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stoikurt
12-12-2006, 17:17
Well, I finally hit the Wal-Mart Lottery last night. I've been checking the fabric dollar bin pretty regularly and have found some nice stuff. Recently I bought a bolt of nylon in a neat digital camo pattern. It's not ripstock but it's a pretty tight weave. I'm planning on making a hammock and tarp out of it, mostly just for the practice.

Last night I checked and found a bolt of light gray silnylon.:D Of course I bought the whole bolt of 15 yards. It's only 48 inches wide and obviously factory seconds. Doing the blow through test I think it's about 98% waterproof. With a coating of silicon spray it should work pretty good.

My plan with the other material, which is 60 inches wide, is to make a McCat style tarp with an 11 foot long ridge and 7-8 long foot sides. I wanted to make the sides 5 foot from ridge to edge, so I guess the original square dimensions would be 11X10. To do that with the narrower material I'd have to sew three strips of material together. But that would mean there would not be a seam along the ridge but would have seams about 2 feet down the sides from the ridge. Is this workable? Or do you need to have a seam at the ridge? Would a strip of grossgrain ribbon need to be sewn along the ridge to provide extra support if there was no ridge seam?

slowhike
12-12-2006, 17:31
if i had to guess, i`d say the gray stuff is rip stop w/ a DWR finish. if it`s like what i found there, it`s great for quilts, but i don`t know about spraying it w/ silicon & trusting it to be water proof.
you didn`t say if the camo you plan to make a tarp out of has any treatment that can be seen.
of course you said that you were just making a tarp for practice.

Peter_pan
12-12-2006, 18:53
I'd put the seam on the ridgeline.

Pan

stoikurt
12-13-2006, 11:51
if i had to guess, i`d say the gray stuff is rip stop w/ a DWR finish. if it`s like what i found there, it`s great for quilts, but i don`t know about spraying it w/ silicon & trusting it to be water proof.
you didn`t say if the camo you plan to make a tarp out of has any treatment that can be seen.
of course you said that you were just making a tarp for practice.

It very well may be DWR but still a great find. I think most tarps aren't 100% waterproof anyway unless they are true silnylon or coated with pvc or something similar. I don't think my Kelty Noah's Tarp is fully waterproof. The camo material was not coated and will probably make a better hammock than tarp. I did a quick test the other night of the two materials, as follows:

1 square of the nylon camo material sprayed with the Coleman Water Repellent spray (if does not mention silicon on the can).
1 square of the nylon camo sprayed with Camp Dry spray that contains silicon.
1 square of the ripstop gray material with no further treatments added.

Test 1: Sag the material over a glass, hold it in place with a rubber band and pour about a quarter cup of water on it and let it sit. After an hour no liquid dripped through any of the materials but the nylon with the Coleman spray had fibers that were becoming wet. The fibers in the other 2 remained dry.

Test 2: Hold the material tightly over the glass and spray water on it at a 45 degree angle for 1 minute at the kitchen sink. Results: The Coleman treated fabric leaked pretty and had about a tablespoon of water in the glass. The Camp Dry (silicon) treatment had about a half teaspoon of water in the glass. The gray ripstop (probably DWR) only had a few drops of water in the glass.

Conclusion: 1. Don't waste your money on the non-silicon spray water repellent. 2. The gray ripstop I have might work OK in most weather except for heavy or prolonged rain. 3. More testing is necessary for better results.

Just Jeff
12-14-2006, 13:49
I have found both gray silnylon and gray DWR at Walmart. Usually the DWR, though.

Frolicking Dino
12-15-2006, 16:38
A question - since silicone only sticks to silicone, couldn't you tell if a fabric was or wasn't silinylon by putting a gob of silicone on one corner? In theory, it should stick if it was sil-nylon and not stick if it is DWR treated.

Grinder
12-15-2006, 18:52
I just read on Whiteblaze that all walmarts are discontinuing the $1 bin.

That matches my experience, in that, the bin at my "good Walmart" is gone and the clerk said it was cancelled.

Oh Dear!! Where shall we turn for cheap material??

Tom

slowhike
12-15-2006, 19:13
man... that`s bad news.

Grinder
12-15-2006, 20:11
I just went back and reread the white blaze post.

It said the fabric DEPARTMENT (the whole thing)would be eliminated by March 2007.

My walmart eliminated the $ bin during the last few weeks.

