#tincloth

part IV: the test

y’all i fucking did it!i’m making an update! first off, let’s go through the weather of the day. it was cloudy with a light but consistent drizzle, slightly chilly, and it had rained enough by the time i was climbing around that the rig was thoroughly wet. (said rig is pictured below with the day’s conditions)

initial reaction when putting them on:

relatively stiff! very similar level of stiffness to my other pair of bibs that I have from 2020; they are just the most basic west marine ones you can buy.

it was sprinkling a bit outside already, and water was beading nicely on the cloth

the ass reinforcement i did began slightly lower than i would have liked, but i guess that’s what you get when you don’t measure anything on your actual physical form before you start sewing lol

i wore them over top of my denim work pants and i didn’t feel congested in there at all

sail prep:

the harness cinched over them just fine and they were super easy to climb in!

we reefed tops’ls and i went out to the yardarm to do the earring lashing, and therefore had full body contact with a wet yard and sail for the duration of the lashing (diagram below), and then stood on the footropes regular-style for a bit to finish up reef nettles. i got back to deck and was not a bit damper than i was before i went aloft. *though everything i was wearing was just ~ambiently damp~ just because that’s how humidity works. if you’ve ever put on an item of clothing that’s been living in under-bunk storage for a month, that’s what the vibe was.

water was no longer beading, but rather a thin film of wet on the top layer of fibers.

sail time!

plenty of time on a knee or sitting on wet hatches i think is what did it. i was still fairly dry; however, by the end of the day i felt a little wetness seeping through at the knees, and more on the butt. that said, the reinforcement was /just/ high enough to cover the part that made contact when sitting.

overall, they fared about as well as those westmarine bibs do currently: definitely works, but not the ideal for a downpour or long watches in the rain.

what i learned:

i’m definitely doing this again and maybe my shipmates and i will have a oilskin-making party, though next time i will be changing the recipe

when i got back to the shop that monday, i found my sample piece of fabric that i put raw tung oil on to see how it cured by itself. it was surprisingly malleable and didn’t crack when i bent it around a bit. i had been pondering using just a quarter of the wax in the next mix just to keep it a bit more flexible so the paint and oil won’t crack as the bibs are exposed to the elements. now that i know what i do, i may even reduce the wax to a few heaping tablespoons just so that whatever wax i use to maintain them will stick better to the cloth. i think the issue here that caused the present pair to wet out was penetration (i’m so sorry i couldn’t think of a better word).

i also waxed the reinforcements after they were attached, and next time i’ll definitely oil the fabric separate from the bibs themselves for an extra layer of protection.

conclusion:

i’m honestly not disappointed and am, in fact, slightly impressed that my amateur soup-soaked overalls are comparable to the state of a (used) pair of mass-manufactured foul weather bibs.

UPDATE: 3 days post-wax

the bibs feel waxy and when i rub them i get residue on my hands, which is to be expected... however, i'm unsure of just how much residual wax there should be sitting on top of the fabric. i think this would be one of those things that would be easier to make an educated guess on had i not added the black paint (or decided to wax black overalls), but alas.

you can clearly see brush strokes on the undyed canvas and shiny spots on the black canvas of the overalls. i think i'll wait till next week and see how it fares and then maybe take a heat gun and clean brush to it again to see how much more can be absorbed, if not redistributed to form an even layer that will hopefully eventually turn into a shell.

“Cold, wet, sleep in your wet clothes no other way to dry them,” is the sentiment expressed by Capt. Irving Johnson in the 1929 film Around Cape Horn. As much as I understand the reality of having so little space that hanging wet clothes between watches below-decks is near impossible, I also would very much like to make note that rain gear did exist aboard ships long before the invention of our modern rubber and synthetic foulies. It was, in fact, quite common for sailors to go such lengths as impregnating the fibers of their clothing with things like tar, spermaceti, alum, lime, paint, and even lead (Putman).

My frustration with rain gear has been rather consistent through my life aboard boats; I find that the comfortable, flexible bibs wet through relatively quickly in the rigorous conditions of tall ship life, and the more rigid weatherproof fisherman-style bibs don’t allow me the range of movement I like to have in the rig. Therefore, I have turned to look into historic methods to attempt to create my own, re-waterproof-able foul weather gear. (Side-note: I hate that I am often not able to maintain or repair modern waterproof garments when at sea for long periods of time due to the inaccessible processes that went into making the clothing waterproof in the first place). That said, the methods listed above are not safe or accessible to me in our modern world, so I must create a more contemporary recipe based on both the needs that I share with my sailing ancestors, and our present available safe materials.

