Silnylon. It’s alive!

Well. Not completely. But silnylon behaves very much dynamically and alive. That is, it stretches, moves and retains depending on humidity and temperature. The absolute benefits with a flexible material is a big deal when it comes to the strength of nylon impregnated with silicone. Think of the spider web. We all know that this thin material is almost indescribably strong and durable in relation to its thickness. The spider-web consists of silk spun by the spider. The silk is not strong by itself. But enormously elastic so that when it is exposed to external forces the silk stretches instead of cracking. A bit of the same principle applies to Silnylon (Nylon inserted with silicone on both sides of the flysheet). When the flysheet is exposed to external forces it stretches and thus distributes the energy over a larger area. Imagine a stress point like the guylines on the tent. In strong winds this is subject to great external impact. If the material where the guylines are attached has no or little elasticity, all energy will gather around a small point on the flysheet. However, when the material extends as a result of the external influence, a larger area of the flysheet will absorb the energy in addition to the energy being distributed differently from the guylines to the flysheet where the energy from wind to the flysheet is not transmitted jerkily to the same extent. The latter is comparable to the mooring of a boat. If moorings are elastic using, for example, rubber, they tolerate a much greater strain than if you have inelastic moorings. If this is the case, the movement of the boat are transferred directly to the fasterners, and they eventualley breaks down. With rubber (elastic fasteners) the jerk in the moorings is reduced enormously where you get a smoother transfer of energy from rope to fasteners. The same principle applies to guylines and stakeouts on silnylon, as silnylon is very elastic.

 

The above is an absolute advantage with silnylon. The drawback, however, is that you can have a setup of the tent in sunny and comfortable temperature where the tent looks fantastic. Smooth and clean lines. A perfect setup. Then the evening comes. Temperature decreases. In addition, it may be raining. And the tent looks nothing like the beautiful setup you did earlier in the day where the flysheet at this time has stretched because of humidity in the air and a perhaps a decrease in temperature. It is now with a slack and somewhat wrinkled. The solution is of course to adjust the stakeouts or the center-pole when the evening comes. Because of this all our stakeouts are equipped with a system for easy adjustments. But what happens when the sun rises and the temperature rises again? Yes, the flysheet tightens back to the level it was the day before. And the following is very important! If you do not release the stress on the stakeouts that equals to the tightening done on the evening,  the flysheet will stretch with a brutal tension. When the evening then finally arrives with a decrease in the temperature, the flysheet will again stretch and obtain a slack regardless if you have released the tension during the day. And it is of course tempting to tighten the flysheet once again regardless if you released the tension during the day. The sun rises, the temperature rises, And the flysheet is of cousre with a higher tension than the day before. (Because you did not loosen the tieouts). The tent looks great. Beautiful, smooth lines. But remember, the tent is now at its weakest. These internal forces that the flysheet is constantly exposed to is enormously and, at worst, may stretch the fabric in such a way that it is significantly weakened or beyond breaking point. Think of a rubber band. The rubber band is at its absolute weakest when it is stretched to the breaking point. Therefore. It is very important that you release the tension in the flysheet in the day as you have tightened it up in the evening.

 

Using the tipi in different kinds of weather.

We have used quality materials to make the tipi as robust as possible, and at the same time as light as possible. We believe we have found a good blance between weight and strength. You should be able to use the tipi in most weather. But rememeber. It is not a cabin. It is a tent. Even though we have designed the tipi to withstand a lot of weather and wind, it is not indestructible.

You can thrust it to withstand high winds. But never leave the tipi without supervision when it is snowing. Particulary wet and heavy snow will put a huge load on the tipi, and if the snow is not knocked away, the heavy snow will ultimately destroy the tipi. The weight of the snow can reach as much as 400 grams per liter of snow. This means that as little as two inches of snow on the flysheet will weight about 20 kilos per square meter of tent. The surface of the tent is about 14 square meters. Which puts unbelievable 280 kilos on the tipi. In this scenario the center-pole will probably break long before any tearing of the fabric. Snow at -3 degrees Celcius weighs about 50 gram per liter. With two inches of snow this is 2,5 kilos per square meter. This is about 35 kilograms on the flysheet. This may not sound very much. But with a constant force pulling on the tipi, it will stress the center-pole in such a way that it will be significally weakend if exposed to this force over several days. Additionally, if you add strong wind, the center-pole will scream for help where it eventually will break. So. Keep the snow away from the flysheet. If you do this, the tipi will withstand a lot of challenging weather.