7D fabric

[jdempsey]

Guys I've worked with this stuff more extensively than anybody at this point. I was given the only pre-production sample of it to play with, and the first production sample.

It's very strong considering it's specs, and I expect it to hold up extremely well for down equipment like quilts, etc, which is exactly what it was developed for, however, this was *not* designed, nor suitable for building hammocks out of.

Using M90 or Intrepid is questionable, but I've had good success (haven't landed on my *** yet), with a 20d Intrepid hammock, but would not even consider wasting the yardage to test with SevenD, M50 or M55.


Otherwise, SevenD is excellent fabric, but intended for specific applications.

[jdempsey]

Since someone asked me about it directly, I just want to mention, that there's almost zero actual advantage to using 0.9oz 20d fabric for a hammock body, compared to the 1.1oz uncoated stuff that Scott sells.

Once you factor in the DWR coating, the finished weights on most "0.9oz" fabrics is actually between 1-1.15. Plus, the varieties that I've used have been regular type 6 nylon, as compared to the stronger type 6,6 stuff that Scott has.


In short, I don't recommend wasting your time.

Sorry for the thread hijack.

[BlackRock]

The SevenD is really some nice stuff. We've been working with it now for the last month and I'm definitely sold on it. It's much softer than anything I've worked with before and has a nice weave to it along with a pretty good DWR coating. I'd even go so far as to say I have more hours working with it than you Javan

It's definitely not the best fabric for a high stress hammock though. By the time you get to a 7 denier weave everything is so fine there isn't as much strength per strand. You could no doubt make a hammock that would hold you, but the first time you dropped a knee into it or caught a piece of gear on the hammock you'd either tear it, snag it or stretch and warp it out of shape.

Going super ultralight is one thing, but making a piece of gear that lasts has it's merits too. In this case buying the right fabric for the job is probably the better idea than making a hammock out of a ripstop that's designed for gear that isn't put under such stress.

I would say that it's perfect material for soft goods and makes some amazing quilts, clothing and hats. It's also really nice as a lining material and has a beautiful deep black sheen.

[warbonnetguy]

do you guys prefer the 7d stuff to the m50? i've only seen the m50 and another 5d, the m50 is pretty nice, how does the 7d compare?

[stormcrow]

At this point I am pretty sure I have used most of them. I really like the M50 and M55, it is some wispy stuff for sure. A little more challenge to work with but the end result looks pretty awesome. I am getting a sample of the 7d right now but if behaves how the other vendors have said it does. Looks promising though. I really love how they are pushing the envelope on fabrics these days. Heck, pretty soon, 30d will be the "heavy stuff"....(I suppose it already is.. )

~SC

[KerMegan]

think of it like carabiners; some are rated for climbing, some are rated for keys...do not mix them up! or for you math-jobs--- A< is not equal to >B
KM(who longs for wispy fabric, but to sleep under, not inside of..)

[BlackRock]

do you guys prefer the 7d stuff to the m50? i've only seen the m50 and another 5d, the m50 is pretty nice, how does the 7d compare?

Well... I had a nice long post then lost it to a login issue... Haven't been on here enough I guess.

I've tested all the materials and some more over the last six months. I'd have to say the SevenD is by far my hands down choice. The patterned Jaquard weaved M50 isn't my preference in addition to the color.

The M50 doesn't really compare that well to the SevenD but is better compared to the more familiar Momentum/Intrepid people have been using for a while. It's a much more rigid material that feels more plastic and slick though relative to the 20d stuff it does have a lighter and softer feel. It's so slick though that it's more like sewing with a really fine Ultrasil when behind the machine (which I'd say is harder than a standard double coated sil ripstop). I think the overall feel is mainly why it seems more like a lighter weight Momentum. I think it's a combination of the weave and the coating that makes it feel more like a standard ripstop and is more like what I initially expected from an ultralight fabric. A lighter softer feel, wispy like StormCrow mentions. I was wowed with it when it showed up but after getting a run of the SevenD the bar was truly raised.

The SevenD is the softest most supple ripstop I've felt and is more like a silk which is why I say it doesn't compare very well to the M50. It's got an extremely deep black sheen to it making for really striking gear. It also has more stretch and is even lighter than both the M50 and M55. I think the big difference is the feel of the material, it's a lighter weight material if you want to measure it at the scale, but it's that soft silky hand that makes it feel so much lighter. It's as if the material works better for the weight of the material and somehow shows off how truly light the material is because of the feel.

Basically after working with everything I chose to go with the SevenD for a run of gear. It's some really sweet material and makes for some amazingly light gear. As an example, I've got a new SUL Black Rock Hat coming out that's 30% lighter weighing only 18.3 grams for a large and 14.7 grams for a medium! The hat is so compressible it literally disappears in your pocket and I can't wait till we release another couple new items with it.

[jdempsey]

Sorry Evan, didn't mean to forget about you there bruv. I'm sure you're right, you've had more time with it than I have for sure.



One thing I want to note here, is that M50/55 are both 10d fabrics and not 5d. SevenD is 7x10denier.


I personally haven't played with any 5d fabrics yet, but rest assured, they'll be in play soon no doubt.


Personally I haven't much exposure to M55, which sounds superior to M50, but my experience with M50 wasn't very favorable. I expected it to be more useful for bivy tops and wind gear, but the anecdotal reports don't seem to find it too wind resistant, and as mentioned, it's very slippery, and difficult to work with. YMMV however.


SevenD is easy to work with, highly downproof, and crazy light.

[BlackRock]

Sorry Evan, didn't mean to forget about you there bruv. I'm sure you're right, you've had more time with it than I have for sure.

Just giving you a hard time I always love to see the gear you've got floating about on BPL and here. Some awesome stuff! You should move to Seattle and join me here at Black Rock Gear... I could use another gear crazed guy hammering away new designs in the shop!

The SevenD is great stuff though it's definitely harder to work with until you get a feel for the weight. I've also noticed that due to the ultralight nature of the fabric the amount of fill generally doesn't need to be as much to create the same loft.

Seems like lots of people are into making top quilts with it as well though mostly heavy weight quilts with 5-7+ oz of down. I'd love to see somebody make a small baffled, sewn through design with more like 2-3oz of fill and really make use of some 900fp loft in that soft fabric. I think you could get a nice 1.5" loft quilt well under 10oz in total for something that's probably a solid 40* summer quilt.

[deGuerre]

I love the feel of SevenD. It is crazy soft and is an excellent choice for the hat's Evan/BlackRock is making. The color is a nice dark black and that's a real plus too. I may have to get one of your hats these days Evan