[Ansteorra] Suitable breathing armor

[Haraldr Bassi]

It depends greatly, much like linen, how the fibers are processed. The hemp can have fibers that 
are up to 2 meters long. But, if they process them on modern linen processing machines, the 
fibers end up being chopped into much smaller pieces. My hemp came from a company called 
Ecolution.com out of California who is importing Romanian hemp made on hundred year old steam 
powered machines. Consequently their fibers are about .6-1+ meters long. I have hemp weaving 
singles yarn that is almost impossible for me to break, what would be about a 30 or 40 linen 
singles. That yarn, in a tabby, when properly post processed, turned out very durable and very 
supple. But the post processing required quite a bit of beetling. I got it wet, froze it almost 
solid and beat it with a 1 1/4" diam maple rod, re-rolled it the opposite direction, re-froze 
and repeated that beating 2 to 4 dozen times.

I'm willing to sell some of my hemp for $18/yd if people are interested and can't find alternate 
sources. Hemp weaving yarn I will sell for $25/lb in full cones (circa 2.2 lbs).

Haraldr

Carol Ross wrote:
> Linen made from Hemp is available at Fabrique.com (also a local Dallas 
> area store) however, I've also been informed by the store personal that 
> it is not as strong a fiber. All that being said I'm still interested in 
> buying some for a punch test for Duncan.
> 
> Genevieve
> 
> 
> Elizabeth Crouchet wrote:
>> My understanding is that modern linen is made from flax but that in 
>> much of
>> our period the word linen referred to fabrics made from Flax, Hemp or 
>> Nettle
>> interchangeably.
>>
>> All these fabrics are made from the stems of these plants unlike cotton
>> which is made from the fruit of the plant. So I might guess that they 
>> would
>> have similar properties but I would have read about it or test it to be
>> sure.
>>
>> Bamboo is also showing up as fabric now and seems to feel just soft and
>> dreamy. I have no idea how it would test out but it would be worth trying
>> for similar reasons.
>>
>> Hemp may indeed more durable, that is what they make rope out of.
>>
>> Claire
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 10:04 AM, Haraldr Bassi <
>> ansteorra at haraldr.drakkar.org> wrote:
>>
>>  
>>> The best alternative to linen and probably a superior product for
>>> durability, is hemp. Though it is much harder to find and 
>>> consequently much
>>> more expensive. I don't know the armor results that people I had sold 
>>> hemp
>>> cloth to back in the East had or even if they had used it for rapier 
>>> armor.
>>> Hemp cloth is starting to show up in some on-line sources. Hemp and 
>>> nettle
>>> cloth are virtually indistinguishable in archeology reports from 
>>> linen, but
>>> were most definitely available.
>>>
>>> Haraldr