I noticed a few years ago that as thermoplastics like Tegris and Curve started to proliferate, there was a sudden surge in gear from some brands being made largely from those materials and held together with rivets and metal grommets rather than stitching. The latter is not intrinsically a bad thing, just like any design choice it simply has to be done correctly.
I am not a professional or world expert in such things by any means I only dabble in having kit made as a tertiary side venture in terms of a business effort. I think what we see in the best designs currently on the market however is a balanced integration of newer materials and construction methods while still using proven cordura and sewing where it is right to do so.
What I can say for certain as a career aircraft technician is that metal components are subject to fatigue in a very different way to the most popular fabrics used in high end tactical kit construction. This is especially true of very small, cheaply mass-produced components made of very thin metal which are subjected to stressor forces whenever their master assembly is actually used.
It is certainly quicker to train a person to push down on a press repeatedly than it is to train a person to output quality sewing work at pace, which I would wager might factor in to the design choices of some companies given the OEMs that they employ.
Better designs, from the best brands using quality free western workers, will pretty consistently (in my observations) make the right choices in this regard. They use sufficiently durable metal parts and thermoplastics in places that make sense i.e. where those parts can withstand the forces applied. They will stick to sewing and cordura laminates in most instances.
In the header image above this post I have the Shaw Concepts ARC Chest Rig V1 is attached to the F9Gear Ammo Hub A1. The Shaw mounting is super secure and the loops on the Hub are serviceable but not perfect, hence why future F9 products will be built slightly differently. That’s the difference between a top tier pro outfit and someone who has some gear knowledge but still has a plenty to learn.
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