Rainwear Central Rainwear Forum

being now 80 years old there are one or two things that have passed into history that a lot of younger folk have no knowledge of . you all must have seen photos of barrage balloons , a fairly common sight in WW 2 . really large bulbous silver grey hydrogen filled monsters with long trailing wire cables floating in the sky to protect sensitive targets .
OK , plastics had not been invented , so a strong light fabric was used to make them , this was high quality silk , and the silk was made gas proof by being coated with RUBBER Yes , just like rubber mackintosh material .I once saw a young woman in Plymouth who was wearing a stunning silver mackintosh , and I asked her where she had got it from , having first said how great she looked , and she told me that her husband had made it for her out of military surplus barrage balloon material

I never knew that barrage balloons were made or rubberised silk. Mind you I have never seen any being sold on the surplus market either. I don't suppose I ever will now.

That is a fascinating fact that I didn't know. Thanks for sharing! I recall canvas kit bags that were lined with rubber, probably a special type for operations in particularly wet conditions. Imagine some fun clothing items that could be made- although the canvas was very heavy!