Nylon Ripstop Fabric: Tear-Resistant Fabric for Outdoor Gear

You've probably felt the faint grid woven into a tent floor or a packable jacket and wondered what it's for. That grid is ripstop — reinforcement threads that stop a small tear from running into a big one.

This page covers nylon ripstop fabric — how the weave works, why nylon is the go-to fibre for it, and how to read the denier and coating for outdoor gear.

How Ripstop Works

Ripstop weaves thicker reinforcement yarns into a base cloth at regular intervals, forming a visible grid. If the fabric is punctured, the tear stops at the next reinforcement thread instead of propagating. You get high tear strength at low weight — the reason it dominates tents, parachutes, packable jackets and kites.

Why Nylon

Nylon has a better strength-to-weight ratio than polyester and takes abrasion well, so nylon ripstop hits tear-resistance targets at a lighter weight. The trade-off: nylon absorbs a little more water and fades faster in UV than polyester, which is why outdoor nylon ripstop is almost always coated.

Fibre	Strength/weight	UV/colour	Typical use
Nylon ripstop	Highest	Lower, coat it	Tents, packs, packable shells
Polyester ripstop	High	Better	Flags, awnings, sun-exposed gear

Denier and Coating for Ripstop

• 20D-40D — ultralight, for packable jackets and quilts
• 70D — the workhorse, for tents, packs and general gear
• 210D-420D — heavy-duty, for pack bases and floors
• Coatings: PU or silicone (sil-nylon) for waterproofing; silicone is lighter and stronger, PU is cheaper and seam-tapeable

Our tear-resistant, coated ripstop is stocked as Ripstop Waterproof Fabric. For the waterproofing numbers, see waterproof fabric for outdoor; for coating options, PU coated fabric; and for the broader woven family, the Oxford fabric guide.

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