Has anyone sewn nylon webbing before? Is it something you can do by hand, or do you need a machine?

The reason I ask is that I have a tear in the last 3 ft of a 30ft long 2" nylon recovery strap. If I can cut the tear out and get a new eye sown in I'll still have a 25 ft strap.

If a machine is needed, any suggestions on where to go in the Houston area, and what they'd charge? May be better off just replacing the strap but I hate to throw away that much good material.

You can by hand with just a heavy needle, but it's a pain.

I do quite a bit of strap work, and I do it with a leather sewing awl. It has a bobbin inside it with a heavy thread of your choice ( I like 80# powered, or a good nylon). You make a running stitch ( which is very simple), and with practice I can do a 2" strap end in about 15 minutes. On something taking load, I would draw out a square pattern that "spirals" In and terminates at the center. Put a drop of thin .CA glue on the tie off to avoid fraying.

IMO you don't want to hand sew a recovery strap, take it into a place that has a heavy duty machine and get it done right.

1" webbing for backpacking and slings is no problem. I do this all the time. I'm even getting "kinda" good at it.

Hand Sewing Awl

For a recovery strap, I wouldn't do it by hand. The risk if there is a failure is too high.

When stitching by hand, it is almost impossible to maintain enough tension on the threads, which can lead to separation of the two pieces, and end up putting more strain on the threads themselves.

If ya find someone with a heavy duty machine (most hobby machines would have a lot of trouble doing it) I'd recommend at least T-90 Nylon thread. If ya can find someone that has some T-135 that'd be even better.

The most secure would be a rectangle (2" strap, so a 4" x 2" or 3" x 2" rectangle) and then do one "X" over the rectangle. This just helps hold everything in place while you do the reinforcing. Reinforce it either with bartacks running across the strap, or a pattern of elongated lines running the length of the rectangle at a bit of an angle.

Here is what the long lines would look like:



And here are bartacks

Thanks y'all. I guess I'll probably take it somewhere so I have confidence in it. Most of the rigging suppliers in Houston are down by the ship channel but I'm on the other side of town.

What kind of businesses would have heavy duty sewing machines? Upholstery or shoe repair places?

Go to Atlas Sling, near Beltway 8 and West Little York. They make slings and tie-downs for us all the time. It'll take them 2 minutes and maybe cost $5.

Perfect