Kevlar Tarps Fact or Fiction ??

Never cared for carpet, it doesn't hold up and when it gets wet it starts to smell. Walmart sells cheap felt blankets, they're thinner than the industrial felt but do the job well and you have the added benefit of not having someones bio goo leaching out when they get damp or wet.

 

Baby diapers are expensive and bulky but when your in a bind. Their is usually a walmart or grocery store close by.

 

I saw a guy who had oiled canvas. Was heavy enough to do the job and the oil gave it some weight so it stayed in place. And he said it repelled water. He was a company driver and said the company just gave it to him and haven't been able to find any. It needs to be well used or you ger the oil on everything.

 

I had a couple oiled canvas tarps back in the eighties, along with 220z. vinyl tarps. Good luck finding canvas at a decent price today not to mention they still rotted and I don't miss those heavy vinyl tarps either, 22oz. vinyl bent like sheet metal in the winter and were heavy as hell.

 

18oz Vinyl... I think usually when a shipper specifies "waterproof tarps," they're not saying "We want real tarps, not Wal-Mart tarps," they're saying "We want regular solid tarps, not mesh tarps." Nobody that's serious about this uses Wal-Mart tarps, except MAYBE for a smoke tarp. There are some loads where a mesh tarp will work because the only reason for tarping the load is to keep the shrink wrap from getting ripped off the product. Mesh tarps won't keep road spray and grime off of the product of course, much less keep it dry.

For my money, the lightweight tarps I've seen just don't have what it takes to hold up. I bought a set of super-light lumber tarps a few years ago, and the material was so thin that it couldn't even hold the stitches for the D-rings in. They're also so light that it's nearly impossible to fold them in any kind of a breeze, and they're even worse when you're trying to tarp something in the wind. The ONLY positive thing about them is that they are still fairly flexible when it's cold. The Cordura tarps may be more durable than what I got, but they're still going to be a mess in the wind. All that to say, my solution to not wanting to pick up heavy tarps is being fully prepared to ask the shipper to unload their product if they're not willing to put my tarps on top of the load with their forklift or crane.

 

Used tarps aren't waterproof. They're actually just weather resistant. If the shipper wants water proof and can't load it on a sidekit or conestoga they need to supply plastic for under the tarp.

Why skimp on a few dollars of plastic if the load is that critical?

 

Tarps are not made out of the quality material they used to be. I bought my first tarp from dothan tarp. 12 years ago. I still have it, although, it has many, patches over it. bought a few from dothan in the last 10 years & not one is as thick or as durable as the first, though they claim it is the same w.t. e.t.c. I told them, the first one I have was a quality tarp & you guys must be getting your material to make these tarps from china now!.

 

Very good point

 

Another good idea for edge and chain protection is old fire hose, swing by any fire station, paid or volunteer and they are always pretty willing to give you some old scrap hose they don't need.

 

Kevlar tarps? We need bullet proof tarps now?
I've use them blue wal-mart tarps on steel pipe loads before in the summer if I know there not going to be any real bad weather. But now that I've have a sidkit for the last 4or 5 years I dont worry much about it any more.