Seam Sealing a bivy?

Jared,

Here's a great article from Jay Ham on sealing silnylon.

I used 2-1 mineral spirits – silicone caulk (from Lowe's) on my bivy and tarp. Works PERFECTLY!

Load your mix of choice into a 10cc syringe body. I like 3:1 mineral spirits to silicone, by weight. It flows easily into thread and needle holes.

A syringe gives a very controllable flow and you can work the silicone into threads and seams easily with the small diameter needle stub.

You will end up with silicone exactly where you want it.

yes, i've read jay ham's article several times and have sealed several tarps and tarptents with it over the last several years. The bivy has a different type of seam, I was just wondering whether people were shoving the stuff in, separating the layers and essentially gluing them shut or a combo gluing shut and coating the seams… but thanks.

i don't understand the need to seam seal a bivy. the entire top half is breathable right? so not water proof? so why worry about making the seam right bellow the not waterproof part waterproof. I never got it.

-Tim

I'm assuming it's the seams on a 'bath-tub' floor bivvy. A bivvy without a totally waterproof high bath-tub floor is as good as useless on wet ground. If non-waterproof fabric touches the ground, it will simply wick water into your sleeping system.

yes, it's a fully bathtubbed bivy with all the features. I'll post a thread on the pictures. I wound up just cating the threads and stuffing it in the vertical seams as much as possible.