Tom

Coffee
12-16-2006, 00:23
I just went back and reread the white blaze post.

It said the fabric DEPARTMENT (the whole thing)would be eliminated by March 2007.

My walmart eliminated the $ bin during the last few weeks.

Tom

Man I might have to go try to stock up. Although I did buy 15 yds last time.

Frolicking Dino
12-16-2006, 06:44
I've got quite a bit of silnylon on hand, but I do hate to see this resource go.

If you fellows need some cheap fabric for prototypes, try the clearance area at Hobby Lobby - they have a 45" fabric called baste for $.77/yd pretty much all the time and usually have some seasonal print 60" wide material in the $1 to $2 range.

slowhike
12-16-2006, 11:19
no more webbing from wal-mart.
i know that maybe the webbing is taking a more concentrated force in one spot w/ the cc buckles, but this is not the 1st time i`ve had it break.
others have never had the wal-mart webbing break, but maybe who ever makes that webbing just isn't consistent in their quality control.
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery/files/2/5/PC160028.JPG

Frolicking Dino
12-20-2006, 08:17
Re: WalMart phasing out of fabric. I spoke with a district manager yesterday. A handful of WalMarts - those with consistently profitable fabric departments - may not be phased out. He said he was told to find the five most profitable in his district. One of them is in my area :D

He also said these stores would likely get all of the clearance fabric until that contract runs out. Call the district manager in your area and find out which stores may be keeping the fabric departments.

slowhike
12-20-2006, 10:38
that`s good to know. i need to make contact. i`d like to build up my inventory of material to work with.

blackbishop351
12-22-2006, 15:53
I just went to the local Walmart to check out the fabric-dissolution rumor. It's apparently true :( The lady said our store was planning to close the fabric department by the middle of March.

On the bright side, I found 30 yards of OD green (maybe a little darker olive) 1.1 oz., plus about 17 yards of the same color DWR! Woohoo!

The lady also said that she'll be ordering as much fabric stock as she can before the department closes. Apparently, 'closing' only means they can't restock anymore. They'll continue to sell what they have until their inventory gets too low. I gave her my number and asked her to call me if she found any more ripstop. We'll see how that works out.

Just Jeff
12-22-2006, 18:45
I've been asking at every one I go to. It's apparently true.

But I picked up ~20 more yards today. Some more OD DWR, a bit of gray silnylon, and some silver DWR...all 1.1 oz.

neo
12-22-2006, 20:57
Well, I finally hit the Wal-Mart Lottery last night. I've been checking the fabric dollar bin pretty regularly and have found some nice stuff. Recently I bought a bolt of nylon in a neat digital camo pattern. It's not ripstock but it's a pretty tight weave. I'm planning on making a hammock and tarp out of it, mostly just for the practice.

Last night I checked and found a bolt of light gray silnylon.:D Of course I bought the whole bolt of 15 yards. It's only 48 inches wide and obviously factory seconds. Doing the blow through test I think it's about 98% waterproof. With a coating of silicon spray it should work pretty good.

My plan with the other material, which is 60 inches wide, is to make a McCat style tarp with an 11 foot long ridge and 7-8 long foot sides. I wanted to make the sides 5 foot from ridge to edge, so I guess the original square dimensions would be 11X10. To do that with the narrower material I'd have to sew three strips of material together. But that would mean there would not be a seam along the ridge but would have seams about 2 feet down the sides from the ridge. Is this workable? Or do you need to have a seam at the ridge? Would a strip of grossgrain ribbon need to be sewn along the ridge to provide extra support if there was no ridge seam?

hey bro
can you make me a couple digital camo stuff sacks:cool: neo

Coffee
12-23-2006, 10:22
I've been asking at every one I go to. It's apparently true.

But I picked up ~20 more yards today. Some more OD DWR, a bit of gray silnylon, and some silver DWR...all 1.1 oz.

Man Jeff, are you thinking of starting your own hammocking busniess?;)

slowhike
12-23-2006, 10:38
I've been asking at every one I go to. It's apparently true.

