The Story of Nylon and Military Fittings

In the "military fans" a large number of military enthusiasts group, in addition to the common weapons and equipment party, tactical war history party, there are some people's hobby is to collect the military uniforms of various countries, as well as explore the history and cultural stories after the uniform. There is also a sub-category in the uniform party - the nylon party. These people collect all kinds of single soldier equipment and training uniforms and will follow the actual photos to match the shape. Zhejiang Dingyi New Material Technology Co., Ltd.will briefly introduce the story of nylon and single soldier equipment.

From ancient times to the present, front-line soldiers have needed loadouts to carry weapons and other equipment. To ensure the reliability of long-term use, most of the ancient to modern-day loadouts were made of leather or coarse cloth, but in modern times, the rapid development of the chemical industry and technology has given mankind a new understanding of fabric.

In 1935, DuPont invented nylon, and as the first chemical fiber invented by human beings, nylon was soon used in various textile industries. Nylon was mainly used for civilian textiles in the early days of its invention, and because the tensile strength per unit cross-sectional area was much higher than that of traditional plant fibers, the most familiar products of nylon in the early days were stockings and toothbrush bristles made of nylon. But at this time, the army does not have very cold nylon, one because the performance of nylon was not fully developed, the second is the limited production of nylon, the early only DuPont master synthetic technology patents, the price is very expensive, not suitable for large-scale military procurement.

Nylon was first used by the military industry on a large scale by the Allies during World War II. The parachutes used by the aviation industry were made of silk, but the natural environment in Europe and the United States are not suitable for silk production, so the West has been imported from East Asia and Southeast Asia. But as Japan fought all the way from the northeast to the Philippines, Asia's silk exports were truncated, and at this time Germany was also watching, and Europe and the United States themselves had the need to expand their armies to prepare for war. In this case, the U.S. Army first equipped its own airborne troops with parachutes made of nylon produced by DuPont, while the silk parachutes were given priority to supply pilots.

Nylon parachutes had many problems in early tests, and DuPont improved the design in many ways to ensure that they would not be blown apart even in strong winds. The large demand of the U.S. Army also led DuPont to almost stop the production of civilian chemical fibers during World War II, which also fueled DuPont to keep expanding nylon production and also authorized production in the U.K. By the end of World War II, the U.S. Army, in addition to improving the design of parachutes, also converted all parachutes were converted to nylon production.

Nylon parachutes had many problems in early tests, and DuPont improved the design in many ways to ensure that they would not be blown apart even in strong winds. The large demand of the U.S. Army also led DuPont to almost stop the production of civilian chemical fibers during World War II, which also fueled DuPont to keep expanding nylon production and also authorized production in the U.K. By the end of World War II, the U.S. Army, in addition to improving the design of parachutes, also converted all parachutes were converted to nylon production.

With the rapid development of technology and production capacity of the chemical industry, nylon soon moved from being a more valuable material than silk to the common people. But the army is not very sensitive to the application of nylon products in the equipment, only the safety belt products will use high-strength nylon, and in the ordinary soldier's equipment, nylon compared to the common canvas does not reflect the obvious advantages.

As the U.S. Army began its official troop presence in Vietnam in 1965, the canvas material used in the previously issued U.S. Army M1955 loadout began to suffer disadvantages. The canvas had good corrosion and abrasion resistance in dry conditions, but the wet and rainy conditions of Vietnam were a problem. The canvas was easily worn and rotted when it got wet, but the nylon did not have the problem of rotting at all. To solve the problem of the canvas, the U.S. Army used a lot of nylon on the newly designed M1967 loadout system to solve the problem of canvas not being resistant to water blisters, and from M1967, NATO armies also began to use nylon on the next generation of man-portable equipment, and in the 1970s, the Soviet Army also began to use nylon on man-portable equipment. Since then, the international mainstream single soldier loadout has completely abandoned plant fiber and started to run wild on the road of nylon.

In addition to nylon, many other materials have been used in recent years in the design of equipment, such as Dyneema, Hypalon, etc., providing more possibilities for the design and development of military equipment and outdoor products, but nylon is still one of the most cost-effective and reliable chemical fiber materials.