Polyester hammock. Why have I used nylon for so long ?

[DavyRay]

My most recent gathered-end hammock is polyester fabric. I will weigh it and post the results. I think it is similar in thickness to the Grand Trunk Ultralight I have, which is a polyester fabric hammock. I think ripstop nylon is used just because, as others here have said, that you can buy it locally with some idea of what you are getting. Clerks in fabric stores know almost nothing about the specs of the product they are selling. I can learn more by reading the end labels on the rolls than I can by asking the sales staff.

[MDSH]

My smaller GT UL made of polyester is quite a bit heavier than the DIY 30d MARPAT rip stop nylon one.

I'd probably prefer polyester for an UL hammock but it's difficult to find the weight of polyester fabric. ???

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[Scotty Von Porkchop]

My smaller GT UL made of polyester is quite a bit heavier than the DIY 30d MARPAT rip stop nylon one.

I'd probably prefer polyester for an UL hammock but it's difficult to find the weight of polyester fabric. ???



.

Polyester is defiantly heaver, weaker, noisier and in pretty much every way bar one worse than nylon: near zero stretch. I'm also wondering if polyester would be safe without a ripstop grid in it.

My most recent gathered-end hammock is polyester fabric. I will weigh it and post the results. I think it is similar in thickness to the Grand Trunk Ultralight I have, which is a polyester fabric hammock. I think ripstop nylon is used just because, as others here have said, that you can buy it locally with some idea of what you are getting. Clerks in fabric stores know almost nothing about the specs of the product they are selling. I can learn more by reading the end labels on the rolls than I can by asking the sales staff.

I had a quick look at my local store and there's actually quite a bit of polyester ripstop available here in the UK, unfortunately its all PU coated at the moment

[FLRider]

Polyester is defiantly heaver, weaker, noisier and in pretty much every way bar one worse than nylon: near zero stretch. I'm also wondering if polyester would be safe without a ripstop grid in it.

A ripstop grid isn't going to make a difference under the loads that an hammock experiences. It's the total weight of the fabric that makes the difference, not the ripstop grid.

A ripstop grid is designed to keep minor tears under light pressure (like in clothing) from spreading. It's not supposed to stop 150+ lbs from making a small tear into a catastrophic one.

The advantage of ripstop is that fabrics can be found in very light weights commonly with it (as a good example: how often do you see nylon taffeta weave in 1.1 oz/sq yd?), not that it will stop catastrophic events with that much pressure behind 'em.

Look at the weight/sq yd of the fabric, not the weave pattern. For our purposes, that's going to give you a better idea of what the weight rating will be with said fabric.

Hope it helps!

[Scotty Von Porkchop]

Ah that's interesting FLRider, I cant help but think that it must make some difference? I've always wondered about when commercial companies use a particular fabric: for down jackets and in tarps ripstop would, presumably, be a necessity yet it often isn't used. I wonder if the use of ripstop in hammocks is down to sales rather than actual real world necessity?

I went looking the outdoors shops today and cant help but notice all the different fabrics, cuts, materials etc. now that I've been on here and DIYing a while I get my nerd on these days when I see a 15d down proof nylon fabric used properly on a jacket

[FLRider]

Ah that's interesting FLRider, I cant help but think that it must make some difference? I've always wondered about when commercial companies use a particular fabric: for down jackets and in tarps ripstop would, presumably, be a necessity yet it often isn't used. I wonder if the use of ripstop in hammocks is down to sales rather than actual real world necessity?

I went looking the outdoors shops today and cant help but notice all the different fabrics, cuts, materials etc. now that I've been on here and DIYing a while I get my nerd on these days when I see a 15d down proof nylon fabric used properly on a jacket

Not necessarily for those applications. Some of the very lightest fabrics aren't ripstop, especially when you get into breathability/water resistance concerns. As a good example, M50 (at 0.67 oz/sq yd and a triple-pass DWR, making it very wind/water resistant) isn't ripstop; it's a plain taffeta weave. What you're looking for in down items is (generally speaking): downproof, lightweight, wind resistant, water resistant (usually in that order). For a tarp, what you're looking for is: waterproof, lightweight, little-to-no stretch (in that order).

For clothing and gear items that are supposed to be lightweight but take a beating, ripstop is not a bad thing. It will prevent that thorn hole you tore in your jacket from getting bigger than it needs to be or prevent that burn hole in your synthetic-fill bag that you wore too close to the fire one night from becoming catastrophic. It will not prevent your whole body weight from going through a thin sheet of the stuff if you manage to punch an hole in it in a critical spot.

I agree that the use of ripstop in hammocks is due to A.) availability of the material (do a general web search for "1.1 oz/sq yd nylon"; you'll get more ripstop hits than anything else) and B.) consumer perception ("Oh, it's ripstop. It's safe," regardless of whether or not it actually does anything for the hammock). Note the weight ratings that PapaSmurf has on his Dream Hammock page here; it doesn't say a durned thing about the weave of the fabric, just its weight.

[Scotty Von Porkchop]

FLR; I cant say I've used or perhaps even seen m50 before so cant comment on it. I cant honestly think of a use for it. I have thought about using non ripstop fabric in my quilts but just cant see any use in risking it (I don't do ultra light). The only non ripstop kit I use at the moment is a down jacket and a UCP.

[Scotty Von Porkchop]

Well I do like my DIY and a bit of experimentation .....

I found 10' of 1.8 oz polyester ripstop (dwr) in my fabric drawer and decided to made a quick gathered end hammock

I didn't know I had it as it had an odd texture and was weirdly heavy so had kinda forgotten about it.

The result was OK but my bum did sink down some. This, I think, is due to it being just shy of 10' long and possibly overloading.

Anyway here it is (in the mess of the production room(please ignore the suspicious DWR ground dwelling bivy))

DSC_0558.jpg

[PapaSmurf]

Polyester is defiantly heaver, weaker, noisier and in pretty much every way bar one worse than nylon: near zero stretch. I'm also wondering if polyester would be safe without a ripstop grid in it.

Well yes, and no..... It's kinda like when we hear folks say titanium is lighter than aluminum. Well, it's simply not true. Titanium has a better strength to weight ratio allowing folks like Dutch to build really cool things that are both lightweight and strong.

Nylon is kinda the same way. It's stronger for the same weight than Polyester, allowing us to use slightly thinner and lighter nylon fabrics.
But nylon also has more stretch, more water absorption and less UV resistance than Polyester.

An example: comparing a 1.8oz Nylon Taffeta vs a 1.8oz Polyester Taffeta. I have both of these in stock and have a 250lb comfort rating on both. If I showed you samples of both, you probably could not tell which was which.
Both fabrics will hold my weight with ease (265lbs). I'd feel slightly safer in the Nylon Taffeta because I know that "pound for pound" it's stronger.
As far as comfort goes. I lay flatter and more comfortable in the 1.8oz Polyester because of the firmer feel and less stretch.
If I wanted a slightly softer feeling hammock with more stretch and more give, I'd use the Nylon.

Does that make sense?

[Scotty Von Porkchop]

It all makes perfect sense, my polyester experience is blatantly lacking. I'm certainly not going to argue with the pros ( brilliant website by the way ). The couple of hammocks are really just giving me an insight into polyester work.

Does the reduced water absorption and higher UV resistance actually effect its use in hammocks at all?