From the beginning of the twentieth century, United
States military individual load-carrying
equipments were fabricated mainly of cotton duck and cotton webbing. Throughout
the First and Second World wars, as well as the
Korean War, cotton-based load-carrying equipments served the infantryman with
little change in their design and construction.
In 1954 a new load-carrying system was developed to meet the needs of
the infantryman on the perceived battlefields of the Cold War. At the onset of
the Vietnam War it was clear that this new cotton-based webbing system was not
acceptable for use in the humid environment of the jungles of South-east Asia. The answer to the problems plaguing
cotton load-carrying equipments came in the form of nylon. Nylon equipment was
found to be more durable, lighter, and dried quicker than the standardized
cotton equipment.
As the Vietnam War ground down, nylon web equipment was proving to be
the answer to other load-carrying problems that had arisen during the course of
the war. In 1973 an all-nylon load-carrying equipment system was standardized,
replacing all cotton-based load-carrying equipments in service at the time.
Since 1973 all load-carrying equipments have been fabricated utilising nylon
and, in effect, closed the history book on cotton-based
equipments.
