Zhang et al (2020) measured soil splashed and washed by rain-impacted flows on surfaces where 4 sections were exposed in sequence during a 1 hour rainfall event. In one treatment, upslope areas were protected by a tarp, and in the other, protected by a gauze screen. Comparison between the amounts splashed and eroded by the rain-impacted flow were used to determine if detachment by surface water flows occurred. In this comment, the conclusion that flow detachment occurred in all the screen experiments and in all the tarp experiments on the 27 % slope and the tarp experiment with 120 mm h-1 rain on the 18 % slope is shown to be unsound for two reasons. Firstly, the conclusion is unsound because it is well known that not all the material mobilized by raindrop impact is lifted into that air and transported aerially over the surface in raindrop splash. Secondly, the conclusion is unsound because the equation used to determine apparent soil loss rates in the screen experiments does not estimate the contribution of erosion in the sections to the sediment discharged from the eroding surfaces.