Next up, Tactical Gear made out of Spiderman's silk.

I recently got a Crye airlite plate carrier. I really like the hypalon. It seems quite durable and it is like you say very light. Also, I like how it does not absorb water. You could go swimming with it and it would be dry as soon as you got out of the water. Make sure to have buoyant plates though:)

I find this interesting.

Do you have hypalon gear or just the fabric?

I wonder how it sews.

We're not allowed to cut it with the laser due to toxic fumes which can damage the optics..

The Japanese had a gift for swimming in armor. I've only done it without plates.

None of the above?

I'd rather my gear was made out of dyneema. Light weight, incredibly strong, and intrinsically hydrophobic. Doesn't do well with extremely high friction, though.

The wiki article for hypalon says DuPont's manufacturing plant closed in 2010..

Hypalon is no longer in production but HANK, a cancer free version, can be found for about 40 bucks a yard.
While laminated materials are cool and offer a lot of advantages,greater abrasion resistance and if laser cut you can create designs that don't need the heavy webbing built in, there are some purposes that the current standard is just better for.

BFG also makes the ultra comp which kind of bridges the gap, and whiskey two four makes ACRONYM which you can buy in 500 or 1000d base versions.

Well, my take is it's not that cut and dried.  There are apps where hypolon-like materials really shine, and there are other where nylon works better.  I don't necessarily see one replacing the other, rather a blending of materials for the best results.  

From a practical standpoint, I don't think there is enough evidence to prove hypolon is as durable as nylon for long term or extreme use.  It hasn't been around long enough to have a proven track record.  The lighter weight kit in general gives up some durability for weight savings, so this is something you have to decide for yourself.  

As far as a tip point, I think that will be when sonic welded kit comes into play, versus more labor-intensive sewn products.  Materials will come and go; I think the construction techniques will be the game-changer.

I hope not. I'm not replacing all the stuff I have now with The latest and greatest.

I have tons of hypalon type bits or partial hypalon. Problem I see is camo and IR signature. Nylon will be around a while still.

Well yeah, many things get a vote here.  When we are talking about actual tactical use, there are considerations that sometimes trump "the best" materials (or construction techniques).  You are balancing durability, strength, security, cost against light weight, low visibility, quick access, etc.

There is some interesting stuff going on with "laminated" materials.  Combining one layer for strength, and another for camo/ low viz.  The Brits did some interesting work with hypolon and cordura, but it's pretty heavy.  TYR has done some stuff with aramids and cordura, but it is expensive.  I talked with a guy earlier this year who is R&Ding some new stuff in this regard and I look forward to what comes out.  I think this blending of materials is a very viable approach.  I think obviously if one layer is used for strength, then the camo layer can be much lighter.  So 500d even 240D cordura could really come into it's own when combined with another material.

Using hypolon or equivalent, where possible, to replace much webbing makes a lot of sense.  Especially for molle webbing, and pouch attachment apps, where it's mostly hidden.  But in high viz areas, maybe not so much.  A good buddy just designed a nice PC where he used webbing vs hypolon, in a shoulder strap app.  This makes a lot of sense to me.

An additional consideration.  When you push the state of the art out there, you get some effect on durability.  The guys who use the newer, light weight gear are issued new kit every deployment cycle.  So unless you budget for this yourself, you are going to be bumming.  TNSTAAFL.

So yeah there are interesting things going on out there, but this stuff doesn't happen in a vacuum.  You have to consider end use (or end user) as well.

All of them.  The hypolon type materials have more glint than solution dyed nylon.  Also it must be hand-camo'd, if that's a requirement.  I don't know of any documentation but I have seen it myself through MNVD's.  The hyplon definitely has a different near IR signature than nylon and surrounding terrain/veg.  That's why I think lamination has promise.

I was researching this right now and believe it or not this thread came up on Google (Google is All Knowing), so according to Inflatable Kayak World there is a lot of data to prove that Hypalon is the most durable raft material over all the PVC and Nylon materials... which says a lot. Not sure about IR or what, but that is impressive to me. The fact that it must be glued instead of welded is supposedly its only weak point for boating, but for web gear it can be sewn, so no down side there.

I was researching this to compare the Ronin Tactical PC to the Crye JPC. The low profile shoulders on the Crye are Hypalon and the Ronin's are Nylon IIRC.

JPC is lighter and overall construction of JPC is better than Ronin. The small bits on JPC are not bad for IR signature. The Ronin has a few extra things it can do vs JPC like be set up as a chest rig front plate bag only but it's not a game changer like the Ronin belt to make it a must buy. The Ronin belt also not the highest of highest build quality but the .75" molle spacing makes everything tight and the narrower profile vs other micro belts keeps the diminished build quality from being a deal breaker.

If you don't need to run as a chest rig with front armor for use with a full sized backpack, go JPC, IMO.