Major Score; 164 yds for $105!!!

[Don Miller]

I have been scouring the wally worlds and fabric shops for Sil Nylon and ripstop, and I scored big today at wally world. Only issue is it was cut in 3 yds increments, some 2 yds, and a few 1 yds….but at $1.05 yd, I am not complaining. Perfect earth tone colors too, for my bow hunting adventures, gray and green. My new Brother CS 6000 I computerized machine arrived yesterday, and last night, I was a sewing fool. The machine sews like a dream!! I sewed a sil nylon floor into a Sea to Summit bug bivy, that I bought on clearance. Now I have plenty of material to build several hammocks, and a huge A Frame tarp with closed ends, that will have a stove jack, so I can have a heated hammock stand up shelter. I am pretty stoked, and wanted to share my good find with you all!!

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Wow you're going to be busy using up 164 yards.

[Don Miller]

lol..yea, I bought all they had since walmart is getting out of the fabric business. This walmart is supposedly going to keep their fabric dept, but who knows.

[D G]

Don,
Did Wallmart have any deals on their fiberglass stove jack material or the .004 stainless sheet (usually found in the back corner of the store)? :)

[Don Miller]

I wish!! BTW, love the avatar….is there a kitchen sink piled on there too?

[Larry Dyer]

You really lucked out. That's quite the haul.

I check every Wal-Mart I go to that still has a fabric department. No luck yet and usually the little ol' lady working there says she's never carried rip stop nylon of any sort.

[Don Miller]

99% of the time, you will find it in the clearance or lowest priced rack they have. They order bargain misc low priced fabrics, and this is what they randomly get sent to the store. I have had 3 different fabric managers in 3 different stores tell me this. They didn't order this ripstop sil nylon or the reg ripstop; they just get it when they order a large random cheap priced fabric order.

[Larry Dyer]

My wife loves digging through the cheap fabric they get for little flower projects and the like. I'm still waiting for my lucky day. Oh well, it's not a big deal really.

[Jeff Antig]

If only I could have a share of that happiness! :P

[Sam Farrington]

Odd, but I'm also in the process of sewing a silnylon floor into a bug dome, an MSR. Tried to mail order a Sea to Summit polyester fly version from AU, but could not get an earth tone color for the fly, so will use older Sea to Summit olive green silnylon fly.
But I'm using Thru-Hiker black sil for the floor. Around $16 per yard for 5 yards – $80 – will be way more than enough, enough for two floors if don't elect to go seamless.

About inexpensive fabric … please look at the portable tester at an address provided by Roger Caffin: http://www.worldoftest.com/suter.htm.
Expensive, I know. It would be great if someone would buy one of these and do low cost mail order tests and articles on BPL. Probably would not break even, I know. Were I making tents for more than myself and a few friends, would definitely get one despite the cost.
Sam

[Paul Nanian]

Just a quick note: 1st sil costs $11.50 per yard, not $16. This is nominally more costly than other outlets, but IMO quality warrants extra expense. I think you may have confused the cost of 1sts Sil with the cost of spinntex (which is not currently available).

I appreciate your interest in hydrostatic head pressure. Thru-Hiker has been working on this problem for several years now, and if you do manage to test sil samples from various outlets, you will find that the head pressure of my fabric is likely the best of all with regards to head pressure. All my sil fabric is tested with an in-house suter tester according to ASTM standards.

Since Duro stopped making sil several years ago now, the head pressure of sil fabrics has varied markedly. Most sil mills that are producing fabric don't have hydrostatic head pressure on their radar; if you ask the head pressure specs they won't know because they don't test for it. They are concerned with air permeability and other specs like tear strength, but waterproofness is not something they look at.

When Duro was running sil, even the 2nds were pretty waterproof. But those days are over, and these days 2nd sil tests out abysmally with regards to head pressure, and many sils, even 1sts, are a fraction of the waterproofness of the duro process.

[Ken Thompson]

Paul. What is your take on this ultra-sil I've seen popping up here and there?

[Paul Nanian]

Ultra sil's low hydrostatic head pressure and high stretch make it an unattractive choice for shelter canopies.

[Sam Farrington]

Paul,
Sorry for the error, and am glad you corrected it.
Am glad there is a place to purchase high quality silnylon at a reasonable price, and appreciate the additional information.

So far, have found 4 different suppliers of fabric using the name, "ultra-sil," and the fabrics were all clearly different, but none of them were best available quality in terms of water resistance.

Best regards, Sam

[Ken Thompson]

Thanks Paul!

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