Thermal Reflective Material (used some?)

[Northern Mike]

The stuff I am refering to is the material used in high end ski and snowboard jackets. It's a washable (breathable) material that is designed to reflect your body heat back at you.

I've been doing a bit of research, trying to located the best bang for your buck material that could be used in my custom sleeping bag, a ultra-lite sleeping mat, etc. I found one company in Texas that makes the stuff and based on the sample I received, it's perfect, but not cheap. It's ~1mm thick.

Has anyone used a similar material for their hammock?
If so, what brand, and what did you think about it?



I'm probably going to bite the bullet and order a few yards of it this fall for a few backpacking based R&D projects.
If I do get into some R&D projects, any suggestions on where this stuff could be used to improve cool/cold weather hanging?

[Fish<><]

I know that there are a few using thermoflect or something like that. It's basically fleece with a reflective coating and they get it at Joanne's I think. Anyways I don't think it's expensive.

[Northern Mike]

I know that there are a few using thermoflect or something like that. It's basically fleece with a reflective coating and they get it at Joanne's I think. Anyways I don't think it's expensive.

I have seen that stuff when I was looking at materials.

[CooOkieCOOon]

I've had the same thought of using this material. All my search came up empty for a seller of the material though.
Do you mind sharing the company selling it?

[Northern Mike]

I've had the same thought of using this material. All my search came up empty for a seller of the material though.
Do you mind sharing the company selling it?

I'll have to dig up the name when I get home (at the office).
When I talked to their sales rep, it worked out to ~$10 a yard if I buy more then 5 yards at a time (3yrd min order).

Originally I was looking at this stuff for my hiking sleeping bag project. My current bag is way too light for spring and fall camping and I've froze my butt a few times at or near 0'C with it (rated as 16'C with sleeping mat which I don't use due to space in pack). Other then the project cost, it is keeping the project within the battery limits (size of a softball compressed and an estimated temp of near 0'C without a mat).

[steveflinn]

Not familiar with the stuff in clothing. But the AMK SOL Escape Bivy is made from a Tyvek-feeling stuff that's truly amazing. Warm and it breathes. It's my summer sleeping bag, takes me down to upper 40's.

[oldpappy]

Good thread - I'm interested in this too.
Watch for end of season sales.

[Northern Mike]

Good thread - I'm interested in this too.
Watch for end of season sales.

I don't know if the stuff I am looking at will go on sale (ever). They did kind of indicate when I spoke with them that they didn't sell to consumers, and mostly dealt with manufactures. Because I contacted them through my wife's online company (I'm part owner, R&D and field tester), I was able to obtain the info and and even a sample.

Unfortunately I didn't get any time in the home office last night to aquire the manufacture name and so on. I did have a text file on my work computer with the specs only (don't know why I did that).
The specs of the stuff I'm looking at are as follows;

PRODUCT: Polypropylene based non-woven perforated and metallized one side.
WEIGHT: 17.3 lb M/sf
NOMINAL THICKNESS: 10.9 mils
TENSILE STRENGTH: 47.0 lb/in width*
TEAR STRENGTH: 6.0 lb/in width*
PUNCTURE RESISTANCE: 17 lbs.**
MULLEN BURST STRENGTH: 55.0 psi*
LOW TEMPERATURE BEND: 131° F PASS***
WATER VAPOR PERMEABILITY: 87.5g/m2/24hr****
FLAMMABILITY: Class B*****
THERMAL PROPERTIES: Emissivity 0.05******
(Reflects 95% of Infrared Energy)

This stuff is very tear resistant (tried tearing the sample by hand), and in my testing with the small sample (lined the outward part of the pockets of my spring jacket), I was able to keep my hands warm with no gloves in temps of -20'C. while walking.

With my wife's online store pregressing away from it's original Geocaching products, I suspect I'll be given the go ahead to pick up a large piece or even a roll of this stuff to produce some demo camping products.

No promises (we have 3 young kids and a 1930's home I'm restoring), but if all goes good and I get the wife's approval, I'll probably have a few demo/test products for sale as well as maybe a few pieces of the material.

[HURTHEART]

Interesting, I hope you keep us posted. I am cold all the time, I would be interested in adding something like this material to my sleeping quilt and a coat. Being cold is such a bummer. My body just does not generate heat the way it should.

[Northern Mike]

Interesting, I hope you keep us posted. I am cold all the time, I would be interested in adding something like this material to my sleeping quilt and a coat. Being cold is such a bummer. My body just does not generate heat the way it should.

I'm the opposite but always end up getting caught once or twice a year packing too lite.

The bases of this stuff working would be mostly your body's own heat. In the hiking sleeping bag I've designed and will be making soon, I have included a couple elements which will help take the edge off if you (like me) get caught, or if you just need that extra bit of warmth. I can't give too much info as the wife wants to retail these once the final design is completed. I can say it'll be a hiking bag, compressable to about the size of a softball, and be rated at or below freezing (without a mat and layers upon layers of cloths.