NYLON WEAKENING & SPECTRA INFO FROM BLUE WATER

After hearing many conflicting things, I decided to call Blue Water and ask them about nylon weakening with age. I asked to speak to someone about technical questions, and I was transferred to Phyllis.

She said that age is not a problem. I asked about a 10 year old rope stored under ideal conditions. She said it should be tested first, but that it should be ok.

I also asked about UV exposure. She faxed me some info, which I am reprinting (with her permission).

SPECTRA Technical Information

What is SPECTRA? SPECTRA is, quite simply, the strongest fiber ever made. Pound for pound, it is ten times stronger than steel. SPECTRA was developed by the High Performance Fibers Group of Allied-Signal Inc. SPECTRA's extensive physical properties offer benefits that make it ideal for chock cord and webbing applications.

SPECTRA is an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene that exhibits outstanding properties:

Low specific gravity			High specific strength
Low moisture sensitivity		Excellent chemical resistance
High impact resistance			High energy to break
High specific modulus			High abrasion resistance
Excellent electrical properties

Outstanding Performance Excellent cut and abrasion resistance

SPECTRA high performance fiber offer unsurpassed cut resistance and durability. SPECTRA is far superior to any high performance fiber in its abrasion resistance. There physical parameters are responsible for this.

1) High tensile modulus - which gives the fiber a very high breaking strength.

2) Low coefficient friction - causes the cutting edge to literally "slide" over the yarn construction inflicting a minimum amount of cut or abrasion damage.

3) High molecular weight fiber - yielding a large degree of structural integrity within the individual filaments.

Temperature Limit = 250 F
SPECTRA is a registered trademark of Allied Signal Inc
BLUE WATER is a registered trademark of Blue Water Ropes & Equipment.
Kevlar is a registered trademark of E.I. Dupont de Nemouis & Co.

Why Blue Water SPECTRA products?

a) Excellent Protection and Long Wear Durability. Far greater life span than other products.

b) Better Performance. More flexible, stronger, and lighter than other products.
c) Quality and safety. Blue Water has one of the finest quality control systems in the world which assures top, consistent quality in all Blue Water products.
d) SPECTRA Thread on all stitching. All bar tacks are stitched with SPECTRA thread to yield longer life and more abrasion resistance.

SPECTRA and Ultraviolet Rays

In a test of the effects of U.V. light on fibers in accordance with AATC standards, samples of SPECTRA, Kevlar, Nylon, and Polyester were subjected to 400 hours of direct exposure to U.V. rays. Figures listed are percent of strength retention after exposure. As you can see SPECTRA outperformed Kevlar in resistance to ultraviolet radiation.

		SPECTRA	Kevlar		Nylon		Polyester
Xenon Method 16E		72%		56%		91%		50%

Chemical Resistance

SPECTRA's polyethylene molecular structure makes it inert to chemical
reaction. The strength retention values obtained after 6 months immersion
is indicated in the chart.

Agent				SPECTRA	Aramid*

Sea Water			100%		100%
Hydraulic Fluid			100%		100%
Kerosene				100%		100%
Gasoline				100%		93%
Glacial acetic acid			100%		72%
1M Hydrochloric acid		100%		82%
5M Sodium Hydroxide		100%		40%
Ammonium Hydroxide (29%)		100%		42%
Hypophosphite solution (5%)		100%		70%
Perchlorethylene			100%		79%
(10%) detergent solution		100%		75%
Clorox				91%		0%

* The most common aramid fiber in the climbing industry. [End of fax] I have purchased some spectra fabric and some spectra thread. The thread is about 4 times stronger than nylon thread of similar diameter. It is quite expensive stuff. Fabric is roughly $34 per yard (50 inches wide) 3.1 oz/sq yard weight. It is quite abrasion resistant. I scraped both threads with an x-acto knife and looked at the results under a microscope. I haven't made anything yet, but I plan to.

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