webbing

Webbing is a strong fabric woven as a flat strip or tube of varying width and fibers often used in place of rope. The name webbing comes from the meshed material frequently used in its construction, which resembles a web. It is a versatile component used in climbing, furniture manufacturing, automobile safety, auto racing, towing, parachuting, military apparel, and many other fields. Modern webbing is often made from exceptionally high-strength material, such as Dyneema, Nylon, Polyester, and Kevlar. For less performance-oriented applications, cotton, Polypropylene, and flax can be used. As webbing is both light and strong, with breaking strengths in excess of 10,000 lb (44.4 kN) readily available, the possible applications are virtually limitless.

2 inch (50 mm) Nylon webbing as used in auto racing harnesses

Sporting goods

In rock climbing, nylon webbing is used in slings, runners, harnesses, anchor extensions and quickdraws.

Webbing is used in many ways in hiking and camping gear including backpacks straps, load adjusters and tent adjusters.

Automotive and racing safety

Seat Belts are an obvious example of webbings used in auto safety but there are a myriad of other uses. Nylon and Polyester webbing are used a great deal in auto racing safety for a large variety of items. Racing harnesses restraining the driver have used Nylon webbing for years, but since the death of Dale Earnhardt Polyester webbing is becoming more popular due to its increased strength, and lower rate of elongation under load. The Nylon commercial type 9 webbing generally used in racing harnesses stretches approximately 20-30% of its initial length at 2500 lb (11.1 Kn)) while Polyester only stretches 5% -15%. Window nets to prevent objects from entering the driver compartment are constructed of polypropelene webbing, as are helmet nets used to reduce side loads to the head in Sprint cars. The HANS device uses webbing tethers to attach the helmet to the collar, and the Hutchens device is made almost entirely of webbing.

Furniture

Webbing is used in couches and chairs as a base for the seating areas that is both strong and flexible. Many types of outdoor furniture use little more than thin light webbing for the seating areas. Webbing is also used to reinforce joints and areas that tend to flex.

Military

Webbing is used to make military belts, packs and pouches, and by extension also refers to the items themselves. The British Army adopted cotton webbing to replace leather after the Second Boer War although leather belts are still worn in more formal dress. The term is still used for a soldier's combat equipment, although cotton webbing has since been replaced with more advanced materials. The webbing system used by the British Army today is known as Personal Load Carrying Equipment.

Webbing is designed to be light enough to carry the vital things needed in battle and for outdoor survival. It is made so that if the bergen is lost or abandoned, the soldier can survive on emergency rations carried in the webbing for up to 24 hours, although this can be extended if supplies are rationed. Typical contents of webbing include cooking equipment, 24 hours worth of rations, ammunition, first aid or survival supplies and sheltering equipment. Most webbing systems incorporate a degree of modular construction consisting of a yoke (a type of shoulder harness), a belt and a variety of pouches specific to different tasks, for example pouches designed to carry ammunition magazines may have dividers or special waterproofing. Different combinations of pouches can be used to customise webbing to better suit the mission it is needed for. Generally it is unusual for western armies to fight with a bergen and so prior to an anticipated battle the bergen is usually stowed away from the forward edge of the battle area and webbing is used as the immediate load bearing equipment instead.

Webbing belts are also used frequently by modern cadet and scout groups, as well as police and security forces.

Transportation

Tie downs, tie straps, cargo straps, E-track straps, cargo hoist straps, tow ropes, winch straps, cargo nets, and dozens of other items are used by thousands of shipping and trucking companies every day. The transportation industry is perhaps the largest user of high strength webbing in the world.

Apparel

Belts, suspenders, sandals and purses are woven from various forms of webbing. Corset style back braces and other medical braces often incorporate straps made from webbing.

Hardware

Webbing is often outfitted with various forms of tie down hardware to extend its range of abilities (and create tie down straps). This hardware can take the form of:

• End Fittings (S-hooks, snap hooks, bolt/anchor plates, J-hooks, flat hooks, etc.)
• Fasteners (over-center, cam, ratchet, etc.)
• Buckles (slide buckles, snap buckles, etc.)

There is also hardware associated with the various end fittings to attach them to a surface, such as footman’s loops, brackets and E-track fittings.

See also

In education and learning Webbing is a method of diagrammatically representing facts and information, similar to Mind Mapping.

Related articles

• Blanco
• Tie down straps
• Tie down hardware

Donate to Wikimedia