NylonCotton

[pure_mahem]

Does anyone know how to tell Nylon ripstop from the Nyloncotton ripstop blend the military uses? And the drawbacks or advantages of it versus plain nylon ripstop. This question arises as this is the major fabric used in military clothing and there fore I'm thinking that the digital ripstop myster fabric I'm finding a wallyworld might be this and not just Nylon ripstop.

[Take-a-knee]

If you mean the cloth that BDU's are made from I think it is all cotton. The digital stuff I found at Wally World is nylon. When you hold a match to it, it melts, poly or cotton will char and burn.

[pure_mahem]

Thanks TK. I was curios if the nyloncotton blend would act like the nylon or the cotton to this match test. There's 2 different types of fabric used now for the bdu's it used to be all cotton ripstop but they switched a little while ago using that new nylon cotton ripstop stuff in the ACU stuff. But I can't find anywhere that lists its properties like how heavy it is or anything else. Don't know if maybe they mixed it with the cotton to keep the nylon from instantaneously melting like nylon does on its own.

[pure_mahem]

I went to propper's site and sent them an email maybe they will be able to answer this. hopefully they'll get back to me and not leave me hanging.

[slowhike]

i've been wondering about some digital camo i got from w-mart too.
it's not rip stop & when i put a flame to the edge it stinks like a synthetic, but the soft feel still makes me wonder if it could be a blend.
i've seen camos in the $1.00 bin that i knew were synthetic & some i knew were cotton, but this one i'm not as sure about.
but it sure feels good as a new hammock<g>.

[skar578]

polyester melts. it forms a black hard ball of plastic. it should smell like chemicals (some say sweet, but reports have told of it smelling bad). me, I like its smell, but I like methane too . And I love EMS, and when looking at one pair of zip off pants, and it was soft and nice. but it was 100% cotton ripstop. interesting they would use 100% cotton.


cotton poly blends may work, hopefully someone who knows will tell.

[pure_mahem]

Okay the guy from propper emailed me back and this is what he told me. He still didn't tell me how to tell the difference between it and the other stuff though. Also on another site I found that The military makes different BDU for different enviroments. The NyCo stuff is for warmer and temprate and arid enviroments while the cotton is for artic areas. Kind of contradicting to some degree isn't it!

Propper rep says:

The 100% Cotton Ripstop is more vulnerable to shrinking and fading since
it does not have synthetic fiber blended in. The 100% cotton is,
however, a more breathable fabric and is considered to be a "summer
weight" by many since it is more comfortable in hot weather
environments.

The 50/50 Nylon/Cotton Ripstop will still experience some shrinking and
fading over time but much less than the 100% cotton. It is also the
fabric that is being used by the U.S. Armed Forces for deployed
personnel as it has NIR technology within the fabric which lessens
detection by Night Vision Goggles (NVGs).

I can tell you, however, that electricians and other personnel needing a
fire-retardant fabric are required to have 100% cotton since its
fire-retardant properties are much better than the 50/50 NYCO.
End of message!



Regarding the NIR Stuff this is suppose to make the uniform disapear under infrared night vision. However, it can never be washed with UV brightners even wash once with a UV brightening detergent chemically changes the composition of the NIR. Propper lists a ton of laundry detergents under an NIR blurb on there sight pretty interesting. I remember using a system that came out with sportwash about fifteen years ago called UV killer that was used for hunting because deer see you like you glow in the dark if you have UV brightners on your clothes. I have not seen the stuff on the market since the first gulf War though. I wonder if this is why. From my experience it worked pretty darn good stuff smelt like diluted elmers glue though when you sprayed it on. The deer looked at you like you were a tree and you just moved they weren't scared at all they just kind of had the reaction of WTF!