Tyvek

If you are not familiar with Tyvek you need to get your hands on some. Growing up in the construction industry I’ve always had some at my disposal. It was designed and is used today as a vapor barrier for homes. If you drive by a newly constructed home that has not been sided yet, you will most likely see Tyvek wrapped around the outside of the plywood or chipboard. Tyvek is generally white and is stamped with the manufacturers’ logo. You can buy a roll of it at your local hardware store and it will last you a while. Before you go buying some, check with anybody you know that works on a construction site. They may have some they are throwing away that they may gladly give you for free. Contractors throw this stuff away all the time. I highly recommend you get your hands on some.

Tyvek can be used for many things. The nice thing about having a big roll of it is that you can cut it to fit your different or changing needs. One thing I use Tyvek for is a custom size ground cloth. It works perfectly. No more wasting money on expensive or heavy ground cloths that are going to get ruined with use. Tyvek can also be used as a temporary shelter. It does keep water out to an extent but is not completely water proof. I want to test spraying water proofing on it and see how it holds up in a down poor. I will let you know how that goes. Add some grommets and you can make a custom sized tarp. I know of one guy that made a sleeping bag bivy that looked and worked great.

Tyvek is noisy when working with it so if you are making something that you will be using in the woods, and you want it quiet, you will want to wash it first. Just run it through a cold rinse cycle once and then let it air dry. It will be much quieter and nicer to work with. I know of some people that have tried to die it after washing it once but I’m not sure how well that will work.

A Tyvek ground cloth in combination with a lightweight nylon impregnated ripstop tarp make the perfect shelter for your bug out bag or for those that like lightweight backpacking. This option is much cheaper and lighter.  It’s one I use frequently. So go buy yourself a big roll of Tyvek and make as many things as you can come up with. Have fun saving yourself a ton of money well making your own gear. Some ideas of what to make are a ground cloth, a custom size tarp, a sleeping bag bivy, a simple backpack, diddy bags and whatever else you can come up with. Enjoy and have fun. Thanks for reading and let me know what you made or came up with.