Scott wrote:
David wrote:It's not a lack of coating that should cause you to avoid this cloth. Try holding it up to a strong light - can you see pinhole-size leakage of light through it? If not, it's tightly woven enough. If it can be used for kites and tents, as the supplier claims, then it's airtight enough for a lightweight sail. It's similar to the cloth I used for my windvane, which is still strong (but faded, as it's red) after two full seasons of exposure to UV. [ ... ]
David,
I have been trying to decide if I see pinhole-sized leakage of light through these fabrics or not. If anything the one that clearly shows points of light is the Odyssey sample. But I expect this might be because the Odyssey is more or less opaque in normal room light and all the other fabrics are at least somewhat translucent.
Capturing these differences in a photo is even more difficult but I gave it a try anyway. Its not cold enough for skiing and not warm enough for sailing so why not waste some time on this?
I used a portable shop lamp with a 60 Watt equivalent LED bulb for the photos. I also cut a hole in some cardboard and wrapped in it aluminium foil. With the bulb pointed straight up and the cardboard and fabric on top I took a few photos.
Do you see anything interesting in the pictures attached?
Scott.
First and second photos, red square ripstop, looks OK and usable.
Third photo, red honeycomb ripstop, the light is bright, and I can't make out the character of the weave.
Fourth and fifth photos, blue cloth, the weave seems very loose, and I wouldn't use it. I think there is a lot of filler between the strands. I think it's not pinholes so much as translucency of the filler.
Sixth photo, white diamond ripstop, looks OK as far as I can see.
Now, are you going to reveal which cloths these are? I'm going to take a punt on the blue being Odyssey.