Best tarping material ?

What are you talking about?

Truck tarps are heavy, those "light weight" tarps are blankets.

 

If you can lift it, the tarp is too light.

 

Or to long and wide. I can lift my 16' x 20' without to much effort.

 

Amen to THAT sir! I'm looking to put my 8' drops in storage and replace them with 24' x 12' tarps. I've used the full 8' ONCE in the last three and a half years. I don't mind passing on a cheap lumber load. I rarely tarp anyway.

 

As heavy as you can lift.

A 28/34oz 48' fitted tarp is practically bulletproof, but you need a forklift to move it _anywhere_.

18oz is good. That lightweight or specialty material is hard to keep patched. It will rip/tear sometime no matter how careful you are.

 

I tore some big holes in my tarps. Flex Tape was a Godsend. Be prepared to either throw away your scissors or spend an hour with brake cleaner and rags. The adhesive on that stuff is sticky beyond belief. The tape itself is hard to cut. Gorilla tape took care of pinholes from this tarping newbie that didn't crimp the bungie end of the hooks.

 

I've got two from Peaks made out of the Cordura material. They are very manageable weight wise. They are probably a bit smaller though than what your looking at. They are 20' long 8' drops with end flaps & only weigh 65lbs a piece. The biggest problem with them is they can't be patched with a regular vinyl & glue patch kit. (well maybe they can, I haven't tried) Because of this it's the only reason I wouldn't recommend them. Over 4yrs I've managed just one small 2" tear in the center of one of them. Black duct tape on both sides of the tear has been water tight for 3.5 years..

 

Couldn't be more right about flex tape & scissors. What a pain to get clean. My Gal used her nail polish remover to clean up the pair I just about ruined..

 

I’m so tired of my 18oz tarps. I just about killed myself last 2 weeks. From tarping a tall pointy load to tarping in the middle of 35mph winds and horizontal rain. I gave up trying to roll them in the same conditions at the consignee.

I’ve been thinking about buying lighter tarps from Kaplan Tarps since they answered my email and all my questions in literally 5 minutes. The reality is an injury or accident will set me back financially more than the cost of tarps. Even if they last half as long I believe it will be worth it. I will also invest in a lot of the large felt pieces to prolong the glide of the tarps.

I just can’t decide the 14oz sides or the parachute material.