Webbing / Strap Question

[NatersXJ6]

The sewing thread reminded me of a question / challenge I’ve run into recently.

I purchased a roll of 1” strap from Amazon or Strapworks, can’t recall which as it was almost a year ago. I planned to make some custom adjustable straps to add to my rooftop tent and some gear securement I was working on.

I found the webbing to be too “coarse” to pull smoothly through ladder lock devices in the straps, so you really can’t tighten them with just one pull. On the other end, I have had some webbing too thin / smooth to effectively engage the locks.

Are there standards for this webbing? How does one know what to order so that you avoid having a 100’ roll of semi-useless webbing laying around? What am I not asking that I should be as I move into the world of sewing stuff?

Basically, can anyone post up a webbing and web accessory primer?

Thanks!

Nate

 

[BritKLR]

Nate -

I'm looking forward to this answer as well! Seriously, it's been my experience that no two manufacturers classify webbing beyond widths, lengths, tubular, nylon, poly, etc.....the same. They all seem to describe light weight, mid weight, heavy weight, soft, stiff, hard, course, smooth, 3 or 4 panel slightly differently. Even when they state it's Mil-spec it may not have the same characteristics of another manufacturers mil-spec webbing. In the end, I've always had to get samples or visit the distributor to determine what was going to work with the hardware for a project.

Good luck and looking forward to others experiences!

 

[slowtwitch]

NRS straps are the best I have found. Perfect surface texture, stiff enough and strong. I've used a few others including some made in USA, and they pale in comparison.. twisty, difficult to feed, difficult to get tight.
Made in China, but what can you do.

 

[rayra]

I'd presume ripstopbytheroll.com wouldn't sell strapping that is too thin or slick to use with that buckles.

/no affiliation, just a satisfied customer.


They appear to be currently sold out of tensioners / ladder locs
https://ripstopbytheroll.com/collections/plastic-adjusters

 

[Alloy]

Try to find a fabic/upolsrty wholesaler and take strap you bought there. Once you find something that fits they'll give you the name of a place to buy from.,

 

[The Artisan]

Seatbelt webbing. Strong, slick and easy to sew.
Kevin

 

[BritKLR]

I forgot to mention, when talking with distributors and retailers ask for the manufacturers samples catalog. They are usually free. They will have every type and piece of webbing they produce glued into a folder with product descriptions, widths, lengths and colors. I have a small library of these catalogs for textiles, webbing, metal and nylon hardware, thread, tape, etc...good luck!

 

[slowtwitch]

The strap type will in part be dictated by what hardware/use you intend for it..different locking mechanisms work best with different straps.. or maybe there won't be any locking mechanisms in which case you can overlook some of the strap characteristics.

 

[jeegro]

I really like polyester seatbelt webbing. For a RTT strap I would go with a regular polyester. Try this? https://www.mcmaster.com/3444t21 nice and flexible

Common webbing types are nylon (skip nylon), polyester (best for outdoors, low stretch, most durable), polypropylene (cheapest). There doesn't seem to be any sort of reliable standard, pretty much have to pick various vendors and try em out. Kind of like buying clothing on the internet, 100% cotton from one brand could be wildly different from 100% cotton of another.

I've tried out Mcmaster, Strapworks, Country Brook design, and some ebay items

 

[rayra]

seatbelt-type web straps are too thin / slick for buckles designed for use with coarser web strapping, the seatbelt stuff will slip right thru / come undone.