Tyvek bathtub floor?

"I have and it isn't waterproof enough for a floor."

David,
perhaps you could do something constructive and post about your experience and/or testing that supports this statement rather than just taking pot shots at my offering?

thanks,

Billy

For the past 8 to 10 years, every year, someone determines that they will make a tarp or floor out of Tyvek because it is cheap and fully waterproof. Then they find only one of their parameters was met and it has nothing to do with moisture.

Sounds like you are convinced that it will work. Great. These are hardly pot shots because you don't like my answer. You make it sound like you are the only person to think that Tyvek may be the ideal waterproof floor material.

I really don't care, however so do what you want and I hope it works out for you.

Wow Dave… more negativity and still not sharing the experiences with Tyvek you claim.

b

Billy,

It's cheap enough to make one and try it out for yourself.

I made one for my recently-acquired Duomid, here:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=95112&startat=60

Used the house wrap stuff, folded at the corners like a paper bag and taped with duct tape.

Its maiden voyage was at Seneca Creek-Spruce Knob, WV where it was subjected to some fairly wet conditions, the result of about 17 hours of light to moderately heavy rain over a 48-hr period. Pitched initially on damp grassy area (it had just begun to rain) and the next night on wet grass.

If it was leaking, it wasn't enough to distinguish from the light moisture caused by condensation inside the tent. When the heavier bouts of rain started up, the rain drops hitting the tent on the outside caused the condensation on the inside walls to release, creating a very light mist. Just glad I was using all-synthetic gear.

But again this was a brand-new sheet of Tyvek. More usage will tell the story.

However, subjected to enough abrasion and rough use, ANY material will eventually leak. Put 1-oz Cuben between your knee and a rock and then spin and you'll get a leak. Put on shoes inside the tent with a heel dug into your polycro and you'll likely get a leak.

Bottom line is there are people who will quickly destroy any material, some for whom any material works well for a long time, and some who just don't care if it gets a leak or two and are content to mop up with a piece of synthetic Pack Towel…

If you sleep on a pad that is waterproof anyway, do you really need a floor waterproof to 10,000 mm? I often don't take a ground
sheet and just use rocks and gear to keep me on my waterproof pad.

I like tyvek for a ground sheet when camping where it is muddy or where lots of horse packers or range cattle leave presents. In my tests tyvek is grass eating animal pooproof to at least 1500 mm HD. (Picture rolling horse apples down a large tube onto the material.)

Other times when using a tarp, and there is wind or bugs involved, a bivysack floor is good.

If you know a floor leaks if you kneel on it, don't kneel on it, put your pad down first. Some problems can be solved by a little extra effort or by just ignoring them. Or you could carry more weight or use a more fragile option. Perfect can be the enemy of good.

I like the pack towel or bandana solution above too.

Bob, David,
thanks for your suggestions.
Yes. I have a Tyvek bathtub floor prototype in the middle of my living room floor.
figuring out some shock cord corner ties for my Hexamid.

May crinkle the thing by hand (don't trust putting it in a washer machine) after all is done and test it in the… er… bathtub :)

Anyone else have some actual experience with Tyvek bathtub floor being waterproof or not please share…

thanks,

Billy

I never had any wetness problem with house wrap Tyvek as long as it was fairly new and noisy. Once you wash it enough to get the noise out, you will have made lots of little micro-tears in the coating, and then it isn't so waterproof.

–B.G.–

Ah,,, that's kinda what I suspected.
Thanks Bob.

I wonder if I just krinkle it by hand to reduce the noise if it would still be water proof?

thanks

billy

Crinkles are crinkles. You've already have a prototype. Go use it and see if it works for you or not. The hard part is over. I'm interested in if you actually get a bathtub floor. Or will the center sides droop so low to only give you a slight amount of freeboard.
Test camp near a dryer.

I don't know. I think it depends on your definition of waterproof and your definition of noise. As you can tell, there is some kind of plastic coating on the Tyvek surface, at least on one side. Anything that you do to reduce the noise is going to decrease the waterproofness. It has been a while since I've done this, but as I recall, you can de-noise it a little without bothering the surface much. If you soften it up to the point where the Tyvek is as flimsy as an ordinary piece of cloth, then you don't have a lot of waterproofness left. It still may be better than nothing. Tyvek doesn't tear like plastic shrink for windows. Now I use a DIY cuben fiber ground sheet, so this is no longer an issue for me. If I use the Tyvek again, it would be underneath the cuben fiber in order to reduce abrasion wear.

What we need is something as tough as cuben fiber, as cheap as Tyvek, and as waterproof as plastic.

–B.G.–

Yes. I understand Bob.

I'm trying to avoid Cuben for several reasons:
1) it stinks… I have some that even a year later off-gasses some very nasty volatile fumes that give me headaches… sure don't want to be laying my nose near that floor.

2) My Cuben stuff bags leak after very little use from some minor abrasions when stuffing fluffy stuff in them while supported on rocks. My Cuben kilt got a hole in it first time I sat on a rock. My Cuben day pack was nearly ruined first time I went climbing with it (easy 3rd class)… several abrasions cuts and scraps… certainly not waterproof now. And I assume the Cuben floors will leak eventually too… even the 1.0 stuff

3) Cuben is very expensive for something that is going to abrade and leak… not sure how long but possibly quickly.

4) I figure I could replace the Tyvek bathtub floor every season and be ahead of Cuben cost wise.

Billy

I'm interested in if you actually get a bathtub floor. Or will the center sides droop so low to only give you a slight amount of freeboard.

Ken,
I'm trying to copy what zPacks does with their Cuben bathtub floor… they use shock cord at the four corners and midway along each side to attach the top edge of the bathtub floor to the Hexamid… that helps hold up the walls of the bathtub… yielding some 'freeboard'… I hope

1) It stinks?

That amazes me. I have a sensitive nose, and I have never smelled anything from the cuben fiber that I have used from four different companies.

2) It leaks?

That also amazes me. The only leaky cuben fiber that I have developed was on the bottom side of my backpack, just about where it should get the worst wear. I patched over that. Tarp, no problem. DIY ground sheet, no problem. All 0.74 or 1 ounce.

3) Expense?

Don't worry about how much it costs. Just think what it must be worth.

–B.G.–

It's noisy when pitching it, but I don't mind.

It makes some noise when I or the dog move around, but I don't mind.

It's really noisy and messy when decamping and shaking off the wet stuff, but I don't mind.

Leaks- Unless you're camping during a prodigious deluge, small leaks are pretty much a non-issue. Otherwise, mop up and wring out with the packtowl or bandana.

Freeboard – When I made mine, I anchored the corner shock cords using a small sections of bamboo chop stick on the inside of the folded corner. Works somewhat like a collar stay for a nice dress shirt. Made a small hole in the corner of the folded/taped Tyvek about 4 inches off the ground, fed the shock cord thru the hole, tied the shock cord in the center of the chop stick, nestled it into the corner and covered the whole thing with duct tape. Maintains freeboard very nicely when the shock cords are very lightly stretched out to the corners.

Wow Bob… your bamboo chopstick freeboard invention is very creative… had not thought of that.

Billy

Here is what I do for a clip in floor for pyramid tarp. Stake on the bottom, adjustable tie up on the top.http://blog.owareusa.com/2014/10/19/bathtub-floor-for-pyramid-tarps/