Spinnaker vs. Silnylon

I think I already read that Ron doesn't want to make one out of Spin.

Hi Andrew! IMHO spinnaker is verrry delicate. In the Gossamer Gear site they caution about not leaning their packs against trees or rocks because they'll shred. Believe it. First trip out with my Whisperlight I was stuffing a windshirt into the front pocket and my fingernail sliced right through the fabric! The rent was easily patched with silnet, and I still use the pack, albeit verrry carefully. A tarp wouldn't be subject to the same exposure since it's packed away most of the time, just baby it. Check out GG as they have some shelters made of spinnaker-like fabric.

Ha…wow Monty! That is far more fragile then I imagined! Unless there is a MAJOR difference in performance, I don't know if I want to deal with the extra caution..

The MAJOR differences are that spinn is crinkly, makes a lot of noise in wind and is not as slippery as Silnylon.

In my view spinnaker tarps are an ideal way to save weight. They are robust and will withstand a lot of serious weather. But, spinnaker for ponchos and packs is a greater concern. The fabric needs to be cared for, it will stand up to a lot of serious weather, but trees and rocks and … are not its friends.

I own an MLD spinnaker tarp and a GG Whisper and am happy with both, but I chose not to get a spinnaker poncho or a large spinnaker pack.

Andrew,

I’m not opposed to Spinnaker shelters. I just haven’t found that the weight savings justified the added expense. A year ago, I made several Spinnaker versions of the Lunar Solo. The final weight was less than three ounces difference. I could have probably have saved a couple of additional ounces if I’d have used the lighter No-See-Um netting.

However, considering the number of different versions we offer, adding additional ones to manufacturing just causes confusion.

That said, I’ve just posted the information on the Refuge X online for ordering on our website . This shelter was specifically designed to utilize the Cuben Fiber material.

At 16 ounces, it’s the “Worlds Lightest” two man shelter and it’s 10 ounces lighter than it’s Silnylon counter part.

It’ll be up to you guys to determine if the weight reduction is worth the extra expense.

Ron

Ron-

This may sound crazy, but believe it or not it wouldn't be totally about the weight savings.

The reason is really because I haven't experienced Silnylon in the rain and I'm a huge fan of getting what will work best in the most conditions the first time around. It seems like Spinnaker performs better in wet weather than Silnylon. That is really all that is driving my desire for a Spinnaker tent. A fabric that won't sag or mist in wet weather seems like a nice thing to have. Is it worth the cost? I have no idea and I guess that is what this thread is all about. What is the price difference for a shelter made with Silnylon vs. Spinnaker? What would I multiply the price by to get a rough estimate of Spinnaker?

PS. The Refuge X looks sweet! If I had any experience with light i.e. fragile fabric I would certainly be interested!

I think you will find in most cases that spinntex shelters will run about double that of the same shelter fabricated with silnylon. Spectralite, which is lighter even then spinntex, will run more still.

Hmmm…that doesn't seem right. The Cuben version of the Refuge is $400 and the Silnylon version is $260. That is only $140 differnece and I would imagine that Spinnatex costs less than cuben thus I can't see how it could be twice as much…

I talked to GG about Spinnaker and they said that due to Spinnaker not flexing or stretching against weather like silnylon that there is less "give" with Spinnaker than with Silnylon. They've learned what seems to be the best thickness of Silnylon to use with their tents over the years but speaking about the fabric in general, there are different thicknesses/strengths with the fabric. You need to know about this. If not strong enough, when it is overstressed, it "explodes" apart while Silnylon is less likely to do so. Bottom line, there is this downside to being more resistant in the rain.

I recently bought a used Squall Classic and hope to learn more about Spinnaker over the next 4 months.

Andrew writes … The Cuben version of the Refuge is $400 and the Silnylon version is $260. That is only $140 differnece and I would imagine that Spinnatex costs less than cuben thus I can't see how it could be twice as much…

I should note that the Refuge X is only available direct from us and not through retail outlets. As a result it doesn't have normal markup. In fact most of the added cost for using Cuben is directly passed through. This allows us to provide you with a more reasonably priced, though expensive, product.

Ron

On the MLD site under fabrics Ron Bell states regarding Spectralite .60 (which is a Cuben fabric I believe) "less than half the weight of Silnylon, but four times the cost."

Regarding Spinnaker, when I said double the cost I was generalizing and should have stated such.

The simplest way to compare fabric strengths before commiting to a large project is to take pieces of fabric, cut them part way through with scissors, to make enough for the hands to grab, and tear the fabric. Although I have not worked with it, this spinnaker cloth sounds like it has a very low tear strength. There are many many light fabrics being dumped on the market that have virtually no tensile strength. When I get swatches in the mail, the first thing I do is tear them all apart. There is some real trash out there that passes for fabric.

I have also had coating problems with silnylon. Some is very waterproof and some leaks badly. It's a good idea to test silnylon by putting it in a clear bowl and filling with water. After putting a bit of water in, you can tie it up with a cord and hang it.