Hey all,
I’m looking at making my own tent and I have a few questions.
The tent will be a 2 wall with a mesh canopy and a waterproof/water resistant fly.

Would Momentum MR (the one that comes in multiple colors) be a suitable fabric for the fly? I’m envisioning a very lightweight tent. I take very good care of my gear, so I’m not worried about it snagging on branches or anything because I’ll just prevent that from happening. Momentum is the lightest DWR ripstop I’ve found and it seems to be excellent at keeping water out according to another thread.

Second, I’m at a complete loss as to how to sew the seams for the corners of the tent. I have a hexagon-shaped bathtub style floor drawn up, but I can’t seem to figure out how to so the seams.
In the picture, A and B are the sides to be sewn together, and C is where the corner will be. My fear is that when I sew A and B together, C will become an nice little entrance for water. Should I just add a second layer of fabric to the corner?
[method a.png]

Another idea was to sew the walls separately to the floor, but then the seams would all be at ground level… o.0

Third, I’m going to make a footprint for the tent anyway, so is it OK to skimp on the weight of the floor material? I just want to save as much weight as possible, and it seems unnecessary for two separate layers of heavy-weight fabric for the floor. And if I’m going to be using a footprint, do I really need to worry about the corners?
Thanks,
Shadycakes

Hi Shadycakes,

Momentum and the textiles in the breathable section won’t work well for a shelter canopy because they’re only water resistant.  You should choose something from the coated section, like sil nylon.

You can use a seam sealer such as sil-net, seam-grip, or homebrewed from hardware store silicone to seal your leak points.  Use silicone based sealer with silicone products, and seam grip if you go with a polyurethane product. 

There aren’t many good light options for tent floors.  Many people go with sil nylon, but it is really a marginal choice because it is slippery, seeps, and is puncture prone.  On the other hand, it is light and more or less functional.  There is a new product coming out called Shield which is a special type of 30d sil nylon double coated on one side so that it is about 5 times more waterproof than regular sil, and less slippery because of the way that the coating is applied to one-side.  It is slightly heavier though, at a finished weight of about 1.7 osy.

Will the Shield Sil-nylon you mentioned be available for purchase?

If not, would you recommend a urethane coated nylon for the floor of a tarptent

Any thoughts on tyvek as to waterproofedness in the capacity as a floor (not durability)?