommends is made from). I do not know of a source for silnylon camo.

A note - be sure to use a high quality nylon or polyester thread for sewing. The thread will likely cost about $5 to $8 a spool (do a search on this site for "thread" to read about brands). Cheap thread will fail just when you need it most - don't use it.

Edited to add - why not just use the current bright yellow rainfly as a pattern and cut yourself a camo fly from coated nylon? It will save the extra weight. Most rainflies just hook on to the tent via fastners that you can order when you get the fabric.

[Johnnyjohn]

For the welcome and advice. I may make my own fly, but don't know if my sewing skills are up to it. I am going to try and dye this fly with the understanding that if I ruin it, I can use it as a model and/or just use the camo tarp.

Thanks again.

[titanium_hiker]

why not just sleep under the tarp?

all you need is a groundsheet and bug protection.

TH

[Jaybird]

Hi. I will intro myself on another page, but I have been backpacking for years now and have started to move toward making some of my own gear. I have gotten into stealth camping. However, while there are some nice 1 person camo tents, and some nice 3 person camo tents, I backpack with my wife and we need a 2 person....................etc,etc,etc,I haven't seen a good-quality camo 2p tent.
.

Yo JohnnyJohn:


have you tried TEXSPORT?
many 2-person tents...
i've bought a couple inexpensive tents from them & gotten a couple good years from them. (my wife does a few "overnight hikes" with me per year)