Ghost Whisperer Fabric? 7D

[LOMAX]

Some of you may be familiar with Mountain Hardware's 'Ghost Whisperer' line of products.

MH claim that the material they use in these garments is the "lightest nylon ripstop fabric commercially available." It employs 7 (!) denier yarns in a super tight weave to create a fabric which is extraordinarily light, strong and, because the weave achieved is so tight, both water resistant and breathable.

I have only a passing understanding of fabrics and it certainly sounds way cool, but the only article I've found about it is this Indefinitely Wild piece.

I've bought one of their Ghost Whisper Down Jackets (Claimed 205g, mine weighs in at 222g). The warmth with this thing is amazing for the weight and it's super compact. The fabric has a slightly tacky feel. I'm no engineer but I'm not sure the fabric has a high breaking strength.

AAAannnnnyway.....

According to the interview with MH above, there's only one loom in the world that can produce this stuff. A fabled machine that requires "magic pixie labor, which is both expensive and rare."

This material seems like it would be the ultimate for diy TQ/UQs.

Have any of you heard of a 7D fabric like it that us mere mortals could get our hands on?


LOMAX

[boulderv7]

Unfortunately, I doubt it. They will probably have the market cornered on that for a while. I'm sure they have a deal worked out with that mill.....although, I wonder what happens to the second quality GW fabric that gets produced?

[Dochartaigh]

For the durability question, I bought mine because of the Outdoor Gear Lab review where they had several extremely active people testing it (the kind of people who are literally climbing mountains and going through ice caves and stuff) and they only documented a couple small tears in the material during the course of a full year. For somebody like me who is only going to wear it around camp, as an underlayer, and *maybe* while hiking if it's cold enough out (I only do 3-seasons), it seems like it'll be durable enough. Only time will tell though.

[Violent Green]

It's pretty light stuff, but not as light as you would think. Seems like its in the .7-.8oz per yard range. Some of the MYOG fabrics are lighter.

Ryan

[nuttysquirrel]

http://thru-hiker.com/materials/breathable.php http://dutchwaregear.com/argon-67.html http://www.titaniumgoat.com/Fabric.html pretty much the same stuff...

[MAD777]

I've made a quilt using 7 denier nylon and it has held up well for that purpose. I don't see quilts as something that gets a lot of abuse. I've made a few other quilts from various nylons weighing approximately half the weight of 1.1 ripstop. I expect to get many years of use out of them. Maybe even even more than I get out of me!