I was wondering what people's experience with 2nds sil-nylon has been. I've only ever bought materials from Ray Jardine's company so I've only used first quality. I'd like to make a teepe tent but don't want to spend twice as much on the nylon. Are some online stores better than others? I've heard Outdoor Wilderness Fabrics has good stuff.

I have not had any problems with seconds. One fabric had a slight discoloration, ie. stain, almost not visible. I use thru-hiker.com, The owner will quickly respond to your questions. Another source is questoutfitters in FL.
Read Aaron's post below entitled "New Momentum in gear list" for another reference to Thru-hiker.com.

Edited by rambler on 05/19/2007 09:44:17 MDT.

A local gear manufacturer (Empire Canvas Works) had a fabric garage sale a couple weeks ago so I headed out there and got some smokin' deals on a bunch of fabric. He saw that I was grabbing all his scrap silnylon from the scrap-by-the-pound bin so he told me he had it on the roll for $4 a yard. When I inquired to whether it was firsts or seconds he told me that there is a common misconception about this. He said that true silnylon firsts are almost all snapped up by parachute manufacturers - an application requiring the absolute perfect of materials. For use in tarps, tents and other similar outdoor gear pursuits he felt that silnylon seconds were more than adequate in terms of their strength and their ability to shed water.

Yep,
2nds are what mostly everyone uses and its half the price of firsts. I've never been able to even find a blemish in the 2nds.