Ashaway Kevlar smell

[Shroud]

There was a poster in one of the threads commenting on the smell of the Ashaway Kevlar.

I certainly didnt smell that so I just chalked it up to me not having a sensitive nose.

Today I smelled it. Its NOT the kevlar. I normally use 18g kevlar from REELS but today I opened a pack of 16g crossfire to try and man it stank. Its the syngut in the package that is making the kevlar smell. When you smell a reel of kevlar, its nothing like the smell from the kevlar in the Crossfire package!

 

[Sander001]

Thanks for the nose-news, neighbour!

 

[travlerajm]

Most synthetic gut has a foul odor.

It's because one of the essential ingredients to make nylon is an amine, and there tends to be residual unreacted amine remaining in the polymer. Amines usually have odors that smell like rotting fish or dead bodies.

Putrescine and Cadaverine are two notoriously stinky amines that form when fish or meat begins to decay.

Kevlar is made from an amine as a starting ingredient too, but the the odor is fainter and less unpleasant.

 

[dicktracey]

I was that snobby poster
I have a reel of Ashaway Kevlar 18g, never bought or smelled the crossfire package.
The reel doesn't smell that bad, like others have said it smells like a sharp leather chemical. However, the smell transfers from my racket to my tennis bags which I don't like.
The main issue for me is playing with it. Every time I hit a ball, I think the Kevlar burns/ from the snap back friction, and the smell is amplified. I've used a full bed of Kevlar and Kevlar mains and Poly crosses too. Never tried crossfire, but I'm guessing the crossfire might smell less on the court, because the synthetic gut is softer on the Kevlar = less sliding/snap back, so less burning.

 

[Captain Karma]

Strange I thought I was the only one . Same smell from a 660 reel of Prince Synthetic Gut Duraflex too

 

[Rock Strongo]

That's the smell of a bulletproof racquet.