Where to get stuff for a pack mod.?

[Tiley]

I am looking for the sort of nylon/polyester webbing tape that is used to create MOLLE straps on packs and was wondering where I might get hold of some? In olive green, of course!

The other thing I'm after is some advice about how best to stitch the tape to the pack I'm going to modify. Is it just a simple needle and thread job or should I use the leatherworker's double needle technique or is there a simple (emphasis on 'simple'!) machine that might make life a little more easy and accurate?

All suggestions and advice are very warmly welcomed!

Many thanks in advance.
Richard

 

[leaky5]

Contact Left (not always listed on the website, give them a call if it is not showing) do a light olive or a green in 25mm. You should be able to use a needle and thread (Coats Nybond is good), you will just need to go over it a couple of times. A machine is better, but sometimes it is difficult to get to where you need to stitch on a finished bag

Green
Untitled by Leaky5, on Flickr

Light Olive
P2200002 by Leaky5, on Flickr

 

[Tiley]

Many thanks for that - and for the thread recommendation, too! I'll try source and sort it this afternoon...

 

[Modchop]

I’ve bought a few bits and pieces from this company in the past, no affiliation etc.

http://www.britishtactical.com/accessories/

HTH

 

[Robson Valley]

Are you near to any shops which sell farm supplies and horse tack in particular?
I can name 3 not too far away from me.
And, useless to look for strapping, needles, thread, rivets, stitchers, etc anywhere else.

 

[C_Claycomb]

Look no further than Point North. aka Pro Fabrics. I bought olive, black and tan from them, and they are good materials, a tiny bit stiffer than I would like for my domestic machine, but a LOT easier than some other material I have encountered.
https://www.profabrics.co.uk/collections/nylon-webbing-outdoor-camping

I stitch mine with regular domestic machine (albeit an old one with metal parts) and with regular Guttermans SewAll. It helps if the machine is designed for sewing inside sleeves, with clearance under the body, but mine isn't, so modification of existing packs takes a lot of fiddling and bunching up of fabric. I have tried the thicker thread, using a 100 needle, but my machine can't pull the thread tight enough and I get horrible tangles on the back side. Straight stitch through two or three layers of 1000D is no problem, but throw some webbing in there and/or ask it to do wide zig-zag for a bartack, and it isn't happy. Thin thread and 70/80 needle and I get a tight, dense, zigzag bartack.

Are you near to any shops which sell farm supplies and horse tack in particular?
I can name 3 not too far away from me.
And, useless to look for strapping, needles, thread, rivets, stitchers, etc anywhere else.

I think it is useless looking for those things where you suggest, in the UK. If you are near such a store in the UK (which is not a given), and IF they carry webbing, and IF it is the right colour, it will not be the right weight and thickness. Actually, I have never seen any of the things you mention, other than strapping, maybe, in any farm shop in the UK. I am very fond of such shops and have visited four or five spread from mid Wales to Bedfordshire and Leicestershire. Low odds of success I think, could waste a lot of time looking. Thing is, you don't want just any webbing for MOLLE, the material, weave and thickness are important. Many webbing sold in hardware type stores is polyester, and quite a thick, coarse weave, which is a pig to stitch and tends to be too stiff for packs. Clearly conditions in Canada (or elsewhere) will be different, but that has been my experience in the UK.

 

[Robson Valley]

I am nearly 3 hours away from any good farm store with any variety of stock.
They have a range of colors and widths, all nylon and rather finely woven.
Judging only by what I have bought to use as strapping, case handles and ribs.
Individual copper or brass rivets (shaft length) or as I do, by the pound/454g.

Too bad it's such a chore for your DIY efforts.

 

[Insel Affen]

I've never used this shop, but it looks really useful for all sorts of stuff.

http://www.leprevo.co.uk/

It may have what you want.

 

[leaky5]

I’ve bought a few bits and pieces from this company in the past, no affiliation etc.

http://www.britishtactical.com/accessories/

HTH

I really like these guys, but for small amounts of webbing etc I find their postage quite expensive.

Contact Left can supply me with 80-90% of the bits I need to make a bag and their postage scales up and down depending on how much you buy.

 

[Robson Valley]

I'd shop at leprevo. Looks like the rows of little bins and spools of webbing in the far back end of Northern Hardware.
On the back side of the huge rope rack. The lengths are carved into the floor.

 

[Tiley]

Many thanks for the suggestions and advice thus far. For me, it'll be a hand sewn modification as I don't have a machine, neither do I have access to one. Perhaps most importantly, I have very little experience of using one, so hand sewing it is, I'm afraid. I like the look of the nylon 25mm webbing from ProFabrics: it looks to be woven tightly enough and it comes in the required green colour.

Since my homemade MOLLE strips are to support a pouch containing a water bottle, the whole thing needs to be pretty robust and there's also the challenge of getting the strips lined up straight! Perhaps I'd better find someone who's got a machine that's up to the task and who knows how to use it!

 

[Robson Valley]

Tiley: fake the positions and measurements of everything with masking tape. Pencil lines when you get it right.
I have a "Speedy Stitcher" which is fine for make-do repairs but I would not recommend it for a pleasing result.

 

[beachlover]

How much are you after? If it’s the bog standard 1” stuff on military bergans and the like I might have some I’d be happy to pass on.

 

[Tiley]

How much are you after? If it’s the bog standard 1” stuff on military bergans and the like I might have some I’d be happy to pass on.

That would be very kind. I'm after about two metres of the stuff - that'll allow me a bit of flexibility and breathing space for cock-ups et al.

 

[beachlover]

That would be very kind. I'm after about two metres of the stuff - that'll allow me a bit of flexibility and breathing space for cock-ups et al.

I’ll have a rummage this afternoon or tomorrow morning and drop you a message.

 

[beachlover]

@Tiley I've got just short of 6ft of 1" olive webbing off an old Berghaus Cyclops I'm taking apart. Yours if you want it and I've dropped you a PM/ started a Conversation with you. Let me know whether it's what you are after.

 

[Tiley]

@Tiley I've got just short of 6ft of 1" olive webbing off an old Berghaus Cyclops I'm taking apart. Yours if you want it and I've dropped you a PM/ started a Conversation with you. Let me know whether it's what you are after.

Many thanks - I have replied! Apologies for the delay - it's a bit nuts at work at the moment!