Looking for a sewable semi rigid material

[Tom_Ivan]

...such as what Xdeep uses to make their flexible back-plates for their sidemount harnesses.

Does anybody know how they make these or what material they use?

 

[JamesBon92007]

Someone suggested this to me a couple of days ago for making weight pockets to attach to a SS backplate. I don't know if it can be sewn or not but I was told it is used for making pistol holsters:

KYDEX ACRYLIC & PVC COPOLYMER SHEETS FROM COMPLEX PLASTICS 1-888-PLASTIK 1-800-363-2870 SUPPLIER OF INDUSTRIAL PLASTIC MATERIALS index.htm

Another thought I had is shoe sole rubber but it's generally 1/4" thick which might be a bit too much for your purposes, but shoe sole rubber can be sewn.

 

[diversteve]

I'm not familiar with the xdeep products but the Zeagle Express Tech soft backplate is made from high denier ballistic nylon. So is my Ranger which can take doubles with stiffening plates added.

"high" being 1000 denier. I've heard it called Cordura Nylon but don't know if that's correct.

I don't know if you can sew it or would need an industrial machine like a shoe repair or tent maker would have.

 

[diversteve]

I believe Kydex would be too stiff to sew.. DSS makes rigid travel back plates out of it.

 

[divezonescuba]

Try L200 plastic/foam

 

[dm9876]

Be sure to share what you make As for kydex I had similar thought to use if for weight pockets. You can get it in different thicknesses (so would be differing flexibility). Sewing is not feasible unless you drill / stamp out some holes, like what you would do for leather. For the gun holsters / knife sheathes etc they usually rivet it (after using heat to form its shape around the object).

 

[JohnnyC]

Kydex is great for many things, being sewable is not one of them. It's acrylic/pvc that is thermoformed then drilled and riveted. You could sew two pieces together by hand after you've drilled the holes if you want, but you're not going to run it through a sewing machine.

Your best bet is probably to check out a costuming/wardrobe or cosplay forum. Sewing foam will be easier than finding a plastic that is thick enough to be rigid, but thin enough that a machine can sew it. Alternatively, you can probably use some leather tools to punch holes in some thing PVC/ABS/Etc.

Either way, you're going to want an industrial machine, and most likely a walking foot shoe machine like a Singer 29. Try it on a little Walmart special and you're gonna smash the machine with a sledgehammer out of spite. It may be preferable to take whatever your design is, and take it to a cobbler. Most shoe repair places are more than happy to do little sewing jobs.

As for the xDeep stuff, what part are you specifically talking about? My Stealth has metal shoulder and lower back plates, nothing plastic. Also of note, Cordura is a brand name for a set of fabric technologies, not necessarily always nylon, and 1000d nylon is not necessarily Cordura brand.

 

[divezonescuba]

If it’s the plastic plate inside the bladder housing, it is a hard white plastic that looks like some variant of uhmw plastic. Because it is thin, it has some minor flexibility to it. It looks less brittle than plexiglass type plastic, so I think that is how they are able to drill/sew it with out cracking.

 

[divezonescuba]

Come to think about it, a material with similar properties is marine lumber sold under the same of starboard or seaboard. I have used sheets of this as thin as 1/4. 1/4 is still rigid, but will flex. It is not structural, but a homogenous extruded plastic. I don’t know if it comes thinner than that.

 

[Tom_Ivan]

Thank you for the replies everyone.
I don't think anyone has touched on what I'm referring to yet. I was in the dive shop today and they have the Hollis SMS...something... it has a semi rigid plate that I could bend maybe 30 degrees. It had stitching and grommets embedded it it.

Anyway here is the issue I'm having ( I'll copy the following section into the original post so new readers don't get confused).
I've been making myself a side-mount system. My first prototype was essentially a copy of the Razor. It worked really well in the water but was a mighty pain to handle above. It kept getting all tangled up (especially with enough weight for a 8mm wet-suit and two empty aluminium tanks) and was a bloody mess to get on.
So I made a second prototype where the two plates became one, joined together by a length of metal to make a continuous backplate.

I had to bend and resize it a few times to suit my spine but now I have a harness that works really well in the water and much easier to put on (I've just got back from a trip around Europe with it and it worked wonderfully!).
My new problem is that if I try to lend it to someone else it won't fit. I'd have to create a whole new custom fitted backplate for them.
I'm looking for a way to make a backplate that can be resized for shorter and longer people but maintains the rigidity so the thing doesn't get all tangled up. Any thoughts on how I can achieve this?