Well hello it's Shug here everybody and today i'm going to be seam sealing this brand new
un-seam sealed superior gear hammock tarp now most tarps you get in this world are going to have to
be seam sealed and that goes for a tent or a tarp unless you're paying high high high very high i
mean ultra high i mean way up their prices then maybe that tent or tarp is seam sealed but you
can look inside and see if it has kind of a clear plastic strip it's called seam taping yes then
you may not have to seam seal but for most tarps you get you're going to have to seam seal it and
that goes with tents as well is that redundant i think it was now the places i'll be doing the
seam sealing will be right here on the panel pull outs the side of the tarp where you can pull out
to get a little bit more space inside and you can see it's stitched right in here you can see the
stitches so i need to get some seam seal in those if we go inside here's the inside of the pullouts
of course i'm going to be sealing this top seam it has the double stitches in it and on the inside
i'll probably seal that too but i generally tend to seal the outside because i don't really
care what my tarp looks like and i'm definitely going to be seam sealing this gusset right here
and that gives strength to the whole tarp along the top for where your d-rings are
the other thing i wanted to talk about is make sure you get the right seam sealer for the job
this is a sill nylon tarp so if it's still nylon or silpoli you want to get one that says sill on
a silicone tent sealer so with the silicone sill nylon means it's silicone impregnated nylon now
you can get this same brand and this is from rei but it won't say silicone so if your tarp is nylon
you know it's a coated pu coated tarp the old style tarp you're probably paying less
for that tarp get the proper seam sealer for the proper tarp or tent did i make that clear
another thing you can do is make your own you go out and just buy some clear silicone something
like this and you mix it 50 50 with mineral spirits i just do it in an empty tuna fish can
and i like to use a brush like this a cheap foam brush to spread my seam sealer
you can use your finger or oftentimes seam sealer comes with a little brush like that that's kind of
my least favorite thing to use now the war bonnet tarps come with a stitching at the top and they're
sort of grogan sewn in up there that the ridgeline seam does not need seam sealing i'll tell you what
i'm just going to confess i seam seal mine anyway on the inside because why have a leak if you don't
have to in fact this tarp i'll probably end up seam sealing it inside and outside but even on
the warbonnet tarps it'll come with a little bit of seam sealer and that is for seam sealing
your side pull outs all right which is usually on the center of the tarp on the sides
and what'll happen not so bad when you have your tarp pitch tight but you know you may have some
gear laying on the ground and if it's a heavy rain it'll just keep running over those threads
and leak through but if you have your tarp sort of in porch mode and that pull out seam is up
there it'll definitely drip through so you have to seam seal those as well and with your tent
anywhere that's being exposed to that rain same salad now if you've got a cuban fiber or what
they call dcf tarps nowadays and you probably spent a lot of money for that you don't have to
seam seal those they're kind of bonded together you take those two ends like that and they're
basically sort of glued so they don't require seam sealing but if you have sil nylon seal poly or a
nylon pu coated tarp then you're going to need to seam seal that thing it's up to you you can
put masking tape or any kind of tape down along the sides of those seams and then put your seam
sealer on and then pull the tape up doesn't stick great to sew nylon but if you're a fastidious and
neat person you go ahead and do that i used to i don't bother with it anymore i just slap it on
like all my stuff looks a little bit hillbilly so here we go with a little bit of a taped place
i'm just going to put a little bit on there like that and then i'm going to take my brush
smooth it in really trying to get into the stitches and this little overlap
on this side right here and then i'll peel this tape up
is pretty neat but that's the inside nobody's going to see that but me
the important part is to really get in on these and get up under this little edge here
what i'm going to do is go right in here
of course i want it as neat as i can kind of get it
i'm just going to get this area
do not skip this top area i'm even going to get these little threads right at the end here
just because it's at the peak normally i wouldn't worry about the edge too much but
i'm right up here so i'm going to go ahead and do it
and get your paper towel i got a little bit of alcohol in this spray bottle
and spray it on a paper towel and i'll get that little
drop off right there i'll go along the edges anywhere i got a little bit out of line
doing that while it's still a little still a little wet
so now what i'm going to do is just kind of continue on down the line i just go ahead
and just drop this is my technique i just drop a little bit of seam sealer kind of on there
and then i'm just going to start rubbing that in and i'm pressing down with a you
know a little bit of force here just to make sure to really get into those threads
for me i don't care really how it looks i mean i'm not going to spread it out to here here
but i want to really make sure that i get it where it needs to be
and now what i'll do is i'll just continue on down the tarp
do
and i actually had to kind of flop it over and hang it down there
all right moving on to these pull outs now on the inside of the tarp so same thing just spread a
little of the seam sealer in there these are very important do not forget these even if you get a
war bonnet tarp and you get that tiny little bit a very small tube of seam sealer it is for your side
pull outs get those threads anywhere they're stitching because you will get water through there
when you least expect it or at least want it push that in really nicely
again i don't mind mine being slightly sloppy because i am now make sure to read on your seam
sealer when you get it this one says clean and dry surface above 60 degrees apply thin film across
seams and under fabric folds cure for three to six hours so i've done this a lot it seems more often
than not people get a new tar per tent uh they seem seal it at the last minute because they're
going camping tomorrow the next day so that three to six hours you know six eight hours with this
stuff it's still a little bit tacky and when you wad that thing up or fold your tarp or tent up
and get the camp where it is seam sealed it's gonna kind of slightly stick to each other and the
way to prevent that is take some baby powder or some sort of talc like this gold bond and after it
has dried for you know just do this right before you leave and pack it up and put it in the bag
just throw some talc on it i'm not going to do it now but i would just take that and i'm just gonna
put that right down there get it a little bit dusty with the talc and that will really help
with this nut sticking together and what you can do later when you get home after the trip
just you know just lay your tarp tent back out take a damp cloth or paper towel and just you
know wipe that talc away and some of it might sort of stick a little bit into the seam sealer don't
worry about it in time it just kind of goes away sometimes i'll dip this brush a little bit in some
mineral spirits that i pour in my tuna can just to thin out that seam sealer a little bit because
that'll just evaporate and even if you make your own with clear silicone and mineral spirits
what happens is you mix it 50 50 kind of goopy you don't want it so much as it's running everywhere
a little bit thicker than syrup but you don't want it running down your tarp if you decide to spread
your tarp outside and not inside like i'm doing if you have room like me lay it on a long table lay
it across a two by ten whatever or just go pitch your tarp outside paint the seam sealer on the top
outside or flip your tarp over so the inside seam is on the outside and do it there if you
don't want anyone to see it so i really make sure that i get that seam sealer down in that seam well
because one leak and it always just seems to be in your face or chest area one leak coming
through a tarp can just ruin your whole trip in the rain because everything is going to get wet
watch your steam series stuff there silk