Date: Wed, 28 May 1997 00:30:01 -0400
From: Russell <russel79@alliance.net>
To: Baidarka Mail List <baidarka@lists.intelenet.net>
Subject: Baidarka Skin
Hello all...I've two things I need to ask about tonight....A short time
ago someone suggested hemp as a possible material for the skin of a
baidarka...I talked with a local supplier trying to get some information
and the only thing they could tell me about the characteristics of hemp
cloth is that it has longer fiber than cotton and is therefore, stronger
than cotton...anyone out there have real knowledge regarding hemp cloth
characteristics???? I called Pickering International in California and
asked for samples of what they had available and they sent 14 samples to
me...I've looked them over (just received them today) and they all seem
to be somewhat looser weave than cotton duck and only one sample
indicated a "weight"...each of the samples had a "Specification" printed
on the lable but I don't understand what it is that's being
described...example of the Specification: 16/2x10/55x35/59" I believe
the last number is the width but I have no clue as to what the rest
means...any ideas??? I'll call Pickering in the next day or two if I
don't have an answer from here...oh yes, can anyone tell me the
difference between "canvas" and "backpack cloth" ??? the backpack cloth
sample seems to be quite a bit heaver than the canvas sample the other
thing I was wondering about has to do do with waht to paint the skin
with....has anyone tried airplane dope....the stuff fabric coated plains
were painted with...a friend of mine use to fly the fabric covered
planes and he said it would shrink the material that covered the
plane....I'm going to try and locate an aircraft repair facility
tomorrow that might handle that kind of stuff and see what I can find
out...again, I just thought someone out there might have tried that
stuff already...any comments, pro or con would be appreciated...Russell