M50 vs Argon

[HomeMadeHiker]

I have the ARGON material to make uq shells with and I like it a lot better than the m50 - it is softer and doesn't have a plastic bag feel to it. It is very wind proof and with the dwr coating pretty water resistant.

The ARGON and m50 are the same when it comes to working with them - really thin material. I would not ever make a hammock from the ARGON or the m50 - just too thin.

Thanks Dave, I was hoping you would chime in!

[FireInMyBones]

I find that the M50 has a stiffer hand to it making it easier to work with. My field experience has shown M50 to be an almost completely waterproof and windproof fabric.

Argon is probably the softest quilt fabric I've worked with. It is very flimsy and almost neglige like. I find Argon a bit of a pain to work with compared to M50 because it is so flimsy. With that said, I love the way it feels and moves once sewn into a quilt.

On a side note, trying to pair M50 as an outer and argon as an inner is difficult. They stretch differently.

[Dutch]

I designed ARGON fabric to be the perfect material for making quilts. It is so light that it rivals cuben fiber at .67 ounces per square yard. That softness everyone raves about is intentional. It has the best DWR coating that makes it extremely wind and waterproof. Yet it breaths better than high tech multi layer fabric. I am a DIYer myself and I knew exactly what I wanted. Lastly the colors are beautiful. Chocolate is my favorite. My quilt is chocolate covered titanium.

[FireInMyBones]

I designed ARGON fabric to be the perfect material for making quilts. It is so light that it rivals cuben fiber at .67 ounces per square yard. That softness everyone raves about is intentional. It has the best DWR coating that makes it extremely wind and waterproof. Yet it breaths better than high tech multi layer fabric. I am a DIYer myself and I knew exactly what I wanted. Lastly the colors are beautiful. Chocolate is my favorite. My quilt is chocolate covered titanium.

It is as you say. For the most part, argon has surpassed M50 in my min. Time will tell or m if it completely replaces it (likely).

[stormcrow]

Thanks for the heads up on this thread HMH.

I have had the chance to work extensively with both of these materials.

Regarding M50. I really do like this material but most of the time but it was not very cost effective to have the customer drop ship the fabric to us from Thru-hiker. I would have kept it in stock to try and save them a little, but even after buying well over two thousand yards from TH, we still got zero price break. In my opinion, it just wasn't worth it.

Another issue I had with M50 is that it was just barely breathable enough to get away with being a good quilt material. That is certainly a good thing when you are going for maximum wind and rain resistance but there are also instances when that very low breathability is potentially troublesome and not necessarily worth it.

Many of you that have M50 quilts can attest to how nice they are. They are really light and after they wear in just a bit, some of the "plasticy" feel is toned down. You also know how it can be a hassle putting them into and taking them out of their stuff sacks. That "balloon" effect can be kind of annoying. You have to wait for this air to slowly dissipate so you can stuff the rest of the quilt in. The biggest problem with this is the migration of down. This migration is not a big deal if you are aware of it happening and check the quilt after it has a chance to loft up....which can sometimes take a while. But, if you do not check to make sure that the down is still evenly distributed, you will notice cold spots during the hours of the night that you do not really feel like adjusting your quilt.

The other breathability issue has to do with condensation management. This is not as big a deal with underquilts because they do not have direct contact with the user and are not typically heated as quickly as a top quilt. If you tend to sleep warm or sweat a little more during the night, you might find yourself needing to vent the quilt more often to release some of the moisture buildup. This does not happen to everyone. I do not personally notice it either, but I get reports from people in the field on occasion that say they notice it.

Wow...that was a bit wordier than I though it was going to be.....

On to ARGON fabric!

What can I say, Dutch really hit the nail on the head with ARGON! I really love this stuff. While it still has a great DWR, it is just a bit more breathable than M50 so you should have an easier time getting into your stuff sack and not have to worry as much about down migration (although you should still keep an eye on that). For those of you that have a quilt made with this material, you can attest to how great it feels against the skin! Factory tests show that the DWR on this material is still at 95% after 10 washings. That is an exceptionally high number. Also, this material (along with M50) does not depend on the DWR coating to achieve its down proof status. That comes from the very tight weave of the material itself...as it should. I should also mention that in fabrics of this weight class, the effectiveness of a ripstop pattern, which in many cases is for aesthetics anyway, is debatable.

The other great thing about ARGON fabric is that it is much more affordable because there is no middle man...Ok, well, I don't really think of Dutch as a middle man....

~Stormcrow

[Lost_Biker]

Thanks Dave, I was hoping you would chime in!

Your quite welcome. The more I work with the ARGON, the more I like it. I think it sews better than m50, but that may be my imagination - doesn't pucker up as much. For 10 bucks a yard, it's a great deal.

[Downhill Trucker]

Stormcrow... Thanks for the excellent first hand advice. One question: Do you think m50's lack of breathability would make it clammy in my hammock if I use it as the inner material on my DL hammock?

[FireInMyBones]

Stormcrow... Thanks for the excellent first hand advice. One question: Do you think m50's lack of breathability would make it clammy in my hammock if I use it as the inner material on my DL hammock?

I'm not Stormcrow, but I can attest that it most certainly would be a bit clammy.

[jwright]

I haven't had the chance to get my hands on this yet. It really sounds promising. So far, the softest lightweight nylon I have used is 8d/Nobul. Can anyone give a brief comparo?
It sounds like it might also make a nice ultralight windshirt. The M50 has been goodfor that , but still feels a bit 'plasticky'.
Thanks,
jason

[Wolle]

.... Chocolate is my favorite. My quilt is chocolate covered titanium.

Please a large photo of it!