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  1. #11
    slowhike's Avatar
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    Interesting. My guess is going to be that it may end up being a little heaver... but who knows, that's just a guess. I'll look forward to hearing more about the tests!
    I'll add another question about water retention. In other words, how quickly does it absorb water, & how well does it dry?
    I too will something make and joy in it's making

  2. #12
    Member Wendigo's Avatar
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    cattails are everywhere around here....I think I need to do some gathering.

  3. #13
    Senior Member Pitch's Avatar
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    AngrySparrow - Thanks for the warm welcome! In the interest of good science (which I will fail to achieve here... guaranteed) are there any guidelines of how much force should be exerted per square area of the fluff? I'm doing a "psudo science" test where I pack as much as my little fingers can into a film canister... weighing it empty and full... and seeing how much volume that amount of material expands to fill (as best I can...)

    I read something about Fill Power - apparently this is the standard unit of measure here... how is fill power determined and how can I reproduce that test (I was an engineer for a long while- I can build the apparatus assuming it doesn't require a large vacuum chamber and a neutron source =) )

    SlowHike - Great idea! Can you (or anyone else) propose a test to determine water tetention? A preferred test would be whatever the industry uses. Unfortunately I do not have an environmental chamber so drying time will not be easy - it is a function of temp and humidity... surface area... and of course how much moisture was actually absorbed / trapped.

    Thanks again,

    XexorZ

  4. #14
    slowhike's Avatar
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    Oh, & BTW... welcome to HF!
    Not sure about the best ways to test. Maybe some others will have ideas. My 1st thought would be simply to sprinkle water on it, play around w/ it, & observe how well it does or does not absorb water.
    Then I would end up w/ 2 or more clumps at different levels of "wet", the last being completely saturated, then squeezed out.
    Then lay them out in a room (say w/ mild air movement like a ceiling fan on low) & check them occasionally to see how they are drying.
    Not very scientific, but the best I can come up w/ right off the bat
    I too will something make and joy in it's making

  5. #15
    Member Wendigo's Avatar
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    if you guys had gone to the motherearthnews link you would have seen that the cattail down can stay submerged underwater for up 100 hours and still provide bouyancy. the navy already did the tests. this sounds like such a winner I'm nearly mad at myself for not thinking of it. I see them all over the place, I love em, but I never did think of a practical use for em. as a kid we would cover em in fluid and use em for torches but that was it. so many more possiblities to be had....insulation and a food source at that.

  6. #16
    Senior Member angrysparrow's Avatar
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    I absolutely read the links wendigo, but 'independent confirmation' is the order of the day...
    “I think that when the lies are all told and forgot the truth will be there yet. It dont move about from place to place and it dont change from time to time. You cant corrupt it any more than you can salt salt.” - Cormac McCarthy

  7. #17
    Member Wendigo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by angrysparrow View Post
    I absolutely read the links wendigo, but 'independent confirmation' is the order of the day...
    gotcha....can't trust those squids.

  8. #18
    Senior Member Pitch's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wendigo View Post
    I'm nearly mad at myself for not thinking of it
    Don't you know that only noobs are allowed to come up with neat ideas? ;-)

  9. #19
    Senior Member Ramblinrev's Avatar
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    I made use of cattails for a different purpose when I was a kid. Or should I say tried to. The problem I had was making sure it was absolutely completely bone dry. May be it was my youthful impatience or maybe it was the nature of the beast but it took forever and a day for the fluff to dry out properly and I sure wouldn't want to use it if it wasn't bone dry. I did not follow any of the links listed so I may be missing some knowledge base. If so,, Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
    I may be slow... But I sure am gimpy.

    "Bless you child, when you set out to thread a needle don't hold the thread still and fetch the needle up to it; hold the needle still and poke the thread at it; that's the way a woman most always does, but a man always does t'other way."
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  10. #20
    Member Wendigo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by XexorZ View Post
    Don't you know that only noobs are allowed to come up with neat ideas? ;-)
    lol...you should see my notebook....pages upon pages of neat ideas.....yeah, I'm a noob too. still trying to get my hammock out of the backyard.

    and get a real hammock for that matter.

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