Tent material, but not for a tent: where from?
 

Not sure this is the best place for this question, but here goes...

I am constantly cooking up new ways to improve (read mutate) my Ural sidecar outfit as I slowly get it trip ready for 2011-ish.

The reason for the side car is that we will be travelling with two dogs...

I want to make a better sidecar tonneau cover for the area the dogs will be in. To do this I thought a great material would be the sort of polyester or rip-stop nylon that tents are made out of.

So where in Europe can I order such material in single, large sheets?

I don't even know what the technical term is for it or what sorts of grades I need to think about.

Try a sailmaker or a place that makes covers for agriculteral trailers. lorry tarps etc. I had a custom boat cover for the wheelhouse of a boat made for me once. If want just plain sheet should be easy. try any agri merchants shop.

I got a 3x3m sheet with holding loops made by a local outdoor shop.

cut up an old tent.
personally i dont think this stuff would last two minutes as a tonneau, i would get some vinyl

If it is strong enough to be a flysheet on a mountain top, I think it can handle 50 mph of Ural....

The existing tonneau is vinyl and is not very dog friendly and gets very stiff in colder weather: not ideal

My Autocamp rooftent is made of airtex and keeps the water out.
1 Meter Airtex Zeltstoff, 170 cm breit weinrot bei eBay.de: Camping Zelten (endet 24.12.09 12:35:35 MEZ)

You could look into 2nd hand parachutes, which are purposely damaged before sale so you can't "fly" with one, but lots of material for not much cost. Army surplus places have them, but a google should turn one up. Theres a company in the USA that has loads!

The only reason modern lightweight tent flys stay up in really bad wind is how well the tent design spreads the load so well, as a parachute does. Both material types are a pain to try and sew to create a fixing that'll spread the tie down points sufficiently to stop it falling apart. A side car lid is a small area to get a nice even tension on. Curtain sider tarp, or find a manufacturer of car soft tops or spare tyre covers gives you more leeway in what you make since the material will be so much more forgiving. And should it rip at 50mpg will probably stay put or fall down, not billow all over the place :eek3:

Agree with the opinion that tent material ( Nylon or Rayon tafetta ) would not last long as roof material - too much wind and sun bleaches and embrittles it fast.
How about using the same tough material that transport truck covers are made of, you know the vinyl (?) plastic material with some type of synthetic textile embedded inside. I have used that stuff to make watertight bike luggage for the rear carrier and it stands up extremely well. You should be able to get a piece of the size you want from any shop where they install and repair such truck covers. If they fabricate new covers they are sure to have remnants of it you may be able to get at very reasoable price, or free if they consider it trash.
You can install gromets and with a heat gun and some practice you can actually weld the seams.

Tent material might be a little too delicate and lorry sheet is just way to heavy and it's also very stiff when cold. I think sailcloth would be ideal.

Take a look at Kayospruce Ltd*The leading supplier of high performance materials and accessories for the marine and leisure industries

Maybe they might be able to help.

Check this out......
[url=http://www.extremtextil.de]extremtextil - Versand f

Many tent manufacturers also sell a footprint or groundsheet. This material would be ideal as its light but still somewhat stronger than a flysheet.

For even stronger material contact a company making canopies/awnings for boats.

EDIT this silly site won't accept my links but try to search the net for "tent footprint" or "tent groundsheet"

warthog any boat yard / sailmaker will have what you want. I can give you addresses in the uk for the materials or what you actually need is Laminated Polyester 225 (£ 5.85 meter -150cm wide blue,grey, green or red)or Neoprene coated Nylon 150( 6.95 meter 150cm wide royal blue) or Neoprene Nylon 300( yellow or red) Lastly pu coated nylon 150 ( £5.70 meter 150 wide) the number after the name gives you the weight in grams per sq meter - If you have a problem getting what you want contact these who will supply direct to public - [url=http://www.pointnorth.co.uk]pointnorth.co.uk