Quote :
"FWIW, Ray Jardine's kit page claims they treat their silnylon with some proprietary process to increase weatherproofing. I have no idea what that really means"
Maybe this :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBnkGIz9cco
Franco

just a light passing shower there franco lol

i guess misting may be obvious with rain that heavy but with my hex 3 it was really extremely fine water vapor. The misting would eventually get things damp though over/night/s and days of rain.

Edited by bankse on 02/22/2011 19:21:12 MST.

Agree. Franco, you 'da man, but more evidence would be gooder. How about putting the DR up right before a real monsoon, and checking after.

I like the video - self evident without any unnecesary talk

What would be good is to treat one side of the tent and put something like paper towel inside - treated side not mist, untreated side mist

I wonder how long it would last

Especially if it was a high wear surface like a pack or floor

When the tail of cyclone Yasi passed overhead, I set up the Contrail.
The vision starts after the first lot of rain passed by. That was a load of rain...(my soil is sand...)
I was totally drenched setting it up (had a rain jacket on) but the shelter remained dry inside.
( I have had similar rain on this and the previous Contrail)
I reported 10cm of rain overnight as that was the lowest figure in my area, however we had much higher figures around so I erred on the safe side.
Several streets around me were flooded as were some businesses in the main street not far from me.
Anyway a guy at another forum commented that 10cm is only "moderate rain"..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD5t3TOrUa0
Franco

Roger-

I sell fabric to the Rain Shed from time to time and have sold them Skylite in the past.
I suspect they are buying their fabric elsewhere these days.
That Skylite did have a blend of PU with the silicone and is the same coating, although thinner, on both sides, and on lighter fabric than the red 70d I sent you awhile back.

I don't know about Westmark, I have never purchased any fabric from them, tho I have received their fabric swatches. Skylite is made by someone else and they are resellers.

--

Also some PU coatings have a solvent base, some a water base. The water base ones
dissolve, well, in water over time. All PU coatings are not the same. Mills sometimes
add vinyl or clay to their PU coatings for various needs such as opaqueness
or as a filler to reduce expense.

I received two Rain Shed fabrics on 3.11.11 and hydrostatic head tested them that same day.

Tradename: Ultrasil Ripstop, Coating: double siicone coating, Color: Grey, Spec oz/yd2: 1.35 after coating, RN tested oz/yd2: 1.5, RN Tested Hydrostatic Head: 492 mm H2O

Tradename: Skylite Silicone Impregnated Nylon, Coating: Urethane/Silicone Impregnated, Color: Tan, Spec oz/yd2: 1.45-1.7 oz/yd2 after coating, RN tested oz/yd2: 1.39, RN Tested Hydrostatic Head: 1,019 mm H2O

Has anyone else on this forum done hydrostatic head tests on any DIY accessible coated nylon and are willing to share the results?

Edited by richard295 on 03/17/2011 14:12:57 MDT.

Hi Richard

> Ultrasil Ripstop, ... RN Tested Hydrostatic Head: 492 mm H2O
That's under 5 kPa. A bit pathetic? I think Ultrasil is a Westmark brand.

> Skylite Silicone Impregnated Nylon, ... RN Tested Hydrostatic Head: 1,019 mm H2O
About 10 kPa. Not even as good as the Westmark SkyLite I have which usually tests at about 15 kPa.

Things seem to be going from bad to worse... ?

Cheers

Roger,

I strongly agree! How does the DIY person (you accepted) stand a chance at making an informed materials purchase decision?

I also recently tested three fabrics from Para-Gear and the best of the three only tested 281 mm H2O (sigh). The only ultra-light fabric that I would want to currently trust my life with is the sil/PU used in the Golite Shangri-La 5. I tested multiple spots at 3,515 mm H2O for a long time and never saw the smallest droplet.

Hi Richard

Night time here, going to bed so I can go walking in the morning (Saturday for me).
I think some joint action may be in order about this whole pressure testing thing. Interested?

Cheers

Yes!