Ben Tart or County Cloth?

[Ghostrider_58]

Hi everyone,
I was browsing around today on the web, just looking at different fabrics,mostly by Ben Tart and County Cloth, and it got me to wondering.... which has the edge over the other? I thought it would be interesting to hear a few thoughts and maybe your personal preferences, or maybe you like neither..i would like to hear some of your feedback!
Drew Lane

[DougCooper]

Re: Ben Tart or County Cloth?

Hi everyone,
I was browsing around today on the web, just looking at different fabrics,mostly by Ben Tart and County Cloth, and it got me to wondering.... which has the edge over the other? I thought it would be interesting to hear a few thoughts and maybe your personal preferences, or maybe you like neither..i would like to hear some of your feedback!
Drew Lane

Mr Lane - this is not a zero sum game, so not sure what you mean by "which (who) has the edge over the other?" Both are outstanding, and indeed are 2 men who have made correctly reproducing period textiles their life's work, and the hobby is in their debt, big time.

Order the cloth that you believe most closely matches what you are trying to reproduce. There are plenty of choices.

[1stMaine]

Re: Ben Tart or County Cloth?

Comrade,

Neither one. Both have excellent products and you would be well served by either maker.

I would suggest that a better course of action would be to examine what your specific needs are vis-avis material, and then ask for samples from both vendors.

Respects,

[jhuether]

Re: Ben Tart or County Cloth?

Pard,

As far as customer service goes, I have never had a problem with either. County Cloth does take a while to fill fabric orders, but it has never been outrageous and Mr Childs is very up front about the wait. Not to mention he is very prompt at returning emails and calls, and seems more than happy to answer questions. Ben Tart has always been extremely fast to fill orders in my experience. It has been a while since I ordered from there, but I highly doubt the high customer service as deminished.

Which to choose has to be based on the project. I cannot speak for Ben Tart clothing kits, but can say that County Cloth's are an extremely good buy. i recommend getting the fabric swatches and see it all for yourself.

[H. L. Hanger]

Re: Ben Tart or County Cloth?

I have ordered cloth from both and have been extremely satisfied! Either would be a great choice depending upon your needs.

My last order from County Cloth was made on a Thursday and the material of choice arrived on Monday...can't get much better than that. Of course, it is always nice to inquire as to the availability of your chosen material before an order is placed.

J

[Ghostrider_58]

Re: Ben Tart or County Cloth?

Hi again,
I am not trying to trying to find which maker is the most authentic and i am not trying to buy any fabric right now. I have a jacket made out of County Cloth material and love it. I thought it would be interesting to hear people's personal preferences...just out of curiosity.
Drew

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

Re: Ben Tart or County Cloth?

That kind of opinion on cloth is like asking whether someone prefers a Lexus or a Cadillac = they are both "high end" models with lots to like. Each vendor makes slightly differing goods at times, at it will only depend upon what kind of project you have as to which one is better. I'll echo most of the early sentiment from this thread and that is that both have oustanding material, both offer a decent level of customer service, and both have done their homework when it comes to period methods and material culture.

[Coatsy]

Re: Ben Tart or County Cloth?

Drew, don't forget to sign your full name. Go ahead and set your signature line with your options. I have to agree with the others that it really depends on who has what when you are looking to purchase material, a kit, or the finished garment.

[Ghostrider_58]

Re: Ben Tart or County Cloth?

Herb, thanks for the info. I just set my signature, hopefully it will work... I believe both are excellent vendors, my mobile mystery jacket is made of CC FG jean, with Ben Tart lining and thread... After reading Ben Tart's site about vegetable dying as the most authentic choice,i didn't know if CC did this so it made me curious about people's personal preferences.

[Enfilade]

Re: Ben Tart or County Cloth?

Drew, the big question is always "piece dyed or yarn dyed"? That in itself should be one for debate.

Mark Berrier
North State Rifles

[Craig L Barry]

Re: Ben Tart or County Cloth?

The question is an interesting one. It might be best answered depending on the type garment vs which draper to choose. If you want an article already made up, and it is for an ANV or NC Confederate impression, Ben Tart offers primarily Richmond and NC Depot jackets, NC sack coats and jean wool trousers, while Chas Childs (County Cloth) has a wider variety including Richmond Depot, NC, Columbus Depot, Dept of Alabama and Tait.

If you want a garment for a Federal impression, Ben Tart offers a fatigue blouse kit or blue flannel cloth by the yard, while Chas Childs has a good variety of patterns ready made and also do it yourself kits. Childs is quite a bit more expensive and advertises a six-month wait for a finished garment.

As far as the cloth used, Ben Tart fabrics are all single lot vat dyed with natural or vegetable based dye-stuffs, one strand cotton thread vs plied. Because of this, they fade naturally with exposure to sunlight. As Ben Tart puts it, single vat vegetable dyed cloth "offers an excellent insight into colors of the period." I have found this to be the case in terms of the various cloth samples we have had a chance to evaluate. County Cloth has not submitted any samples for evaluation by The Watchdog.

[Ghostrider_58]

Re: Ben Tart or County Cloth?

Mark, Could you tell me more about "piece dying or yarn dying"?

[Enfilade]

Re: Ben Tart or County Cloth?

Piece dyed fabric is woven fabric immersed in a dye bath before it is cut and sewn.

Yarn dyed fabric uses yarn dyed before it was woven into a fabric and then cut and sewn.

I hope this helps.

Mark Berrier
North State Rifles

http://www.northstaterifles.com

[DougCooper]

Re: Ben Tart or County Cloth?

Piece dyed fabric is woven fabric immersed in a dye bath before it is cut and sewn.

Yarn dyed fabric uses yarn dyed before it was woven into a fabric and then cut and sewn.

I hope this helps.

Mark Berrier
North State Rifles
http://www.northstaterifles.com

And trying to determine which method was used after 145 years is often problematic, when sun, sweat, dirt, time, cotton vs wool and type of dye weighs in.

[aaron1stvirginia]

Re: Ben Tart or County Cloth?

Dear Sir
I've never used county cloth, but I do have a NC uniform made from Ben Tart's jean wool and I can speak good of it. The thing I like about his NC shell is that it is based on a jacket in a museum. The quality of the wool is good. I ran the uniform through the mill this last weekend and was kinda hard on it and it held up. I would recomend that one not just choose on others opinions, but try both before coming to a conclusions.

Sincerly