Chiffon instead of noseeum

[TiredFeet]

check this out,risk use's chiffon for netting on his homegrown how to hammock.i really like his websiteneo


http://www.imrisk.com/hammock/ultraquarterweight.htm

Great - he seems to like the chiffon even better than the noseeum for keeping it's shape.

[Oaken]

Hi all. I've been lurking for a while and this is my first post (I think). I have just completed my first DIY hammock, which I will post about later.

I did want to quickly mention that I made my bug net out of black chiffon, and it darn near suffocated me to death. The hammock was extremely hot with the net on, and after about three hours of sleeping I woke up unable to breathe. I saw all kinds of neat flashing lights and swirly things while I gasped and opened up the netting. I could breathe after I got it opened, but the bugs drove me back indoors. I'm going to buy some no-see-um now.

I did test the fabric by putting it up to my mouth and breathing right through it, but apparently that's not a good enough test. Please beware!

I do not know if there are different grades of chiffon. Maybe there are.

Happy Hammocking!

T-Rex

[Ramblinrev]

With all due respect to your DIY chops... I need to question whether you were actually using chiffon. There is no question that the bugnet does indeed hold in the heat and make it hotter and so seem somewhat stifling. But I have to wonder if chiffon would be dtrasticly different from noseeum bug net.

I have chiffon on my wife's DIY bridge and I have noseeum stuff on my stock HH. Detect no discernible difference between the airyness of the two. I would interested to see if the noseeum would have given you a distinctly different feel than what you used.

[sclittlefield]

You may want to consider getting regular mosquito netting instead of noseeum. There is a significant difference in how much air the wind can blow through the two of them. I'm just a bit concerned that you'll find the same problem if you use noseeum.

[Oaken]

...I need to question whether you were actually using chiffon...

...I have chiffon on my wife's DIY bridge...

Hi Ramblinrev. I'm a fan of your posts, as well as your "We Don't Sew...We Make Gear" videos.

I plan on trying my hand at a DIY bridge as well.

I will try to post a picture (close-up) of the fabric next to some no-see-um for comparison, but it would have to be after I get some no-see-um. I do believe that it really is true chiffon, but perhaps it is something sheer, but denser than chiffon. It was in the cheap bin at Wally World, and as such, was unlabeled. My guess is that the "holes" are about eight to ten times smaller than the holes in no-see-um. I am basing this guess on a comparison with the material Coleman uses for it's tents' screens. I'm not sure if this is no-see-um or mosquito netting, though. The pattern of the tent screening looks like the close-ups I've seen of no-see-um. The chiffon's holes are so small that a pin would stretch the hole going through it, that is to say, less than the diameter of pin's shaft.

The material I used is see-through (but more dimly than a tent's screening), and as I mentioned before, I could breathe through it easily with it pressed to my mouth.

Regarding your wife's bridge, could it be that the volume of a bridge hammock's interior is that much greater than a Speer or HH clone's, and that is what might account for the added breathability?

I know that risk uses chiffon in his quarter net, but I made a tube with drawstrings, which would provide a tighter seal, as far as air intake/outlet is concerned. I had it drawn pretty tightly, too.

Some additional information: My net is an eleven-foot-long tube of 60 inch DWR RN and 53 inch chiffon, less seam allowances. The intent was to be able to flip it for warmth. I used 550 paracord in the end rolled hems to cinch it up.

[Ramblinrev]

Our standard mosquito netting mesh is custom loomed to our specifications with 270 holes per square inch. It is an excellent quality that we built our business on over 5 years. You can expect an average life between 4-6 years with reasonable care. See comparison table below. Our mosquito netting has about 15% of the density of a bed sheet so that if you threw a bucket of dirt on a white curtain and hung it, you would only see about 15% of the dirt. If your curtain will be subject to rough conditions (stucco, masonry, pets, wild cowboy children), consider our Heavy Mosquito Netting Mesh.

No-see-um netting mesh is really a remarkable fabric that is soft and elegant at 800 holes per square inch. It derives its name NOT from any visual qualities, rather, it shields against a tiny little nasty midge fly unaffectionately called a "no-see-um". No-see-ums flies are found along the coast, lake regions and marshes. If you have never heard of a "no-see-um," you probably don't have them and should probably use the mosquito netting.

http://www.mosquitocurtains.com/5-me...een-porch.html

That's pretty fine mesh.

I can't find a thread count for chiffon offhand but I would doubt it is tighter than noseeum. I am going to suspect that you got a hold of some upholstery base fabric that they use to put on the bottom of chairs. That is stuff is sheer but the density of regular fabric. It is sheer because it is really thin cheap crud. It is often sold in black. That's my guess. I could be wrong.

[TiredFeet]

Buying fabric at Wally World is a true gamble on what fabric you get. We stopped buying there. The price is low, if you really, really, really know what fabric you are buying. Otherwise, you can waste money. We now prefer to go to the fabric store and read the label on the cardboard the fabric is wrapped around and really, really know exactly what we are buying.

I think I agree with RR and doubt that what you got was really chiffon.

TeeDee and I use either Chiffon or Organza instead of noseeum now. The mesh on either is very close to the noseeum or the nanoseeum we have. We haven't pulled out any microscopes and done a thread count or anything, just a visual inspection with our glasses on. (Edit: I consulted TeeDee and he corrected me - the chiffon and Organza are indeed a finer mesh than the nosseum. No numerical comparison or anything, just the visual inspection. But we haven't had any trouble with either as bug netting and we assume that Risk hasn't either - maybe somebody that knows him could ask?) We haven't been able to hand tear any of the 3. The only difference we can discern between Organze or Chiffon and noseeum, is that noseeum doesn't fray when cut. Organza and chiffon do. No big deal, just hem or allow sufficient edge width. Organza is stiffer than chiffon. About the same stiffness as noseeum. Organza is available as either nylon or polyester and either weigh about 0.8 oz per square yard, the same as nanoseeum. noseeum is 1.1 oz per square yard.

If what you had was really chiffon and it cut off enough air flow to make you that uncomfortable, then I seriously doubt that noseeum would be any better. noseeum and nanoseeum will also cut off air flow and raise the temperature inside a hammock.

[Oaken]

I am going to suspect that you got a hold of some upholstery base fabric that they use to put on the bottom of chairs.

I think I agree with RR and doubt that what you got was really chiffon.

You guys have got me convinced that I don't have chiffon. I'll do some shopping at a real fabric store and check out their chiffon to be sure.

Is all mosquito netting woven at right angles, and all noseeum woven with that funny 45 degree angle weave? (I know I saw a close-up picture of noseeum on here somewhere, but I can't find it now.) I'm trying to figure out what the typical Coleman three-man tents use as screening. The Colemans I have have a funny weave with the 45 degree angles in it. I really can't see myself suffocating in THAT.

Thanks for the replies, by the way. This surely is a great forum with helpful friendly people.

T-Rex