Silnylon vs silpoly

[Halky010]

I’ve found that When comparing fabrics of the same weight:

Silnylon tends to be “tougher”, wears better and lasts longer. Does stretch when it gets wet, really noticeable with heavy wet snow. But for mostly fair weather camping, works great!

Silpoly, tends to be more fragile, Easy to poke holes in the fabric with branches and small twigs. Barely stretches at all, almost eliminates the need for “Cat cuts” and stays taunt throughout the night. It’s my choice for camping in wetter weather.

 

[Mikedlaw]

If Seek, Argali, and Durston want to send me some tents I'll gladly do some independent testing.

 

[mcseal2]

I don't have a dog in this fight. I have some Argali products like their game bags that I really like that have served me well. I like their products but have not tried their shelters.

My Seek 8 man tipi likewise has served me well. I ordered it in 2015 for our 2018 moose hunt in AK. We used it first in Wyoming in 2017 and had 15" of snow overnight after we raced a storm into our unit, dodging Interstate shutdowns by angling from 70 to 80 to 25 on side roads. We did scoop & broom snow off it during the night a few times. In AK the next year we had days of rain and it held up well then too. Since we've used it in CO and WY several more times with no problems. It's a silnylon design. Their DST tarp has held up well for me on a lot of trips too.

Sag does happen on the silnylon, but it's never been something I can't work around. I only have one silpoly shelter and it's much smaller, a Durston X mid 1. I have not used it nearly as much, but it's been great so far too. It's nice that it stays tighter when pitched if the wind picks up.

Just sharing my experience. I have a few Kifaru tarps I like a lot too, especially the Megatarp. It's my choice when I want a stove instead of the Durston's bug net in a small shelter. There are lots of good shelters on the market today.

 

[406flyfish]

Can’t stand the sag of nylons tents like Seek. Which I encounter a lot of here in Montana. Hence why I went with Silpoly.

 

[bmart2622]

Can’t stand the sag of nylons tents like Seek. Which I encounter a lot of here in Montana. Hence why I went with Silpoly.

What shelter do you recommend?

 

[Masondmartin]

Interesting, thanks for the posting

 

[Wrongside]

Silnylon does sag a little with moisture. But its a minor problem, with a 5 second solution. I use a pole with length left when pitching my silny shelters. Extend it a notch or two if the shelter develops slack in rain or heavy dew. Sometimes I’ll tighten up an additional guy line or two, but usually adjusting the pole is all it takes to get the desired result. A taut canopy.

 

[406flyfish]

What shelter do you recommend?

I personally like Argali. But would purchase a dyneema shelter from Seek or Peax. I’m on the taller side so a 4p shelter is already cramped enough with another person and all our gear for late season. So I find the sag especially annoying with all the moisture I encounter where I hunt. Can’t go wrong with any brand, I bet 99% of these consumers don’t even encounter the upper limits of what these structures can handle.

 

[Beendare]

Silnylon does sag a little with moisture. But its a minor problem, with a 5 second solution. I use a pole with length left when pitching my silny shelters. Extend it a notch or two if the shelter develops slack in rain or heavy dew. Sometimes I’ll tighten up an additional guy line or two, but usually adjusting the pole is all it takes to get the desired result. A taut canopy.

Yeah, it's a simple solution with a tipi....its not a big deal, I do the same...or when I cut a pole I keep something handy to shim it 2" higher.

Then with 30D high quality Silnylon tents like my Tarptent Double Rainbow...it hardly sags at all- ever- due to the design.