But I picked up ~20 more yards today. Some more OD DWR, a bit of gray silnylon, and some silver DWR...all 1.1 oz.

i`ve not had any luck lately. if you decide you want to sell a few yards, i`d be interested. ...tim

blackbishop351
12-23-2006, 14:48
i`ve not had any luck lately. if you decide you want to sell a few yards, i`d be interested. ...tim

Come check out the store here, man...there's plenty of the gray DWR Jeff's talking about. At least 30 yards.

slowhike
12-23-2006, 14:54
Come check out the store here, man...there's plenty of the gray DWR Jeff's talking about. At least 30 yards.

which wal-mart(s) in greensboro are you finding it. i`ve been a couple times to the one on wendover near I40, but they didn`t have much in the $1.00 stuff.

blackbishop351
12-23-2006, 16:02
I always go to the wendover store - the battleground store never has anything. I don't know when you've been here, but the store on wendover has had the ripstop I mentioned for at least 3 months. There's 2 15-yard bolts that I know of, maybe more.

If you want, I can pick some up and hold it for you...

slowhike
12-23-2006, 19:25
it`s been a while since i tried them, but i`ll be going with-in a block of there this tues on my job. i`ll swing by there. hopefully the holiday traffic will have died down by then.
thanks.

Just Jeff
12-23-2006, 20:06
I'm stocking up. Once I get settled and inventory what I really have, I'll probably offer some of it up to folks who can't find any. Cost plus shipping or something. Probably keeping the olive drab to mehself, though... :D

Coffee
12-25-2006, 10:07
I stopped at a Walmart on my way to my parents house yesterday and acquired 15 yds of olive drab 1.1 oz DWR. A nice little Christmas present to myself. Now only if I cold find some sil. I am putting my family in charge of stopping back at this Walmart to see if they get anything else in.

The Breeze
12-25-2006, 16:18
me to me ehheheheh got alot:cool:

Just Jeff
12-27-2006, 10:04
Better leave the family a sample, Nate. I gave my MIL a small square of ripstop, DWR and sil that she keeps in her purse for me...

Coffee
12-27-2006, 10:54
I did that. I figured there is no way I could describe to them over the phone what to look for.

slowhike
12-27-2006, 16:12
i made a big score today!
i went to two wal-marts (one in greensboro, thanks BB, & one in thomasville).
i bought a total of a little over 50 yards of fabric.
it was all rip stop except for about 3 & 1/2 yrds of a thin black nylon that would make a good quilt liner.
mostly dark green & grey.

blackbishop351
12-27-2006, 19:04
i made a big score today!
i went to two wal-marts (one in greensboro, thanks BB, & one in thomasville).
i bought a total of a little over 50 yards of fabric.
it was all rip stop except for about 3 & 1/2 yrds of a thin black nylon that would make a good quilt liner.
mostly dark green & grey.

You clean my Walmart out of that grey stuff? :eek:

slowhike
12-27-2006, 19:32
You clean my Walmart out of that grey stuff? :eek:
no... i left you some<g>. quite a bit's still there actually.
i was surprised how much rip stop they had... more than i'd seen at one store.

Grinder
01-05-2007, 19:24
Go figure!!

I was in the "bad WalMart" in my area today. Guess what?? They have a big bin of $1 material now.

Apparently all the talk about closing the fabric departments etc, is not as far reaching as we thought. For all I know, this WalMart will be one of the few who keep the fabric department?

Who knows.

I need to brush up on visual fabric ID-ing. There is some beautiful grey among others. I have no idea of weight or material, but it looks right and feel "slinky"

Tom

headchange4u
01-05-2007, 19:29
I found out the other day that one of my local WalMarts will be keeping it's fabric dept..:D

The employee that waited on me even recognized the fabric and told me they sell a lot of it. I hope this means they will have a steady supply of outdoor type fabrics.

slowhike
01-05-2007, 20:13
keith... i went back into your wal-mart today & only saw two bolts of rip stop.
either you've been stocking up or jeff saw our posts & decided to swing by there w/ his trailer<g>.

blackbishop351
01-05-2007, 20:31
It wasn't me...so THAT's the reason Jeff hasn't come up here to get a beer yet...he's been busy raiding my Walmart! :eek:

Frolicking Dino
01-05-2007, 22:47
I bought 12.33 yards of gary silnylon tonight. I feel a catenary tarp coming on....

Coffee
01-06-2007, 00:20
Man I still haven't came into any sil yet. I guess this means that when I find it, I am going to find a bunch.

slowhike
01-06-2007, 08:33
i've never found silnylon at wal-mart either. ...tim

stoikurt
01-06-2007, 09:54
i've never found silnylon at wal-mart either. ...tim

Me either:( , but I've come close. I keep hoping though.