After reading this article, you'll know not to be impressed the next time a sales person at a retail store tells you their lightweight pack is reinforced with bar tack stitching throughout. I tested several reinforcement seams on 4-oz/yd2 Dyneema Grid Stop fabric and retested the better performing seams on 0.7-oz/yd2 spinnaker to determine which work best for lightweight fabrics. The results contradict industry ideals while correlating well with Backpacking Light staffs' experience. I discuss the test results and give instructions for sewing the stitches that work the best in this article.
ARTICLE OUTLINE
- Introduction
- Reinforcement Stitches
- Parallel Straight Stitches
- Bar Tack
- X-box Stitch
- Reinforcement Stitch Testing
- Test Results
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# PHOTOS: 21
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