Maps Printed on Waterproof Tyvek®

PeterHaszard Posted: 9 April 2016, 2:22 AM   I have read a couple of Posts referring to waterproof maps. My company provides a printing service on Tyvek®. We can take any PDF and reproduce it at any size (up to A0) the result is a map that is waterproof, tearproof, colourfast, can be rolled and folded and written on. Email me at peter@tuffplans.com or call me on 0800-737-764   The Map Guy Posted: 9 April 2016, 10:12 AM   We used Tyvek once for clip cards. The paper appeared to be a little greasy and harder to write on than other waterproof papers. The surface is a little on the "rough" side compared with a smoother surface of Teslin which is what many of our maps are printed on. PolyArt is smooth too. There is no reason why Tyvek can't be used as I have seen graphic images printed on it. Two questions Peter: 1. Can Tyvek be used in a laser printer? 2. Are you willing to provide a demonstration copy of a printed orienteering map (1:10,000 scale) on Tyvek so others can review it?   Kenny Posted: 10 April 2016, 3:21 AM   Unless Tyvek has changed its composition since the mid 70s, it is probably still not suitable for O. A professional printer member of our club (Southern Navigators) introduced it about 1975. They printed most O maps in the SE. It was used in British orienteering for maybe 1 or 2 years but discarded because it held mud and blood thus obscuring parts of maps. A pity because it is distinguished by being probably the toughest of all synthetics, and like Pretex is eminently foldable. It cannot be printed on dry toner printers - I'm not sure about wet toner such as HP Indigo. Oce (now owned by Canon)did bring out a wide format ink printer maybe 4 years ago which could print on Tyvek. However the resolution was then unacceptable for O maps and the production cost was still too high. I will be interested to hear from Peter as to any advances in Tyvek use for O maps. Disclaimer: Although Jim Russell and I sell Pretex, we do not do so in NZ. Jim and I monitor ready availability of likely looking synthetics for O maps and if we ever find one more suitable for dry toner, we would advise.