Bill Malone says the handkerchiefs he uses for the Slydini Silks are the same as parachute material. What exactly is this stuff? What's the best material to ask for in a shop?

I think that you might be looking for a very thin nylon.

Jon,

If you haven't seen them already and you don't want to go to a lot of trouble you can purchase some really good quality Slydini Silks from Steve Draun:

http://www.stevedraun.com

And also watch a video clip of the routine you get with the silks.

Rich.

Jon, if you want to make your own, you need rip stop nylon. Very thin nylon, as suggested by biff_g isn't as good.

Bye for now

Harold

I have several pieces of parachutes, and was wondering if these could actually be made into silks for use in different tricks?
Thanks
Steve
zzz
Ps I know a good seamstress if that helps.
Z

Steve, the answer is yes and no.

Parachutes are made of nylon. Nylon doesn't compress as well as silk, so if you try and conceal a nylon piece, it will take up more room than the equivalent silk piece. I estimate that nylon has only about 1/3 of the compressability of silk. So, if using a dye tube or thumb tip, silks have the advantage.

However, if compression isn't a problem (eg, you are using a change bag), then nylon has the advantage in that it doesn't wrinkle as much as silk.

Finally, try and use uncoated nylon. Frequently, especially in kites and some parachutes, the nylon is treated with a waterproof coating. This can make the silk much thicker than its stated weight. This means decreased compressibility and a noisier "silk".

Bye for now

Harold

Thanks cataquet,
all my chutes are old decommissioned army chutes and have no coating. I have one cargo chute that's got to be maybe 40' across. That would make a really nice streamer; any tips on sewing, or dying this stuff?
Thanks.
Steve
zzz

Bill's right! See the thread on Slydini Silks on this forum for more info, Jon...

Best, PSC