In Tyler Rudd Putman’s article “Whalemen and Waterproofing IV: The Recipes,” there are two materials mentioned that I can and do have access to: linseed oil and varnish. I am also aware of tincloth items sold by various companies -a canvas cloth made waterproof by the infusion of a beeswax and oil mixture into the fibers. And so, I have a jumping-off point. In my efforts to make this piece of gear as waterproof as possible (since I will be putting in valuable time and materials to make it) I turn to Youtube University to see if anyone has improved upon the linseed-oil-and-beeswax solution. Lo-and-behold, someone has! The Lone Woodman posted a video 6 years ago entitled “THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO MAKING TIN PANTS,” where he goes into detail about the molecular structure of different oils and waxes in order to find the optimal combination of durability, water resistance, and flexibility. His final recipe is:

16 oz microcrystalline wax

2 oz Tung oil

6 oz Tung oil finish

8 oz mineral spirits

As you may notice, he includes Tung oil finish in the mixture: an oil finish with added varnish components and drying agents. An interesting alignment with the information gathered by Putman regarding rain gear in the age of sail. For this reason, I have chosen to forego the tung oil finish, and instead adjust the ratios to make an oil-wax-varnish mixture that will hopefully add extra uv protection and help with cure time for my own garment. My final recipe I have come up with is:

16 oz microcrystalline wax

6 oz Tung oil

2 oz varnish

8 oz mineral spirits

Now all that I have left to do is make the thing, and report back on whether or not we, with our modern technologies and fabrics, have overlooked an incredibly simple and effective way of keeping ourselves dry.

SOURCES:

episode II

i took an old pair of my work overalls that are so incredibly large (i bought them when i was in the beginning process of socially transitioning and was having the i-need-all-my-clothes-to-swallow-me-whole type of dysphoria). anyway, i have a pair of carhartts that i was going to wax but the 12-oz duck is super heavy and i'm a bit worried that it would be too clammy if i have to wear them when it's hot out. also i have no idea if this is actually going to work.

since i'm using an old pair of overalls, i have no qualms with ripping off pockets and hardware, which i did so I could add zipper closures to hopefully make the pockets at least a little watertight, rather than having them end up being a bunch of small water collection chambers that will subsequently ruin all the valuables i choose to store in my pockets (mostly comically large nests of seine twine). i needed to adjust the straps anyway as well, so i just cut off the ends so i could add heavy elastic once the wax has cured.

i will be adding 2 thigh pockets (only one is seen in the photo below as i seem to have misplaced the other in my sewing explosion) and a chest pocket.

i also took some 12oz canvas duck to reinforce the knee and ass region, since those are the two spots i always have trouble keeping dry. i was thinking about dying it before attaching, but 1: i'm lazy, and 2: historically paint was another solution to waterproofing clothing. therefore, i've decided to replace the varnish in the mixture with black paint- possibly adding black powder pigment as well if it isn't opaque to my liking.

note: i'm not exactly sure what the fiber content is of the overalls i'm waxing- i think they are at least mostly cotton. i got them on amazon a couple years ago, brand is revolve and i'd say they are probably akin to an 8oz cotton duck.

〜20s FIL-CLO ティンクロス クルーザー ジャケット

FIL-CLOにおいてフロントの前立て·カフスもスナップボタン仕様。

台襟付き。

ポケットに付いているスナップボタンは10s前後とかなり古い年代を証明する鈴割り(通称)スナップボタン！

アシンメトリーポケットや両肩のショルダー部分のディテールが極めて珍しい作り仕様になっているのも見逃せませんね。

#10s #20s #filclo #filson #鈴割りスナップボタン #tincloth #cruiser #vintagejacket

#vintagesweat #ヴィンテージスウェット #vintagesweatshirts #ヴィンテージスウェットシャツ #vintagesweatcollecter #ヴィンテージスウェットコレクター #vintagesportswear #ヴィンテージスポーツウエア #vintageclothing #ヴィンテージクロージング #specialoldandnewclothing #スペシャルオールドアンドニュークロージング #木瀬英一 #eiichikise #reductiondrop #リダクションドロップ #スペシャル復活に向けて奮闘中