Cordura is a special kind of fabric used in tactical gear and clothing. But before anything else it is a trademark initially owned be DuPont but transferred to Invista in 2004. It’s common to look for the “Cordura” label on gear because it’s a sign of quality.

Less known is the fact, that Cordura is not a specific type of fabric but a whole family of fabrics. In tactical gear it’s very common to use 1000 denier (short: “D”) or 500D Nylon fabrics. They are extremely resistant to wear and tear. On clothing patches of this fabric are usually used to reinforce stresspoints like knees, elbows or crotch area.

Bag made of Cordura with subdued label
Bag made of Cordura with subdued label

If you have a look on the history of Cordura it was created in 1928, long before Nylon was even invented. First used to describe sorts of rayon or viscose the name Cordura was transferred to Nylon products when Nylon became available.

Nowadays there are still several types of Corduda available. They all contain Nylon but differ in weaving style and mix. Tactical gear usually uses 100% Nylon Cordura but there are variants mixed with cotton or other materials available.

Usage of Cordura in tactical gear

Modern Cordura in tactical gear is usually printed to match the color and camo pattern of the whole piece. It can also be treated to be water repellent (e.g. DWR treatment).

While 1000D Cordura is very common in overbuilt gear that’s made to be virtually indestructible, lighter variantes like 500D become more and more common. In most applications 500D is tough enough but will save a significant amount of weight. More sophisticated pieces of gear use lighter Cordura to build a piece of gear and reinforce stress points with 1000D. For example the bottom of a backpack can be made of 1000D while the rest is lighter. 1000D parts are significantly stiffer and gear of this weight usually keeps it shape no matter if it’s fully packed or empty.

Alternatives to Cordura

In fact there are countless fabrics with a lot of different specifications available. Some resemble Cordura and are named things like “ballistic Nylon”. Without having any specifics it’s very hard to distinguish what qualities a certain fabric has. I’m not saying that genuine Cordura is the only fabric suitable to build tough gear of it. But having the label means that it follows at least some (high) quality standards. So if the whole product isn’t fake and it’s Cordura you can rely on it to be made of high quality materials.