Trade Names of Rope Materials Manufacturers

I was trying to compare the qualities and characteristics of various rope material for use on boats, and was getting bogged down with the trade names. After a bit of searching, I think I sorted out the most common rope trade names. Trade names and Companies is a changing landscape!

I'm building a comparison table about the properties of the different rope making materials, and will post it when it's done.

ARAMID, PPTA

A high strength, high modulus (stiff) fiber that is available as Para-aramid, Meta-aramid and others.

Kevlar® and Nomex®: duPont trade name for aramid.

Twaron® and Technora® in the Netherlands are aramids produced by Teijin, Heracron® is produced by Kolon Industries in South Korea whom is being sued by DuPont for stealing trade secrets.

NYLON OR POLYAMIDE, PA

Nylon is a generic name for aliphatic polyaides, a themoplastic material. First developed for toothbrushes and nylon stockings. It originally was used as a substitute for silk and found use in war for parachute and in tires. It was soon used for guitar and other stringed instruments.

Nylatron® is a Molybdenum disulphide enriched nylon while Duratron® is intended for electrical insulators. Trimid® is extrusion grade nylon. I don't think they are used for ropes.

Perlon®: Bayer Chemical Co. (Germany) trade name for nylon. Atlas® is a tradename for Bexco and Drahtseilwerk Bremenhaven and Kankhost Euronete which has 2 forms of nylon, some monofilaments other fine multifilaments.

Caprolan 2000® nylon with proprietary coating, is produced by Performance Fibers. It is intended as mooring lines and Fishing nets and lines.

POLYESTER, PES, PET

Many companies produce polyester. It is marketed alone or as a mixture of different fibres. It is also included in copolymers where the different resins are mixed before being spun.

Polyester is also often used as the protective outer layer of a 2 or more material cored rope because of it's good uv or other resistance.

Terylene®: ICI (England) trade name for polyester.

Dacron®: duPont trade name for polyester

Deltaflex®: Bexco trade name for a high strength polyester and polypropylene mixed fiber rope.

Supermix® is a Marlow trade name for a polypropylene and Polyester mixed fibre rope, while Ultraline is made by Samson and is the name of a polypropylene polyester copolymer rope.

Jetkore® is Samson name for a Nylon, Polyester and Polypropylene rope. Karat® is produced by Scan Ropes in Norway and is made of polyester polypropylene co-polymer fibres. Deltaflex® is made by Bexco and is a copolymer of polyester and polypropylene.

HIGH MODULUS POLYETHYLENE, HMPE, POLYETHYLENE, PE

Spectra®: Allied name for HMPE fiber.

Novabraid® uses Spectra from Honeywell, I'm not sure how Honeywell is linked to Allied but they are both associated with "spectra"

Dyneema®: DSM (Dutch State Mines)

Amsteel Blue Winch line is made from Dyneema® with material from Samson's Amsteel blue rope.

Quantum-8® is another specialized UHMWPE rope by Samson. It has higher friction than the usual slippery UHMWPE. Used for wire replacement.

Wikipedia article

polyolefin: The chemical group which includes both polypropylene and polyethylene. This term might refer to either of these fibers.

MIXTURES

Supermix®: Marlow trade name for a polyester-polypropylene mixed fiber rope.

Jetkore®: Samson/American trade name for a 6 strand rope of nylon, polyester, and polypropylene.

Nystron®: Samson trade name for a double braid rope having a nylon core and a polyester cover.

Karat®: Scan Rope (Norway) trade name for a polypropylene-polyester copolymer fiber material, also used in ropes by several other manufacturers.

Power Braid®: Samson trade name for a double braid rope having a polypropylene core and a nylon cover.

Ultraline®: Samson/American trade name for a polypropylene-polyester copolymer material rope.

Poly-Plus®: Wall Industries trade name for a polyester-polypropylene rope.

LIQUID CRYSTAL POLYMER, LCP

Vectran®: Hoechst Celanese name for liquid crystal aromatic polyester fiber

POLYPROPYLENE, PP

polyolefin: The chemical group which includes both polypropylene and polyethylene. This term might refer to either of these fibers.

Nelson®: Marlow trade name for polypropylene rope.

I tried to sort out the various names, parent companies and varieties but things change and I'm not as fast as I should be, I like sailing and boatbuilding better than updating rope trade names. I don't claim preferences or endorse any of these products. If you need ropes, do your homework and research. This is not an exhaustive list, I'm sure there are more than what I've found and listed here. I did not omit any one because I did not like it.