Fresh from the lab, the results from the material testing of the MESHBUSTERS project are below. If you didn’t check out our first episode introducing the concept and test subjects, you should probably start by doing that here: Chapter ONE

Almost all of my original plans for testing had to be reconfigured after I was in the process, so it took a bit longer than expected. I’ll try to explain each test and give some insight into what the numbers could mean. I’ve also included most of my process pictures from the different tests in the gallery below, so if something’s not adding up, go take a peek at those.

The first thing to show you are the weight and water resistance stats. I know there’s a lot of decimals in there, but these things were so close that it was necessary. The process was pretty simple. First, measure the length of the mesh. Weigh the mesh dry, then weigh the mesh after it has been completely submerged in water for 10 seconds. So that it wasn’t dripping wet, I gave each piece of mesh exactly 3 spins to shake off any excess water. I figured that was enough to simulate actively playing with it.

I factored length into the equation, because a longer piece of mesh has more surface to absorb water with than a shorter piece of mesh. That being said, the easiest numbers to look at here are “g/cm DRY” and “Weight Difference.” “g/cm DRY” is the weight per length, or grams per centimeter. This means that even though some mesh was longer than others, you can still compare these numbers directly to see which is the heaviest out of the box. All measurements in the tables below are in grams or centimeters, because the metric system actually makes logical sense.

“Weight Difference” is the difference between “g/cm DRY” and “g/cm WET.” This indicates how much water was absorbed by the mesh while being submerged. This should be a good indicator of how resistant a mesh is to water, since the ones that didn’t absorb any extra weight were obviously less effected by water. After pulling every piece out of the water, I noticed the water beading on the mesh. Some mesh got more beading than others, and it seemed to relate to how easily the water was flung off of it while spinning. This resulted in a lower wet weight.

While the numbers were extremely close, the YELLOW, RED, PURPLE and PINK mesh pieces absorbed the least water, while the ORANGE, BLUE, and FIRE pieces of mesh absorbed the most. That being said, the difference between the most absorbent and the least is only 0.045 grams, so overall I’d say it was too close to result in a noticeable difference while playing with it. All of the meshes do exactly as advertised when it comes to resisting water. The next test is all about flakiness. I took each piece of mesh and stretched and twisted it in a similar fashion for 10 seconds over a black felt sheet. Once that was done, I compared the flaking that had fallen off. 0 meant that nothing noticeable had fallen off, while 3 meant the mesh had a full blown case of dandruff. I’ve included pictures of both my ratings chart AND the evidence so you can judge for yourselves. Flaking could mean a few things, I think. The first is that it’s more likely to get all over my hands and pants and wherever I happen to be stringing. The second is that the excess wax coming off is indicative of how much wax was put on. A ton of wax isn’t necessarily a bad thing, since it can lead to better grip on the ball. Heavy flaking could also mean that it was poorly bonded to the mesh, and will therefore last a shorter amount of time. Meshbusters Part 3 will have to answer that question, as we’ll have to find out how long each piece retains the wax coating and properties. Lastly, it could mean that the wax is more of a dry mixture, or more like a candle than surf wax. This would not be so good for its longevity. Next up we have the width tests. It took me a good while to figure out the best way to do these, but I think I got it as close as I could. I used two quarter inch dowel rods to stretch the mesh, zig-zagging through the outer diamonds down the sides. I would pre-stretch each piece by hand before throwing them on the dowels, so each piece had the chance to “open up.” To make sure that each piece of mesh was weighted and stretched evenly, I rigged up a couple sturdy hooks out of coat hangers, and then dangled a massive can of beef raviolis in a String King bag. The mesh would be pre-stretched, strung onto the dowels, hung from the top hook, and then weighted by the Chef Boyardee. The distance BETWEEN the two dowel rods was then measured to get the width numbers. For the WET width test, the mesh was submerged in water for 30 seconds, shaken twice, and then re-stretched by hand. The stretched consisted of 2 “pull-aparts” for each piece of mesh. It was then rehung and weighted with the beef can. The distance between the two dowel rods was again measured, and then compared to the dry number. Out of all the meshes tested, only the FIRE piece of mesh showed no change in width. On the other end of the spectrum, the GREEN mesh stretched an extra half centimeter after being submerged. Most of the meshes had a slight change after getting wet, but again, we’re talking an average of 3 millimeters here. This is another test where I generally thought the differences between the numbers was negligible, but the mesh was stretched evenly between the dowels. When only one section of your pocket is being stretched, like under the shooters when throwing, these stretching properties will be multiplied.