Fabric Application Triad

Choosing the best fabric for your project can be difficult. That's why Carter, our Senior Product Manager, came up with a simple rubric to help.

A fabric with the lowest price in its category

The lightest weight fabric for its attributes

A fabric with the highest tensile/tear strength and/or abrasion resistance

Choosing fabrics can be really overwhelming.

Let's use a backpack for example.

You could choose the cost-affective ROBIC series, the ultralight 2.92 oz Dyneema® Composite, or super durable 1000D Cordura®.

All of these fabrics are phenomenal options for a backpack. However, they have different attributes that help set them apart from one another based on your intended use and what you want to get out of the pack.

There are three categories that you can use to organize fabrics. These options are Price, Weight, and Durability.

These categories serve as a basic filter for making the tough material decisions that you'll be faced with when building your project. Sifting through the available fabric options using this "triad" is an effective way to break through the barrier of indecision.

Steps:

1) Project Specifications

Decide on your project. What will you be making with your materials?

2) Fabric Attributes

Be as specific as possible when defining what this fabric needs to do for you. It can be helpful to imagine how you will use the finished item. For instance, fabric for a pair of rock climbing pants needs to be comfortable to the skin, but also incredibly abrasion resistant.

3) Prioritize the Triad

Rate the three options (listed above) in priority order. If you have worked diligently on steps 1 &2, you may already have an idea of your priorities between lowest weight, highest durability, and lowest possible price.

In episode 3 of our podcast, Ripstop on the Record, we talk about the Fabric Application Triad in more detail. Check that episode out here.