cheap 0.5ounce material

[Thomas Laepple]

In the kitestore

http://www.kitebuilder.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/24_108_132/products_id/1119?osCsid=3b7af15f7a3ae009bd86dab3508b0067

they sell 0.5 ounce ripstop nylon for $4/yard. Could be an interesting material for ultralight backpacks…

Thomas

[Bill Fornshell]

I have some of this. The “as delivered” real weight is a little over 1oz per square yard. Some closer to 1.13oz or so per square yard. I have a MAC Cat Tarp made out of some as well as several other things. It is cheap, I have paid as little as $3.00 a running yard for it. Watch the web site as it goes on sale once in awhile. They only have white at this time. The white Hammock hanging under the Mac Cat was custom made by Ed Speer for me out of some 1.02oz per sq yard Silk I sent him.

The Cuben Fiber I am now using has a “real weight” of .40oz per sq yard. It does cost more.

[paul johnson]

Tight ‘pitch’ Bill. It doesn’t look like the tarp has any true catenary curves in it. How long did it take you to get it that tight?

[Bill Fornshell]

Paul, Not sure I understand the question. I just tie it to my trees. I don’t do anything special. It had been raining and I was sitting under it to see how waterproof it was. The rain got very hard and the tarp got a little mist under it but none came through the “cheap 0.5 material” I am going to make a tarp out of the next batch of Cuben Fiber and see how that works. The weight should drop to less than 3.8oz plus guylines and Ti stakes.

The MAC Cat (at about 14oz) and an excellent product, is not cut with a Cat ridgeline but it does stretch some to give you a nice tight pitch. Here are a few pictures of my Moss Heptawing to see the difference. I have had the Moss for many years and it is a masterpiece. The only problem is the 21oz weight, tarp w/guylines. Someday I will weigh the guylines and I expect replace them with some of the lighter spectra cord I have.

[paul johnson]

Bill,

Good job It appeared in the photo, that you got the pitch so tight even though it lacked the ‘cat’ curves . I don’t ever seem to able to do this with any poncho-tarp i own. Sounds like you got it on the first try. How long did it repel the heavy rain? Would it hold up to all night moderate or mod-to-hvy rain?

Do you have any interest in making one of those 3.8oz SUL wt tarps for private sale to an admirer of your craftsmanship?

[Ron Bell / MLD]

Hi Bill,

Ron from mountainlaureldesigns.com here.

Looks like some good work on your part.

Here is some general info on Spinnaker fabrics gleened from extensive testing I have done on at least 20 samples from various makers / sources.

Spinnaker mfgs use sail makers yards 28.5 X 36(sm/yd) vs. the more common square yard 36 X36 (sq/yd) , in listing weights. Sometimes the weight is the uncoated weights or even the model number and not the weight at all.

Using the Kite site .5 you mentioned as an example:

.5 as the sm/yd in uncoated
times about 1.26 to get sq/yds = .63
and then the rest to get to the 1oz sq/yd is the coating would be my guess. BUt then the coating would be bomber so my guess is that the .5 is off to start with as the mgr’s faulty marketing buzz.

Coating types also play a big part in the spinn fabric just as in other nylon fabric coating.

We are all most familiar with PU and Silicone coatings and Spinnaker fabrics use those plus a whole lot of others.

SO, in looking at any spinnaker fabric products, compare the final weights of the items and don’t look too close at the number in the name or raw fabric weights unless it is stated very clearly that the fabic weight is for fully coated and in sq/yd for apple to apple comparisions. Even then the coating type and application process can make a big difference in water resistance and strength.

I tested many spin fabrics that were very very light and strong enough but not waterproof enough. I ended up settling on the .97 Spinntex Pro as the lightest fully waterproof in all rain conditions when used as a tarp. It is silicone impregnated and the .97 sq/yd is a finished and coated weight.

To be fair, I can say that in my opinion the gossamer gear spinn fabric used in the spinnshelter and spinntwin (as well as the BPL PRO fabric is fully waterproof in all rain conditions

The Spinntex Pro .97 that I use is avialble by the yd from thru-hiker.com in smoke gray and is the only non white avialble in that light weight and water resistance I have found.

FYI: I did test some of the kite site’s .5 and .7 but found it’s coating to be too thin to stop even med rain. The current stuff on sale may be different from waht I tested… Just test it well before doing all the work sewing.

-Ron

[Thomas Laepple]

I will use the material for a light
pack… Therefore it doesn’t need to be waterproof.

I looked on the webpage of the producer
of this sailcloth.
http://www.challengesailcloth.com/cloth.htm

They claim that the material (i guess coated) has 36g/m2 which is 30g/sqyard
which is 1.05 ounce/sqyard
So this looks consistent with Bills measurements

No idea how the kitestore came up with 0.5 ounces… Even after converting to squareyard still a thick coating :-)

[Thomas Laepple]

I will use the material for a light
pack… Therefore it doesn’t need to be waterproof.

I looked on the webpage of the producer
of this sailcloth.
http://www.challengesailcloth.com/cloth.htm

They claim that the material (i guess coated) has 36g/m2 which is 30g/sqyard
which is 1.05 ounce/sqyard
So this looks consistent with Bills measurements

No idea how the kitestore came up with 0.5 ounces… Even after converting to squareyard still a thick coating :-)

[Max Trapasso]

Bill,

Pardon the intrusion, but I was wondering where do you get the Cuben Fiber from and how expensive it is. Please share the info as I can only find it online from Cuben Fiber Corp.

Thanks!

MT

[Bill Fornshell]

Max asked:
===============================
Bill,
Pardon the intrusion, but I was wondering where do you get the Cuben Fiber from and how expensive it is. Please share the info as I can only find it online from Cuben Corp.
Thanks!
===============================
Hi Max, I buy direct from Cuben Corp.
It it comes out to about $15 a yard counting packaging and shipping. You need to call them direct. They will take a credit card now so it is sort of easy to order. Sometime after the first of the year they hope to have a way to order it on-line.

If you would like to see some of the things I have made with the Cuben Fiber click on this link
Cuben Fiber Projects

Bill

[Max Trapasso]

Bill,

Thanks a lot!

Max

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