Raw materials

Mammut uses two materials to produce slings. The first is the light Dyneema®, boasting a low weight and very high strength. The other is sturdy polyamide, which we also use to produce our high-quality ropes.

Polyethylene = Dyneema®

Dyneema® (manufacturer's name) is a polyethylene fibre. This extremely durable fibre offers high resistance to abrasion, moisture and chemicals. Dyneema® is exceptionally strong and light and can therefore be used for a very wide range of applications.
This is because polyethylene is five times stronger than polyamide. Lower width polyethylene slings can therefore be produced offering equivalent strength. In addition to polyethylene's higher breaking resistance, its cut resistance and edge stability are significantly higher than those of polyamide. A further advantage of Dyneema® is that it does not absorb water.
However, the drawback is its lower melting point which is increasing the danger of friction burns.
Due to their very smooth surface, polyethylene or blended fabric slings must not be knotted. Even under the lightest loads, knots in slings made from these materials become loose and they are therefore sold only as stitched slings (=express slings/webbing slings).

Polyamide

Synthetic polyamide or PA (abbreviation of PolyAmide), is the oldest truly practical synthetic fibre and is still one of the leading man-made fibres in terms of quantity.
Polyamide is extremely tear and shear resistant, elastic and durable. Its melting point is considerably higher that of polyethylene, and it boasts slightly better UV resistance than Dyneema.
However, polyamide absorbs around 4% of its own weight in water, reducing the strength of wet fibres. In freezing conditions, the performance of an icy polyamide sling can fall be half.

Traditional pure polyamide (nylon) webbing is available in widths of 13-26 mm. It can be purchased by the metre or in stitched form as a sling.

The differences from the first sight