Ripstop
Ripstop is a weave with a grid of thicker reinforcing yarns at regular intervals, usually every few millimetres, which stops a tear from spreading once it starts.
The visible squares on many technical fabrics are the ripstop grid. It does not stop a fabric from being punctured. It stops a small hole from running into a long tear, which is the difference between a repairable nick and a ruined garment.
How it works
In a plain weave, a tear propagates along a line of yarn with very little resistance. Ripstop interrupts that line. When the tear reaches a reinforcing yarn, the load spreads and the tear usually stops. The grid typically sits every 5 to 8 mm.
What it costs
Almost nothing in weight, and a small amount in fabric hand and appearance. This is why ripstop is close to universal on lightweight technical fabrics. The lighter the base fabric, the more the grid matters: a 20D shell without ripstop is genuinely fragile.
Reading it on a label
You will see it written as part of the fabric description, such as "20D ripstop nylon" or "40D ripstop polyester". The number is denier, the yarn thickness. Ripstop and denier describe different things and both are worth knowing.
If a lightweight shell does not say ripstop anywhere, look closely at the fabric for the grid. Its absence on a very light fabric is a durability warning.
Related terms
- Denier: yarn thickness, the other half of the spec
- Packable vs structured travel jackets: the durability trade-off
- VEAR lab test results: our tear strength figures under ISO 13937-1
- Glossary: all terms