Dyneema fabric

Some of us talked about buying Dyneema once. It turned out to be the wrong kind but as we were discussing it Ryan Jordan got wind of it and told us that we probably could not sew it with a normal home machine. Just saying, maybe you already know that.

If you get any leads, I would be very curious to hear about them, irrespective of any sewing difficulties.

I think I read that the manufacturer stopped producing this with the normal waterproof coating that both made it waterproof and kept the fibers from separating during sewing and use. It moved to laminating it with cuben fiber, like with the hybrid cuben fabric used by some pack manufacturers (but with woven dyneema instead of polyester or whatever they use for the hybrid stuff). I can't say I understand this move. Why laminate dyneema with mylar full of . . . more dyneema strands? If you are going to do that, why not laminate with mylar by itself? Seems easier and cheaper to just coat it.

Anyway, please let us know what you find out.

Dan McHale has some for sale on his website:

http://www.mchalepacks.com/bulletin_board/index.htm

Having cuben on the inside adds to the durability of the waterproofing I'd assume.

@Michael – thanks for posting a link to dan's site. I missed the blurb on full spectra, but saw the dyneema grid. I will have to call him about the specifics of his spectra fabric.

I have my seamstress, who owns several industrial machines, that can sew the spectra fabric. She builds Packgoat panniers for me, and I wanted one set out of spectra cloth. Can't afford more than that!

Thank you for the replies!

Just a FYI on Luke's post about "not [being able to] sew it with a normal home machine" …

First Background: A few years ago, I did an extensive revision on my wife's Kelty White Cloud, per her "wish list" on how the pack should have been designed :-)

Sewing the Fabric – I used a regular, normal sewing machine (the 2nd cheapest Singer at Walmart) and it worked fine. I did not use the heavy duty thread, as that caused it to jam occasionally (and very annoyingly). So, I used regular gauge thread and doubled up, sometimes tripled up on sewing lines for the seams. Result: after 4 years worth of use, the seams are holding up just fine.

> I did not use the heavy duty thread, as that caused it to jam occasionally (and very annoyingly).
Often solved by using a larger gauge needle. They have larger thread holes.

> Result: after 4 years worth of use, the seams are holding up just fine.
Hard facts! Valuable info.

Cheers

Tony, thanks for reporting on your experience. Like many others, I've been cautiously interested in attempting a MYOG project with pure UHMWPE fabric, but first-hand accounts of experiences with it are hard to find.