Teflon screen is “awesome”!

[Jon]

i was so frustrated by the short lifespan of my first two impact screens, that i decided to take extreme measure to avoid wasting any more money on screens that don’t cut it. I bought 9 yards of bright white tefon fabric that is capable of stopping a bullet, let alone a golf ball. It came in a roll that was 9 yards by 50” and my frame is 8’ x 8’, so i had to cut it in two pieces and then i had the two pieces sewn together withteflon thread. The result is better than i possibly could have expected. The material is so strong that i had to use special metal cutting scissors just to cut th fabric. Rebounding is nearly nonexistent.nd the screen is pulled tight. Alot tighter than it was with my previous screen, which was meant to be used as a golf impact screen. There are a couple small issues with ising teflon fabric as an immpact screen.
1. Teflon wrinkles very easily. I learned this when i got the material aewn together.
2 When a ball hits the screen, it makes a pretty loud thud.
3. Picture quality- there is a slight degradation in picture quality because of the wrinkles. But in the fre hours thatthe screen has been up, i’ve noticed that the wrinkles have diminished significantly. Hopefully in day or two, they will be completely gone. Ill take pics later so you can see the results.

[Stingreye]

Your sim room can double as a firing range!

EDIT: I also agree with disappointment with most impact screen longevity. I went with Archery net the second time for that reason.

[Jon]

Wrinkles are starting to come out. I thought about ironing it buy i was concerned about the possibility of melting the fabric. Cant even see the seem half way down while using it. I spent $130 on the fabric. That’s just a fraction of the cost of a quality impact screen.

[717golfer]

Where did you buy the fabric?

[Jon]

By the way, it was kevlar fabric, not teflon. I got it on ebay. If you. Search kevlar fabric or ballistic fabric, there are several options at very reasonable prices.

[717golfer]

You must have purchased the only white piece available. All I can find is black or green etc.

[wbond]

Search the closed listings as well, you might find one in white and contact the seller to see if there is more available.

[Jon]

the following link is to the listing on ebay

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1500-Denier-50-Wide-Spectra-Synthetic-Fabric-Ballistic-UHMWPE-UV-Closeouts-BTY/272809820722

[Jon]

[Jon]

I have been using my ballistic grade fabric for a couple months now. I generally hit at least 300 balls a day at a distance of 7 feet from the screen. After about a months, the seam that connects the top half of my screen to the bottom half came loose and needed to be restitched. I had that done and since then I haven't had any problems with it at all. I contacted just about every retailer of golf impact screens and none of them were willing to offer a guarantee of any length of time on there screens. What good is a movie theater quality image if you have to spend 5 or $600 every month on a new screen. I can't even begin to imagine what the commercial sim play locations spend on screens. That is assuming, they get a lot of use.

[banjopete]

Thanks for the information on this, it seems like a great way to go. Any markings or blemishes from balls themselves after all that hitting?

[Jon]

None. The only thing about using the ballistic material that is less than ideal is that the picture quality isn't quite as sharp as I would like.

[DougieMn]

Awesome!!!!!! That fabric is gone but my wife is finding other sources........We may give this a try as well since she is a sewing fanatic and I too am frustrated on how long these screens last. Slightly degraded picture quality is ok by me if it means my screen will last. Thanks for the idea!!!!!!!!

[Jon]

I recently found another listing with a very similar fabric to the one that I bought. I've decided to order 8 yards of it. I'm going to make a larger impact screen for use at the course that I work at. At $10 per yard x 44", it's a huge value. Compared to the total waste of money that my first 2 screens turned out to be, it really feels like a steal.
Here is the link:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Heavy-Denier-48-W-Synthetic-Ballistic-Fabric-sold-by-the-yard-Sample-available/152947497613?var=452718305275&hash=item239c619a8d:m:mazDDL3ZMubKBYrU2GRrVTg

BTW Dougie, I see that you're a TGC user. Do you know when TGC2 is coming out? I'm currently a JNPG user but I'm interested to see if TGC 2 will be worthy of the switch.

[DougieMn]

We received the teflonish bullet proof fabric and seam thread yesterday($10/yard). Will grab an extra tin snip to cut the fabric today at Harbor Freight.

The fabric is extremely soft and pliable, hard to believe it's used for ballistics. Not sure when we will actually sew it together or hang it once done but will post pictures.

My observation regarding marks and scratches and holes in screens. Once you project an image on it the marks are barely noticeable. Sure it might look like crap when not projecting. I have a huge gaping hole about 6' long that was fixed multiple times with a rubbery caulk suggested by screen manufacturer. I gave up when it didn't hold and the area looks worse and worse everytime I hit into it. With TGC or Skytrak projecting on it you don't even notice it. In a nutshell, I don't worry about slight ballmarks etc on screen(I do try to use new balls frequently).

Jon: Last I heard version 2 of TGC is a summer release although I haven't followed real closely as of late.

[14MPH]

Jon DougieMn old topic but am curious how your choices of ballistic material for screen is holding up after all this time? You still recommend this as an alternative economic option? I am trying to maximise value return from what seems like a decent $ investment if I need to get a good sim setup.

I am still not sure what material is used in today’s premium screens and why it commands such a high price point when its durability might not be that long in time.

[Jon]

1st off, I’ll say that I hit alot of golf balls. Alot more than the average sim user. The 1st ballistic fabric that I bought lasted about 18 months. I actually was so happy with it I bought 3 more just like it and had them seamed together to make a much larger screen. That fabric was really great for durability and value for the low cost. Picture quality wasn’t quite as good as the golf impact screen you can buy on ebay or amazon, but those never lasted a month if you pull them taught. The issue I had with using that fabric was the sound. The impact on the screen was far louder than the club striking a golf ball. I have since put the projector away and settled for an archery baffle. It chews up the ball less than A traditional heavy duty practice net and looks better too. I’m perfectly happy monitoring on my smart tv.