Help Identify?

**MondayHopscotch** · 04-05-2010, 20:46

Went to walmart today --- found 12 yards of some mystery fabric. No idea what it is. It feels slicker than regular nylon, but not as slick as sil. But I can't blow through it. Any ideas?

One other note -- The ripstop lines that go through it width-ways are in pairs rather than being single lines.

**sclittlefield** · 04-05-2010, 20:54

Can you get a good close up pic?

Is it gray? My first guess is it's the "pseudo sil" that folks often mistake for silnylon from Walmart. Usually it's got a DWR coating and is calendared, which makes it pretty slippery, but not like silnylon.

**MondayHopscotch** · 04-05-2010, 21:13

well it's digital camo print.

I'll try to get a pic here in a minute.

also, what exactly is 'calendar' in fabric?

I wasn't expecting it to be sil

I brought a little scrap of my sil to use as a reference if i found anything -- I just got it because who can argue with 1.50 a yard?

**MondayHopscotch** · 04-05-2010, 21:21

Sorry -- bad lighting and i'm not at my house right now so i used my buddies phone.

**sclittlefield** · 04-05-2010, 21:25

Originally Posted by MondayHopscotch

also, what exactly is 'calendar' in fabric?

I just got it because who can argue with 1.50 a yard?

Calendering fabric is a process where the material is passed through heated rollers at a high pressure, which gives it a shiny, slick surface. It also significantly reduces the fabric's CFM - rate at which air passes through it, which generally makes the material downproof.

And you bet! $1.50/yd is a no-brainer for any diy'er. When our Walmart's had the clearance sections I scoured it every week... sadly those days are over.

**MondayHopscotch** · 04-05-2010, 21:42

So does that mean you think it isn't coated? Not that it makes much of a difference what-so-ever. Being as the first thing i'm doing with it is making the shell for a synth UQ

Like I said in knotty's thread (which I hadn't seen at the time of making this one), how durable is the non-ripstop nylon compared with the ripstop sort? Would it be worth stopping back by and grabbing the 2 or 3 bolts of the stuff that they have?

**sclittlefield** · 04-06-2010, 07:43

Originally Posted by MondayHopscotch

So does that mean you think it isn't coated? Not that it makes much of a difference what-so-ever. Being as the first thing i'm doing with it is making the shell for a synth UQ

Like I said in knotty's thread (which I hadn't seen at the time of making this one), how durable is the non-ripstop nylon compared with the ripstop sort? Would it be worth stopping back by and grabbing the 2 or 3 bolts of the stuff that they have?

I bet it's coated with a DWR (durable water repellent). DWR is not quite enough to make a fabric "waterproof", but does make it very water resistant.

Non-ripstop... it all depends on what it is. Most likely if it's very lightweight, but not ripstop - you're looking at a Taffeta. Generally speaking, Taffeta and other outdoor gear type fabrics that are not ripstop are more abrasion resistant than ripstop, but not as tear resistant.

If a tear starts in your hammock and it's not ripstop, it's more likely to spread. Hence the tag: rip-stop. The thicker threads that make the grid do a decent job stopping any rips from spreading.

That said - you don't need ripstop for a hammock. It's nice, but many commercial hammock are not made with ripstop and do just fine (Hennessy has many models w/o ripstop, all ENO and similar style hammocks, etc.)

**gargoyle** · 04-06-2010, 07:59

MH and Scott, I'm pretty sure this is the same stuff Scott I pm'd you about last week. It is waterproof from all the testing I've done on it. I strung it up in the backyard the other day ,after seam sealing (min. spirits and silicone caulk) and drying 30 hours.
Dragged the sprinkler over and gave the tarp a good hose down.

25 minutes of high pressure city water, directly at the seams and sides....not a hint of moisture inside.

MH, you got the bargain. Now what to make with, hmmm?, tarp??

I would think the fabric would be clammy for a hammock, IMO.

**MondayHopscotch** · 04-06-2010, 09:33

Well what I was shopping for was a shell for an IX underquilt i'm about to start on. I just finished my sil tarp -- so I have no reason to make another one quite yet.

So as of now -- 15 feet-ish is going towards that, but I'll have another 23 or so feel left over once i'm done with that --- any ideas besides a tarp for something I should do with it?