Baffle material?

[Sharon Bingham]

I was at the fabric store looking for material for a separate project, and I came across some INCREDIBLY light netting.

Admittedly, the holes in the netting are larger than in no-seeum netting, but not by lots. And while the fabric doesn't seem to be quite as robust, I have not been able to tear it by pulling on it with my hands.

This netting is MUCH lighter than no-seeum (about 1/4th the weight):

mystery netting: .00025 oz/sq.in.
no-seeum netting: .0011 oz/sq.in.

I'm very tempted to try to use it for the baffling in my quilt that I'm going to be making…

Has anyone else tried to go with something lighter weight than no-seeum for the baffling in a sleeping bag or quilt? If so, were you happy with the results?

[Roger Caffin]

Each SB maker has his own special 'Baffletex' fabric. But mostly they are just some sort of netting or similar. largish holes are fine: they quickly block up with down.

I have used chiffon – very light, but a wee bit tricky to handle.

Rule #1: double the edges generously over before you sew: you do NOT want any baffle blow-out inside the bag.

Cheers

[te – wa]

I respectfully disagree with doubling over fabric, mesh or otherwise. You will see the mesh is held to the material by a row of stitching. no layering of fabric between the baffle and the shell will improve the relationship between the mesh and the stitching. give yourself about 1/4 of edging to keep the mesh from dis-engaging. this is much easier to do, and the end result is the same.

about weight, Nano-seeum is about 1/3 lighter than regular no-seeum, but even if you are making a quilt 4×8' with 2" baffles, how much do you really think you'll save?
if I recollect, the amount of mesh used in many of my 3 season quilts was around 1.0 oz total. So, the nano would be .66 oz. BUT, its over twice the cost. Not worth a savings of .33oz if you ask me!
But, KUDOS to you for finding something light!
Ive seen some light mesh used to make window curtains but it was very stretchy. Too hard to work with…

[Steven Evans]

Sharon, as difficult as it probably is to tell, how much bigger are the holes? Would you still consider it bug-proof? At 1/4 of the weight, it would be a huge saving on things like an inner tent, bug bivy, etc…or a sleeping bag as you mentioned.

[Tim Marshall]

is it Thule? Wedding veil mesh? IT can be used for mosquitoes but not no-see-ums. it is about .25oz yd2 but is easily damaged.

-Tim

[Sharon Bingham]

I'm not sure if it's bridal veil netting or not – tho I'm fairly familiar with that material from back when I did wedding gown alterations, I seem to remember it being a little heavier, and not as stretchy.

This stuff stretches in one direction quite a bit, and very little in the other.

The hole size would not let mosquitoes in, but it might let littler ones in. If you look closely at no-seeum netting, there seems to be a larger grid of heavier thread, and then the "holes" btwn that larger grid are "filled in" a bit with super-fine filaments (which is why the no-seeums can't get in). The holes in this netting are about the same size as that larger "grid" in the no-seeum (which is still quite small).

Dunno. It just seems like it would be difficult to cause a baffle to tear, unless the material were really flimsy. Seems like I'd worry about it if I could tear it with my hands, but otherwise, not so much.

But then, I've never put a bag through lots of abuse either – so I'm sure there are failure scenarios that I may not be imagining now – where somehow you really could torque the two bag layers in such a way that it would rip the baffles?

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