Silnylon at Walmart?

Snow

Snow

Joined
Jun 3, 2001
Messages
2,233
So after the ultralight thread the other day, I began browsing the forums at backpackinglight.com and read this thread about people buying silnylon at Walmart for $1/yard. I checked 3 local Walmarts, and found some grey nylon type material at the last one. I am not sure if it is silnylon though, because I have never seen the stuff in real life.

The stuff I got was pretty resistant to being blown through. Water poured on it rolls around like crazy and won't sink through in a test of a few minutes. It doesn't feel THAT slick to me, though, and it doesn't really look coated. It is light grey and I can kind of see a check pattern in it. I would really like to figure out if it is silnylon because if it is, I want to make a poncho-tarp out of it. Anybody else seen this stuff at their local Walmart?
 
What little silnylon stuff I have has a check pattern that's about 3mmx3mm, and so thin you can see your fingers through it if you hold a hand underneath it. I should make it to wally world Friday or Saturday, I will check then.
 
Well I did the overnight water holding test and it passed with flying colors. Nearly 12 hours of water and none seeped through. Still, I thought the material was supposed to be slicker than this. Mine feels like normal nylon to me. I'll have to take a picture and post it so you guys that are more knowledgeable than I am can have a look.
 
well, i went and looked for some today, no such luck.
the lady there had no idea what i was looking for though, and browsing didnt help much.
 
Yeah I had to check a few before I found it. I am beginning to think it is DWR treated nylon. All the pictures I've seen of silnylon look more slick. I am going to check another Walmart today. I'll report back.
 
I've checked at Walmart about a dozen times over the last year or two. I've had no luck finding it at mine.
 
Okay, so I checked the 4th Walmart near me and found what I definitely believe to be silnylon. It has a clearer check pattern than the first fabric, feels and looks more slippery, is a darker grey, and frays on the ends. I believe if I try the water holding test, this fabric should ace it. Here are a few pictures of both fabrics.

Top (darker) fabric I believe to be silnylon, the bottom (lighter) fabric I believe is DWR treated nylon.
Nylons.jpg


Here is a slightly blurry closeup:
Closeup.jpg


Here is the silnylon:
silnylon.jpg


I am going to make an 8'x10' tarp out of the silnylon. Not sure yet what I will use the other stuff for. I plan on checking a few other Walmarts when I have time. If I find more, I will gladly pass it on to anybody who can't find it locally.

Edit: Forgot to mention, the lighter fabric you can see light between the fibers. On the darker stuff, you can see that the fabric is translucent, but you can't see between the threads. I hope that makes sense.
 
If it's silnylon, regular seam-sealant will not stick to it. You must use silicon sealer.

It's not easy to put in words, but the silnylon feels very different from regular coated rip-stop nylon. It's much slipperier and has much more shine. Also, it does not smell of the urethane coating used on regular coated rip-stop.
 
Good score :thumbup: I am going tommorrow and checking my 2 wal marts, even if it is just urethane coated it's still a steal. Chris
 
Neat score, I've been looking for a cheap tarp setup that was a little more substantial than the standard blue cover tarp.
 
As Thomas said its odd looking stuff. To me the silicon makes it look like like thin nylon stained with oil or grease and it makes it semi translucent. Very thin almost like tuff tissue paper and slippery.

Durable and light stuff, pricey but worth the $ IMHO.

Skam
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top