American Materials?

[Just Bill]

Are you talking about Rubin Manufacturing?

No, I hadn't tried them.
Are they looking for work or just someone you know of?

Gil Sewing was the company I was referring to... they also do some outdoor apparel. I had a contract with them for short bit but got bumped when Patagonia was attempting to bring sewing back to the states.
It's very expensive trying to work with the domestic folks... you need big money and volume. It cost me roughly 4k for them to review, bid, prototype and sample my quilts... with the end result that no production took place.
If I ever get a chance to relaunch my hiking skirts they would be a good fit... but anything outside apparel is not something they will take on.

There is one company in North Carolina, but it's debatable if they will sew for others at this point. They also do some of the military work and have relaunched their own housebrand.

There are a few 'pack' companies but they make heavy duty stuff and will not touch 'ultralight' fabrics. Basically they only work with corduras and the like.

[LuvmyBonnet]

They are a customer of mine. I sell them trim for the Postal pants and jackets.
You are correct on volume. Most have no place for the little fish.

[HandyRandy]

For those interested, Dutch answered a similar question last week:
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sha...8&share_type=t

[virorum]

I’d love some of that 1.9 nylon 6.6 ripstop! What colors and how much for 9 yards

[virorum]

So almost all of our woven fabrics are made overseas. The main reason for this is that the mills here in the states just aren't setup to do most of the specialty fabrics we produce. You need specialized equipment to do certain weaves, finer deniers, and finishing techniques. The overseas mills have that equipment and the experience needed to produce our fabrics with high quality and high volume. For example, 30D is the lightest commercially available woven fabric being made in the US right now. If you want anything lighter, you have to go overseas.

Then of course there's the price. We could certainly make things like 70D hammock fabric or some pack fabrics here in the states, but the same fabric made here will always cost more. We'd also have to tie up a lot more money in inventory as the MOQs are much higher here in the states. If you're looking to make something custom, you could be talking 100,000 yds minimum. That's just for one fabric.

That being said, our non-woven fabrics like Dyneema Composite are all made here in the US. DSM is even opening a brand new production line for DCF in my hometown of Greenville, NC later this year. I'm going down to tour the facility once it's ready.

Some of the laminates like X-PAC are also made in USA. Select components like the face fabric may be imported (often for reasons I mentioned above), but the films and all the man hours that go into creating the laminate are done right here.

Hope that helps! With all that being said, I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to creating a made in USA fabric line. We would have to start slow with only a few fabrics and colors, but it could be done...

P.S. - We do have one hammock specific fabric 100% made in the USA. It's a 70D, 1.9 oz Ripstop Nylon 6.6. This was the first custom dye lot of fabric I ever made way back when my brother and I were making hammocks out of my parents bonus room. It's also part of the reason I fell in love with materials to begin with and started RBTR, but that's another story . We still have some of it if you're interested. It's an awesome fabric.

I’d love some of that 1.9 nylon 6.6 ripstop! What colors and how much for 9 yards

[hutzelbein]

I’d love some of that 1.9 nylon 6.6 ripstop! What colors and how much for 9 yards

It's the OD Brown one.