PE - My quick fire test results

[Samuel Walters]

Greetings all,

Just a quick note to let you know the results of my tent material fire test.
Some of you may know from my previous posts that I bought and used canvas
drop clothes to construct the approx. 14' (give or take a couple of  inches)
ten sided  tent I am currently working on.   Recently I read a response that
suggested that these could potentially be highly flammable due to the
waterproofing agents used on them.  Well, being the curious fellow I am I
decided to do a quick test of flammability which I shall hence forth call
the TEST..uh..he he.

Anyway I took a square of my canvas drop cloth (approx. 2" square) and some
squares of equal size of other material I had feeling that they were the
closest I had in my stores to tent material.  One was a heavy cotton twill
and the other what I believe is actually the type material used to make
military tents (this purchased at one of those fabric ends stores, gotta luv
em) I guess you would call it a cotton duct or something very similar.

The results of said TEST were as follows:

First:  The canvas waterproofed drop cloth material took over an open flame
(my trusty zippo) approx. 9 seconds to burst into flame.  It them burned at
the rate of approx. 1 inch per second.

Second:  The cotton twill took over an open flame (the same zippo ha)
approx. 12 seconds to burst into flame. It then burned at the rate of
approx. a half inch per second.

Third:  The cotton duct (I think) took over an open flame (yeah the zippo)
approx. 10 seconds to burst into flame.  It then burned at the rate of
approx. 1 inch per second.

The timing device for the aforesaid TEST was my trusty Seiko...hereafter
known as the Seiko.

I guess my conclusions will have to be that my waterproofed canvas drop
cloth material is flammable and does burn fast.  But I must also look at how
fast the other materials that were not treated and had even been washed
caught fire and burned.  So, I think I'm as safe in my tent as I would have
been if I had constructed it out of hay.....

Thank you for letting me digress and sorry for such a long post.

Yours in our Society,

Rhys Goch
Mka Sam Walters
----- Original Message -----
From: Samuel Walters <agincrt at brightok.net>
To: <tentguild at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2000 10:05 PM
Subject: PE - Re: TENT - Answers to posted questions


> Greetings M'lord,
>
> I have read your page and since you addressed two of my questions I would
> like to thank you for your informative responses.  Alas, I must express my
> regret that I didn't ask the questions before building the tent.   At this
> writing I have completed the roof or canopy section of my tent so
basically
> its in my estimation 75 percent complete.  Reading your responses I
realized
> that I had noticed a distinct odor coming from my tent material
(presumably
> from the waterproofing)  now I am beginning to realize that something that
> smells so foul may not be such a good thing while camping not to mention
> flammable.  I'm about to go do a fire test on it (keep your fingers
crossed
> that I don't burn my fingers ha!)
>
> Anyway, I appreciate your responses and I would encourage the others on
this
> list to read them...especially if, like me, you are a newcomer to tent
> making.
>
> I love this list.
>
> Yours in our Society,
>
> Rhys Goch
> Mka Sam Walters
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: John LaTorre <jlatorre at midtown.net>
> To: <tentguild at ansteorra.org>
> Sent: Monday, January 31, 2000 8:07 PM
> Subject: TENT - Answers to posted questions
>
>
> > Hello, all.
> >
> > Over the past week, a number of questions have been asked on this list
> about
> > various aspects of tentmaking. I realized that some of my answers to
these
> > questions would have been too long-winded to answer on this list, so
(for
> this and
> > other reasons which are explained elsewhere), I've posted these answers
on
> my web
> > page. The URL is:
> >
> > http://midtown.net/dragonwing/col0002.htm
> >
> > Those who have access to the Internet but not to the World Wide Web can
> obtain a
> > copy of this page by emailing me privately. When requesting it, please
let
> me know
> > whether your service allows attachments or not.
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> > John LaTorre (Johann von Drachenfels)
> >
> > "Always do right. It will gratify some people & astonish the rest."
> > --Mark Twain
> >
> >
> >
>
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> >
>
>
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