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Free pdf from Camping's Top Secrets - Falcon Guides

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tents are still constructed <strong>from</strong> cotton canvas<br />

duck, as are most of the high-grade wall tents<br />

you see in western hunting camps.<br />

Canvas breathes as it sheds water, which<br />

means that tents made of this fabric are wonderfully<br />

comfortable (no condensation) in wet<br />

weather. Worn canvas is easily restored to<br />

waterproof condition by painting on chemicals<br />

that can be purchased in most hardware stores.<br />

Mending the damaged polyurethane coatings<br />

on nylon fabrics is at best diicult.<br />

Cotton has a nonskid surface, has a nice<br />

soft “hand,” and feels good against the skin.<br />

It’s ideal as a covering for foam sleeping pads<br />

and seat and boat cushions, for tent and tool<br />

bags, and for hats. A cotton-poplin parka is<br />

luxurious and will ward of quite a shower<br />

if treated with water-repellent chemicals.<br />

Cotton fabrics retain water repellents much<br />

more willingly than do nylon materials. Note<br />

that nylon stretches when it gets wet, whereas<br />

canvas shrinks.<br />

Being a natural iber, cotton also has considerable<br />

lex. Haul a heavy nylon pack across sharp<br />

granite and the nylon ibers won’t give much.<br />

Do the same with a canvas pack and the cotton<br />

ibers will stretch and return to shape. he result<br />

is that canvas packs often outlive nylon ones,<br />

even though they are technically less strong.<br />

Some of my canvas Duluth packs are more than<br />

thirty years old and are still serviceable.<br />

Army duck is the strongest and heaviest<br />

(and most expensive!) of the cotton fabrics. It<br />

is woven so that each warp yarn passes over (or<br />

under) a single illing yarn (similar to those loop<br />

pot holders you made as a child). “Duck” is available<br />

in weights <strong>from</strong> seven to ifteen ounces<br />

per square yard. he army prefers twelve- to<br />

ifteen-ounce fabrics for their heavy truck tarps<br />

YARD GOODS AND REPAIR MATERIALS<br />

and bivouac tents, but seven- to eight-ounce<br />

weights are better for family campers. Army<br />

duck is the king of cotton tent fabrics.<br />

Twill is woven so that each warp yarn passes<br />

over two or more illing yarns. It’s less strong<br />

than duck and is used mostly to make military<br />

uniforms. It’s tough stuf and it weighs about<br />

eight ounces per square yard.<br />

Drill is a three-leaf twill made <strong>from</strong> fairly<br />

coarse yarns. It’s more loosely woven than duck<br />

and less expensive. he cheapest canvas tents<br />

are often made <strong>from</strong> drill.<br />

Cotton-poplin is a tightly woven fabric that’s<br />

produced by using yarns that are heavier and<br />

more coarse than the warp yarns. Poplin comes<br />

in weights of 4 to 11 ounces per square yard.<br />

Some family-size wall tents are woven <strong>from</strong> 5 1 ⁄2ounce<br />

fabric.<br />

Egyptian, pima, and Supima cotton: Egyptian<br />

cotton has the longest ibers of all cottons, and<br />

it makes into the strongest and silkiest yarn.<br />

It is by far the most luxurious fabric for the<br />

interior shells of sleeping bags; no other material<br />

feels better against the skin. Pima cotton<br />

was developed by US growers to compete with<br />

the Egyptian product, and it is nearly as good.<br />

Supima is the top of the pima crop. Tightly<br />

woven high-grade cotton isn’t used much in<br />

its pure form anymore (it’s very expensive).<br />

However, it is a marvelous material for sleeping<br />

bags, wind shells, and summer shirts.<br />

Ventile cotton was originally developed by<br />

the British to keep downed RAF liers <strong>from</strong><br />

freezing in the North Sea. It is so tightly woven<br />

that it will repel a shower for 20 minutes or<br />

more without the aid of chemical water repellents.<br />

Until the advent of Gore-Tex, all the best<br />

parkas in the world were made <strong>from</strong> Ventile.<br />

Unfortunately, this fabric is heavy when dry,<br />

191

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