View Full Version : Help with some $1 fabric
Hey all, this is my first post here although I've been lurking around for a few weeks and the forums have convinced me to try and make some new gear. I've picked up some fabric from the Walmart $1 bin and I'm trying to figure out what I've got.
It's a grey ripstop material that appears to have no treatment or maybe a very lite DWR treatment. When i did the burn test I got a small hard grey bead and it did smell like celery so I'm guessing it's nylon. My confusion came when i placed it on the scale. The material ways ~1.5 oz per square yard. I've seen everyone talking about 1.1 and 1.9 but is there a 1.5 ripstop?
Take-a-knee
02-06-2008, 10:52
That may be why you found it at Walmart.
headchange4u
02-06-2008, 11:41
When you see listed weights of fabrics, 1.1oz and 1.9oz for example, the weigh does not include any treatments applied to the fabric. 1.1 oz silnylon actually weighs ~1.3oz per sq yard. You may have an odd weight fabric, like 1.3oz, and with the DWR treatment, you may be getting weights of around 1.5oz.
Did you take the sq feet of the fabric and covert to yards or did you just take the length of the fabric to divide into the weight? Probably you did it correctly but it's worth mentioning.
familyman
02-06-2008, 16:54
I'll use my first post to respond to your first post. :)
I'm not sure exactly what it is but I'm pretty sure I have exactly the same thing and it makes a very comfortable hammock. I just finished my first one two days ago and it holds my 160 lbs and about 80 lbs in additional children squirming around. For $1 a yard it doesn't really matter what it is to me. When it comes time to make a tarp I will buy something I can identify as waterproof though.
Two things I wanted to add to my first post:
1. This place rules.
2. The slippery sheet bend is the best knot ever. I can now make a hammock in 5 minutes out of anything. I owe a beer to whoever brought that knot to our attention.
I'm pretty sure that I did the conversion correctly. I figured out the square footage and then divided it by 9 to get the square yards. I'm guessing that it's just some type of walmart special.
The plan is to make a double bottom hammock out of the stuff which should give me the equivalent of a piece of 1.9 and 1.1 which is what I was shooting for. When it comes time to make a tarp i'll be going with some 1.1 sil from thru-hiker or outdoor wilderness.
Familyman, I'm glad to hear that it makes such a comfortable hammock you can't beat the $1 bin. :) Where can i see this slippery sheet bend? It sounds like solid knot to know.
Thanks so much for the responses, this site rocks!
Preacha Man
02-06-2008, 23:24
Linving 30 minutes from Wal-Mart Corperate Office, I have tried to get their big wig fabric buyer to carry 1.1oz sil, 1.1oz. breathable, and 1.9oz. breathable. He always tells me that besides us few, no one buys it, besides, Wal-Mart is thinking about pulling away from fabric all together. The $ bin is always a good place to look, I love confusing the little old fabric ladies by asking for 1.1 ounce silicone impregnated ripstop nylon :D.
That grey material your talking about, I think I got the same stuff from my Walmart. I used it to make a bridge hammock. They also had the same material with a urethane coating.
Is there a difference between the sheet bend and a "slippery sheet bend"?
slowhike
02-07-2008, 06:14
Linving 30 minutes from Wal-Mart Corperate Office, I have tried to get their big wig fabric buyer to carry 1.1oz sil, 1.1oz. breathable, and 1.9oz. breathable. He always tells me that besides us few, no one buys it, besides, Wal-Mart is thinking about pulling away from fabric all together. The $ bin is always a good place to look, I love confusing the little old fabric ladies by asking for 1.1 ounce silicone impregnated ripstop nylon :D.
i'm guessing that the silnylon maker wouldn't sell the silnylon 2nds that they have been selling to wal-mart, to an individual???
that would be a nice group buy!!!:) ...that is if wal-mart would even give out information about where they get it.
Preacha Man
02-07-2008, 08:16
i'm guessing that the silnylon maker wouldn't sell the silnylon 2nds that they have been selling to wal-mart, to an individual???
that would be a nice group buy!!!:) ...that is if wal-mart would even give out information about where they get it.
HAHAHA we would only be so lucky. The only way that would EVER happen, is if I ran into one of Wal-Mart's Fabric Vendor's. Wal-Mart requires their vendors to live in Bentonville area, but their are hundreds of them :eek: . Finding the right one by chance would almost be impossible. I do know their Purell hand sanitizer vendor, hmmmm, at least I got that lucky :D :p
Dwight
familyman
02-07-2008, 11:41
http://www.cabelas.com/information/cabelasfieldguides/KnotLibraryCampingKnots/DoubleSheetBend.html
This shows a double sheet bend. To make it 'slippery' you pass a bight through on the last bit. This leaves you with a shoelace type loop and tail that you can yank to easily release the knot. I was able to test out 6 different gathering methods in a little over an hour the other night thanks to this knot. It's very cool.
slowhike
02-07-2008, 19:41
HAHAHA we would only be so lucky. The only way that would EVER happen, is if I ran into one of Wal-Mart's Fabric Vendor's. Wal-Mart requires their vendors to live in Bentonville area, but their are hundreds of them :eek: . Finding the right one by chance would almost be impossible. I do know their Purell hand sanitizer vendor, hmmmm, at least I got that lucky :D :p
Dwight
yeah... i wonder if the hand sanitizer guy knows any of the fabric vendors???:cool:
Preacha Man
02-07-2008, 23:43
yeah... i wonder if the hand sanitizer guy knows any of the fabric vendors???:cool:
Its a woman, that goes to my friends church in Bentonville, and no, that is another department altogether. Yes, I have already asked :D . So for now, we can only dream :rolleyes: .