THIS AREA IS FOR REFERENCE TO MILITARY FABRICS AND MATERIALS
Cordura Typical Weights and Strengths
| Fiber | Weight (oz/yd) | Grab Strength (lbs) | Tear Strength (lbs) |
| 70 denier |
2.0 - 2.5
|
50 - 100
|
8 - 10
|
| 160 denier (textured) |
4.0 - 4.5
|
150 - 250
|
6 - 9
|
| 210 denier |
4.5 - 5.5
|
200 - 300
|
30 - 40
|
| 330 denier (textured) |
7.5 - 9.0
|
200 - 300
|
15 - 20
|
| 420 denier |
7.5 - 9.0
|
400 - 550
|
60 - 80
|
| 500 denier (textured) |
7.0 - 8.0
|
300 - 400
|
25 - 35
|
| 725 denier (textured) |
8.5 - 9.5
|
500 - 600
|
60 - 70
|
| 1000 denier (textured) |
9.5 - 11.0
|
525 - 625
|
65 - 75
|
| 1000 denier basket weave (textured) |
12 -14
|
750 - 850
|
95 - 110
|
| 1050 denier basket weave |
15 -17
|
900 -1000
|
150 - 250
|
Grab strength is if you were to hold the fabric on each end and pull. Tear strength is like trying to tear a piece of paper.
Cloth, nylon, Cordura®.
Specification: MIL-C-43734, class 3
Strength: 1000 denier
Common Uses: Heavy duty base cloth for tactical gear.
Cloth, nylon, Cordura®.
Specification: MIL-C-43734, class 4
Strength: 500 denier
Common Uses: A lighterweight base cloth for non-loadbearing portions of tactical gear.
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3-24-2007: Added a sheet of some of GSI's latest cordura
1-27-2007: Added Military Green color comparision sheet. There are some semi new greens out there so I thought I'd make a sheet displaying all the major military greens.The most known and common is OD standing for Olive Drab. This is a fairly brown / saturated green. The Airforce went with what they call Sage Green which is a much more grey green. Sometimes things are labeled OD, however really are Camo Green which is a more blue-ish green as seen in Woodland Camo. One of the more modern colors which is popular yet has no widespread military use, is Ranger Green. This green is a more brown and desatured OD. Paraclete calls their green Smoke Green, but generally looks very close to Ranger Green. Adding to the pile, Emdom uses Sewer Green which is a midpoint between OD and Ranger Green. I added in a UCP / Foliage Green sample for your reference. As you can see...it is a lot more grey than anything else.
-1-07-2007 Hunted down some hook and loop "velcro" MIL Spec pdfs for your reference:
OLD hook and loop - <MIL-F-21840G PDF>
NEW hook and loop - <A-A-55126B PDF>
-11-07-2006 Ranger Green / TN Webbing addition
So Since TN Webbing never game me any color samples I had to get some donations from Gany. I did get a fancy TN webbing sample book, but it is just a random assortment of colors and webbings. About all it told me was what types of webbings were available. After asking around TN webbing has gained the rep of mostly dealing in surplus so batches will greatly vary thus the quality as well. Some batches can be great, but some can have substantial miscoloring or in my current pic example's case; the Marine Coyote is 23mm-24mm (supposed to be 25mm). Since the samples I got included the semi-rare ranger green, I added a ranger green sheet to compare to DIY goods. As you will see, although most are close enough, almost none would be considered a perfect match to ranger green cordura. Most of the webbing would be better classified as sewer green or smoke green.
Lowy USA kindly hooked me up with a large sample kit. They offer a large selection of webbing, zippers, hook and loop, plastic hardware, elastics, para-gear, a very impressive metal hardware lineup, and more. I didn't get everything of course, but have good examples of many items for making mil-gear. Be sure and check out their site for their full selection.
Things worth note: Some of the plastic hardware such as sliders seem to be the same as GSI uses. Most are labeled "WOO JIN Duraflex Designed by National Molding" I found the side release buckles fit a little loose so they can make more noise than I'd like, but seem solid otherwise. The cordlocks are beefier than I'm used to seeing and I find them easier to use. What I'm assuming is Coyote 43668 1" was a bit saturated, and the tan 550 cord was pretty bright, but generally all of the other colors looked good. Hope to get around to making more color sheets soon.
<www.lowyusa.com>
DIY sent me a nice sample pack so I got around to taking some more color/product shots. Examples shown with medium faded BDUs, DCUs, fairly new ACUs, Multicam cordura, and Coyote cordura from a Specter pouch.
Things worth note: As you can see there are plenty of colors to match your camo needs. I found the Coyote 1" 17337, Coyote (ALT) 1" 43668, and Coyote 1" 5664 to be great matches for Multicam.
Recently purchased some goods from a new store DIY Tactical. They are rapidly expanding their inventory for great mil-gear making materials. Very quick shipping and great customer service. Check out some color examples: <www.diytacticalstore.com>
Thanks to Gerald Schwartz INC accommodating me with a sample pack, I have a good batch of raw mil materials to show some of the great products they carry. If you like what you see check out: <www.geraldschwartzinc.com>
The first 4 darker images on row 2 are scanned to show colors in different lighting.
General Notes: Main difference from Camo and OD on 1000D cordura is camo 483 has more of a deep green while OD has more brown in it causing it to appear very brown in some light. The 1000D Khaki is probably the most versetile blending decently with Woodland Camo, 3 Color Desert, and Multicam.
-Little side note: Emdom USA has added a pretty detailed gear color comparison page. Good for newbs and pros alike. <www.emdomusa.com>
MEGA MULTICAM cordura swatches. The color isn't exactly awesome, but if you are looking for some full size multicam swatches, here you go. First one is a little blurry, but shows the repetition. Last one is tile ready for my video game buddies. Note, normally multicam does not tile horizontally.
Quick color variance example:
