PS Magazine - TB 43-PS-590
PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly
ISSUE 590
JANUARY 2002
N
o matter whether your tent is made of cotton duck (usually called canvas) or coat-
ed polyester (usually called vinyl), leaks are a problem.
Since you don’t want to get wet inside your tent, pull a little PM before the rains
come. But first, you must know what your tent is made of—canvas or polyester.
Cotton duck
is olive drab and has a coarse, rough feel. It develops a musty smell
over time.
Coated polyester
is bright green or tan and feels slick. It smells like vinyl.
Treating Canvas
All tents start out repelling water, but after awhile, water repellency wears off.
Field use wears it off pretty fast, so you need to renew water protection often.
Canvas will change color as the
treatment wears off, becoming
lighter and looking faded. This
happens after about 12 months of
field use.
Procedures for fixing leaky can-
vas are found in FM 10-16,
General Fabric Repair.
•
First, make sure the canvas is
dry. Then brush off any loose soil.
•
To re-treat canvas, you’ll need a preservative.
As long as it’s available, NSN 8030-00-281-
2346, canvas preservative paste, will do the job.
(It’s a terminal item, though, and once it’s gone,
you’ll have to find a substitute. Ask a local out-
door recreation supply store for suggestions.)
•
Stir the paste thoroughly. Then dilute it with
an equal amount of Stoddard solvent, NSN
6850-00-281-1985, adding the solvent a little at
a time. Stir the mixture continuously until all
the solvent is blended into the preservative
paste. Stir it again before you start.
It takes about a gallon of mixture to coat a
GP small, 1
1
∕
2
gallons for a GP medium and 2
gallons for a GP large.
•
Apply the coating mixture with a brush or
spray gun. Be sure you have lots of ventilation.
If you use a spray gun, wear protective clothing
and a respirator.
•
Put the coating on thicker over patched areas
and places that have previously been repaired.
•
Let the canvas dry until it loses its tacky feel.
boy, am I
glad we
got that
tent PM
done this
morning!
A lot of
people
are!
I'm dryer
out here
than
inside…
…Guess we
should have
re-treated
our tents!
Tents…
PS 590
JAN 02
50
590. 50-53 (C)
11/23/01
4:24 PM
Page 1
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