Parachutes
Materials
Ripstop
Bag Fabric
- Paragear sells nylon pack fabric. It is 9 oz per yd^2 and costs about $10 per yd^2. We have been using burgundy.
Nylon Webbing and Tape
- D.J. Associates supplies a variety of MIL-spec and commercial grade webbings and tapes by the roll (72-100 yards). They are a little cheaper than paragear, but I have yet to look at shipping costs.
- Paragear supplies a variety of MIL-spec and commercial grade webbings and tapes by the yard and by the roll (72-400 yards).
- Strapworks sells commercial and MIL-spec webbings.They have 2 light weight (600 lb) offerings.
- Tenessee Webbing Products sells 3/4" tubular webbing with a better strength than D.J. Associates; allegedly for military purpose, not sure if it is officially rated. Call for quote.
Kevlar Tapes
- Paragear. Only supplies 1/2", 550lb tape by the yard ($3.50 per yard). Built to MIL-T-87130, Type 1, Class 2.
- The Composites Store offers 1" and 2" light (1.7 oz/yard) Kevlar tapes on 10 and 50 yard rolls ($2.20 and $1.46 per yard + $10 shipping). They may be 500-550 lb/inch, and they offer Certificates of Conformance upon purchase.
- DutchWare offers 1/2″, 550lb webbing (.063 oz/yard), sold in 10 ft lengths ($0.30 per yard). They also offer 1", 2000lb webbing.
These companies also supply other types of MIL-spec and PIA-spec webbing. I do not know if they will supply small orders.
Thread
- D.J. Associates sells size E nylon thread on 4 and 8 oz spools in an multitude of colors.
Lines
- Twinlines sells Technora, Kevlar, Spectra, and Vectran lines and offers one-foot free samples.
- Spearit offers Specta lines (400, 550, and 750 lb) on 10-1000 yard rolls and 900 lb Kevlar line. The sell it as spearfishing line, but they say their manufacturer strength tests the line.
- Spearit also has an Amazon storefront with a wider selection of Spectra and Kevlar lines.
- Go2Marine offers 1400-4,000,000 lb Spectra rope by the foot and on 600 and 1200 ft spools. It seems well speced.
- Paragear offers 100-1000 lb PIA and MIL-spec nylon paracord and braided line. They also offer 400-1575 lb braided Dacron lines, 725-1500 lb Specta microlines, and 500-1000 lb Vectran lines. All are offered by the yard or on 100 yard spools.
- Emma Kites offers 300-4000 lb Dyneema line on 50-500 ft spools, 70-2000 lb braided and twisted Kevlar line on 50-500 ft spools, and 50-500 lb Dacron line on 500 on 1000 ft spools. They sell it as kite string. Shipping is free.
- Emma Kites also offers 100-2000 lb braided Kevlar line on 50-100 ft spools on Amazon.
Inks
Hardware
- Paragear sells grommets for a reasonable price. We use brass size 3 spur grommets per the recommendation in the Parachute Manual.
- D.J. Associates supplies all kinds of links, snaps, grommets, etc. They also supply nylon webbing and thread. If you cannot find what you need online, they say to call them, and they will try to track it down. I am guessing that they are these.
- Ronstan sells swivels. Their barrel swivels have little friction and are well manufactured. McMaster-Carr sells some of their swivels–but at a higher price.
- Giant Leap Rocketry sells a variety of recovery paraphernalia including sliders
Tools