Fibre qualities

[rik_uk3]

Spotted on the bushcraft USA forum, makes an interesting read

http://www.scribd.com/doc/26421356/C...nthetic-Fibers

[Toddy]

They missed out the environmental relevance though, and the fabric construction.
Those factors only hold true in a certain set of circumstances.

Take cotton for instance. Demin and ventile or waxed or tshirt or towelling. They might 'technically' be the same fibre, but by heavens they wear differently

Or wool, blanket or barathea or a Guernsay or a felted covering for a yurt.

Interesting to see the specs though.


cheers,
M

[Mastino]

Nice quick refeernce table. I miss the fire/spark resistance.... As Les S. said: Hey, I like fires!

Wool will certainly have the highest fire resistance (unless you walk round in Nomex) and thus still my favourite.

[rik_uk3]

I like wool, feels nice and is traditional but to be honest use acrylic these days, its lighter, as warm or warmer and for whatever reason I've yet to burn holes in my 'plastic' kit from sparks?

[Toddy]

I prefer natural fibres but I freely admit that the man made ones wash with a lot less fuss, tumble dry in short order and they do wear very comfortably.

My own antipathy to wearing nylon, and it's assorted varieties, near fire is the result of seeing a boy I grew up next door to, badly burned when his trousers caught fire.
That's my issue, I don't think that type of nylon is now even used for clothing, it was years ago after all.

Most homes don't have open fires any more, most people aren't aware that some of the manmade fibres burn very quickly. Even some of the natural ones do; there were tv adverts warning about not wearing brushed cotton nightgowns near fireplaces when I was a child.

I think to be honest, it's back to the, " personal choice but be aware", adage.
One of my cagoules has been in use around fires for over ten years and it's only got one spark hole in it. One fleece has a dozen spattering the right arm. None of them flared.

I wonder if we could take that list and somehow add to it. Putting in the details like the different spinning and weaves, the issues with cold, wet, windchill and spark resistance ?

Seems to be the sort of thing that somewhere in the textile industry it would already have been researched

cheers,
Toddy

[rik_uk3]

Look at the Buffalo bags and jackets, top gear by all accounts and yet still 'plastic'.

Lets be honest, a £10 fleece is often as warm as a £50 swanni, but a lot of 'bushcrafters' will pay the extra as perhaps the image or romantic appeal of the swanni overrules logic and there is nothing wrong in that.

[John Fenna]

Natural fibre clothing tends not to get the old BO bacteria breeding so fast.
Wool, bamboo, silk and cotton tend to stay nasal friendly a lot longer than any synthetic I can think of!
Although I used to champion synthetics over naturals, most of my current wardrobe for hard usage is predominantly natural fibre these days, with a sprinkling of synthetics.
Some jobs demanded of clothing are next to impossible for natural fibre fabrics (anyone know of a fully natural fibre bio-hazard suit?) but for many many reasons (not just fire hazard/spark damage or the look) I prefer natural - or at least a high natural content mix - garment these days - for most conditions.

[Wayland]

Look at the Buffalo bags and jackets, top gear by all accounts and yet still 'plastic'.

Lets be honest, a £10 fleece is often as warm as a £50 swanni, but a lot of 'bushcrafters' will pay the extra as perhaps the image or romantic appeal of the swanni overrules logic and there is nothing wrong in that.

I have a Buffalo bag I bought from Hamish years ago, I still use it in very cold, damp conditions as a liner for one of my synthetic bags. (It's made to be a snug fit so works better inside.)

Having said that it's covered in pinholes from use on it's own in lean to shelters in front of fires.

These days I use a canvas cover or a wool blanket with any of my bags in a situation where fire is involved. I like to be warm at night but I prefer not to wake up on fire.