Materials

Isn’t it interesting that every manufacturer tells you that their material is sooo fantastic. Rest ashore; just like I’ve made hundreds slow feeder designs to find out what works best, I have asked a large number of objective material specialists to find out which material would work the best in my kind of products. Interesting is that when talking to people that are not selling a specific material they all say the same thing; POLYESTER and there is no question about it.

If they would have said “Nylon” I would have kept using Nylon in my products. If they would have said polypropylene or polythene my nets would be made in those materials.

Here are some more “meat on the bones” written for a tie-down comparison, but facts are still facts:
Before you set your teeth in the facts I have a question: How can anyone force their beloved horse to rub his gum and teeth against knotted nets when eating when there are knot-less and very soft and smooth nets on the market?

• Fiber Stretch

One of the reasons that tie-downs become loose is that the webbing will stretch under a load. Polypropylene is a form of plastic and can stretch over 50% while under load.  Nylon tends to stretch between 20 to 30% under a 2500-pound load. Polyester stretches only 5 to 15%, making polyester webbing ideal for heavy loads.

• UV Protection

Polyester is highly resistant to UV radiation which means it can stand more prolonged exposure to the sun than Nylon or Polypropylene without the material breaking down.

• Water Resistance

Water can affect the strength and durability of tie-down webbing materials.  Polypropylene and Polyester repel water and are more mildew resistant than Nylon which will absorb water.  Nylon webbing becomes much weaker when it is wet and will stretch when it is damp or wet. Polyester webbing can be wet and still be a very strong webbing for tie-downs.

• Break Strength

The break strength of a webbing material is the maximum stress or load that can be applied to the fabric before failure or it breaks. A Polypropylene net of this thickness has a break strength of 700 pounds, a Nylon would be 2,500 to 7,000 pounds and our Polyester nets is 10,000 pounds.

• Abrasion Resistance

Polyester webbing is more resistant to abrasion than Nylon or Polypropylene

By now you should have guessed that all SlowFeeding SMHN Original nets are made of smooth, soft, knot-less polyester because there are no points for second best.