You've got that right. They have perfected the dumb-look. "Do you carry any silnylon?", "Huh, I've never heard of that so we don't have it". "We do have this nice camouflage fabric though"
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How do you tell what is what? I went to WM today looking for Supplex to try for a hammock but the $1 bin material was almost all labeled "unknown material." I did find something that looked like ripstop so picked up 7 lin yards to play with and it is going through hour two of She Dino's drip test to give me idea of what it might be.
For determining the weight of what I've got I'm thinking of filling a beaker full of water, stuffing the material in a plastic bag then lowering it in the beaker and collecting the overflow in a measuring cup.
Think that might work or am I making it more complicated than it needs to be?
Kiyu
i'm trying to remember if there is a thread that gives a basic idea what to look for when you go into a fabric store.
sounds like another topic for one of our skilled article writers<g>.
Materials identification & characteristics, thread types/weights & stitching methods certainly would be helpful to we folks just getting into this.
Most of the good fabric stores around here have closed but there is still one left. I'll just have to visit frequently and fondle fabrics until I can identify them.
Determined from Dino's test my material is DWR Ripstop. Did the water overflow weight thing/sq. yds. and came up with 1.09 oz. sq. yd. Closer to 1.1 oz. than I thought I'd get. Too light for a hammock but something to play around with.
Kiyu
I can the tell fabrics apart because I have been dealing a lot with them lately. You can also looks at your store bought gear to help identify fabric. Most manufacturers list what their gear is made of on their website.
Another option is to order some fabric samples from some place like Outdoor Wilderness fabrics or Seattle Fabrics.
There's some army green and blaze orange coated ripstop at the Walmart on Hwy 1 just south of Alexandria, VA. It's pobably 2.5 or 3 oz though...pretty thick and crisp. About 10 yds of each, I think.